Work Text
Central City 2040If there was something Central City was never short on, it was criminal activity. Many citizens were accustomed to the streaks of purple that raced around the city, creating wind out of nothing, and swatting away bullets like they were flies. The Twin Tornado's. One minute the city would be calm and filled with people going about their business as usual, only to be interrupted as the purple twisters flew throughout the streets, causing quite the mayhem as they raced to save yet another person that was victim to the meta-humans who operated with no moral compass.The people didn’t particularly care for the help of these Tornado meta-humans, but there wasn’t much the public could do about something they couldn’t see coming. So, they tolerated the appearance of them once in a while, and other than the occasional xenophobic comment towards them on the news the twins generally didn’t get much publicity. That might’ve been thanks to Iris West-Allen, as those ‘twin tornadoes’ happened to be her speedster children and she personally didn’t need any more trouble than the twins tended to create already. Speaking of trouble. Iris thought to herself as she noticed the latest story that was circulating around the papers. “Armed Gunman Takes Central City Bank Hostage”Iris placed her pen down on her desk and lifted her head at the ping of her phone. She sighed before she swiped the call screen and heard her daughter’s suspiciously cheerful voice light up the line. “Hey Mom! I was just wondering how work’s been? Any new spicy headlines pop up recently?” Dawn breathed into the phone. “Why do you sound out of breath?” Iris asked, raising her eyebrows at the screen she was currently skimming. “On your left!” Don yelled in the background.“N-no reason, don’t be silly I’m just walking downstairs, you know me…always getting in that extra cardio. What’s for dinner?” Dawn spouted out between breaths.“Dawn West-Allen if I get home and you two are not there you are so screwed.” Iris pinched the bridge of her nose and placed her tablet beside the pen.“Of course we’re home! In fact, how about Don and I make dinner for you. Yeah, we’ll do that. Just let me know what time you’ll be home so we can have everything all ready.” Dawn gasped out. “Oh I’ll be home before you can say one, two, and three. If you think you’re going to get away with this whole crime-fighting-whenever-you-want thing you’re sorely mistaken.” Iris ground out between clenched teeth. She could kill Wally for putting the ridiculous idea into her children’s heads. They were still young. Barry was their age when he first became a speedster. Iris’s brain chimed in helpfully to herself. “Ok so we’ll see you when you get home! Love you, Mom” Dawn squeaked into the phone, leaving her mother on the other end of the line to fume in an empty room. Dawn clicked the ear-piece and felt relief bottle up inside her at the thought that she was momentarily spared from her mother’s wrath. Of course only until after Don and her caught the gunman that was holding up Central City Bank. Then it was full on Iris West rage time. Without much thought--or effort, Dawn and her brother surrounded the man that had shot three bullets towards the hostages. Don skillfully plucked the bullets from the air while Dawn worked to un-tether the three people that were restrained against one of the many concrete pillars that held up the bank before she sped towards the black-clad man and whammed him in the crotch with as much of her regular strength as she could muster. The human attacker dropped to his knees with a groan and Don tapped his sister’s shoulder to remind her that they were on a clock. Dawn nodded and grabbed the guy, before both her and her brother sped off towards CCPD. After depositing the criminal on the steps of the police department, the twins high tailed it out of there before anyone could get an accurate description of them. The last thing that they needed was to be forced into giving up their powers by government douches who thought they were freaks. “Race you home!” Dawn called over to her brother. Don didn’t say anything but he picked up his pace which caused Dawn to snort and speed towards the West-Allen household. Before either of them had reached within 10 blocks of their house they stopped at their meeting place; a small Big Belly Burger joint located on the far corner of City Centre before it tapered off into the more residential areas such as Chubbuck and Danville. The twins began to walk at a normal pace like always, as they made their way towards their home in Danville. Danville was one of the middle class districts that existed in Central City. Call them cautious but the pair felt like they might give themselves away if they used their speed all the way up to their front door. In the years that passed without the presence of The Flash, law enforcement and criminals alike had become more temperamental. It was important to both Dawn and Don that their identities remained a secret. They didn’t need the press finding out who they were and exposing them to villains that might want to hurt people like their Mom or Pop-Pop. “I won.” Don said sliding up beside his sister as they turned down their street. “You didn’t win! We weren’t even racing.” Dawn deadpanned, before smirking at her brother’s stone cold glare. Dawn frequently enjoyed messing with her brother because he was antisocial, a little bit quiet, and had about as much charisma as a garden snake. He was also her favourite person, and probably the only person, that she spent most of her time with besides maybe her Uncle Wally. And their dynamic was largely based on their fundamental understanding of one another, science, and the need to have a little fun once in a while.As they came to a stop at the end of their driveway Don’s gaze turned fearful as he gawked at the sight in front of him, and Dawn’s own smirk crashed to a grimace as they both recognized their mother’s car in the driveway. “I called her. You get to defend our life choices.” Dawn let out a quiet sing-song, before pushing past her brother and reluctantly opening the front door. Don swallowed hard and gave a curt nod as both speedsters entered their house to Iris West standing in the middle of their living room, hands on her hips, with an expression on her face that would make Oliver Queen quake in his boots. “DONALD WEST-ALLEN! DAWN WEST-ALLEN! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT USING YOUR POWERS OUTSIDE THIS HOUSE!?” Iris glared at them. “Mom we were car--”Don tried to respond but Iris cut him off. “How many times do we have to have this argument, if you two get caught you’ll be imprisoned-or killed! You two are all I have left and if you think that I’m going to let you cont—” Iris was interrupted by Wally West waltzing into the house behind the kids.“What’s this about you only having these two…what about your brother?!” Wally West cut Iris off as he walked in behind the twins. Their Uncle Wally’s sudden appearance hadn’t startled them as he often popped in to visit when he had some time off. “Wally?” Iris exclaimed before rushing towards her brother wrapping her arms around him in a bone crushing hug. “What are you doing here? It’s so good to see you. What’s wrong?” Iris abruptly looked at Wally, slightly alarmed.The twins peaked up at Uncle Wally and he gave them a wink before he directed his sister towards the kitchen. “Nothing, I just wanted to come for a little visit. What’s for dinner?” He asked, smiling slightly. Don nudged his sister and the two of them sped around the kitchen; setting the table, throwing down the cutlery, and making the quickest version of Grandma Ester’s noodles that the family had seen since Barry Allen himself cooked the dish. “I guess we’re having noodles.” Iris said, offering her little family a small smile before she took a seat facing her two children. She sent them both a look that said there would be a long discussion in their future about what had happened earlier. Dawn glanced at her brother and gave her shoulders a little shrug, trying to convey that it hopefully wouldn’t be as bad as he was imagining. With dinner out of the way Iris brought Dawn and Don towards the living room and they stood across from her around the coffee table, waiting expectantly to be lectured on the importance of keeping their speed to themselves. What Dawn certainly wasn’t expecting was to be wrong. Iris sat down on the sofa and stared off into space for a little while, Dawn learned a long time ago that when she zoned out like this it was usually because Iris was thinking about their Dad. After a while Iris looked up at Dawn and her brother. “You two have to promise me that if you’re going to use your speed you have to be safe. I don’t want to get any calls from Uncle Cisco or Aunt Caitlin saying that you’ve torn a piece through space or whatever.” Dawn could almost physically feel how much that little mixed up analogy on the “fabric of time and space” killed her brother. She could tell that he was repressing his need to correct their Mom as best he could but she didn’t know if he’d be able to hold it in. Unbeknownst to her, Iris continued. “If you two promise me that you will look out for each other and only go on small missions like you did today.” Iris took a breath. “You two can go and save Central City.” The twins looked from their mom to one another and Dawn cracked a massive smile before putting her hand up for a high-five. They finally did it! They convinced Iris West to let them use their speed. ********** “Don you can’t just say pass, it was a real question!” Dawn scolded her twin. She was acting nonchalant but in reality Dawn’s stomach was in knots and she was a bundle of nerves awaiting her brother’s answer. He shrugged his shoulders and muttered“I just haven’t thought about it before I guess.” Don went back to reading his screen. Dawn had to restrain her urge to roll her eyes. “You’ve seriously never thought about using your speed in order to travel back in time and maybe change, I don’t know…your college grades? Or do something beneficial for society? I mean I know that it’s technically illegal—but just think about how Dad used to do it!” She exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air excitedly, trying to hide the pit of guilt that sat like lead in her stomach. “You heard the part where you said it was illegal, right? Also, you do remember Mom telling us that Dad’s number one rule was always don’t alter the timeline.” Don said, placing his work on the coffee table. Dawn made a face at him as she continued tinkering with the silver armband that she made a few days ago, trying desperately to ignore her growing paranoia. Their father was Barry Allen, the Fastest Man Alive…or at least he used to be, before he sacrificed himself in some kind of Crisis. Their Mom said that he was a hero, and both Dawn and her brother were inclined to believe Iris except for the fact that their Dad went and got himself killed in order to save the multiverse. He left their Mom to take care of them before they were even born. Dawn couldn’t be too mad at Barry though, from the stories that her Mom told her, her father sounded like a real hero. She wished that she had gotten the chance to meet him. Instead all her and her brother got was a fraction of his speed. Both Don and Dawn were happy with their lives though, they didn’t need Barry because although they missed him, Iris was such a loving mother that she was pretty much all they needed. Plus they had their Uncle Wally and Pop-Pop, Aunt Jenna, and Cecille. Don had picked up his tablet again and was back to studying up on some engineering blueprints that Wally had left. And Dawn was sitting on the floor trying to take the battery that powered Gideon apart. Sometimes the twins found that they preferred to work on smaller projects alone then one big one together. “You should stop tinkering with Gideon or otherwise she’s going to get mad and tell Mom that you were the one who blew up the oven last week.” Don said, continuing to analyze his data. She lifted the battery to eye level and glared at it as if to say “You wouldn’t dare”. Not trusting the AI, Dawn decided that it might be easier if she asked for Gideon’s help instead of simply trying to take it apart and stuff it in her armband to use when she wanted…or when she needed.“Good idea, I think I’ll go and work on this in my room. Tell Uncle Wally that I’ll see him tomorrow for our run.” She said before quickly getting up and speeding away. Their Mom had no rule about using their speed inside, which is something that Dawn often took full advantage of. Once she was safely in the confines of her room she took a deep breath.“Gideon” She called.“Good evening, Dawn West-Allen. What can I do for you?” The AI chimed. “How do I get you into my super suit?” Dawn whispered to the AI. “I don’t understand the question?” Gideon responded, smiling and tilting her head to the side. “The Reverse-Flash, h-how was he able to install your programming into the armband of his suit?” She hissed. After several hours of instruction from Gideon, Dawn had successfully installed the complex AI into the armband of her silver and purple super suit. It was a work-in-progress, but she had a plan. Dawn wanted to use Gideon to work with her in order to help fight off bad guys. She had already hooked up the AI to assist with most things inside the West-Allen household, from security to television, to making dinner. Gideon was incredibly helpful, not that Dawn would ever admit that to the AI. There was another reason that Dawn was installing Gideon into her super suit. Gideon was able to help with things like analyzing displacements in time (such as a speedster) but Gideon was also a very good tool for someone who was planning on time travelling. In Dawn’s case, this was going to be a very useful tool for what she had planned for her future. While Dawn was placing her tools inside her tool box she watched as a message popped up on her screen. Gideon had been helping Dawn research different techniques that speedsters had used throughout time in order to defeat their enemies and increase their connection to the Speed Force. A particular speedster was the subject of Dawn’s interest right now, much to her brother’s disapproval. The Reverse-Flash. Dawn was terrified of the man himself, but his powers were of great interest to her. She was intrigued by his ability to not only retain his knowledge after altering time, but also of his ability to create speed mirages, and of course, how he could run faster than her Dad. “Gideon what’s this?” Dawn asked the AI. She received a note containing a bunch of weird looking symbols. Almost like hieroglyphics, but they were wrong somehow. Dawn thought about showing the note to her brother but for some reason something was telling her that this was for her eyes only. She grabbed a piece of paper and hastily wrote down the code, before shoving it into the pocket of her super suit.As soon as Dawn heard the tap at the door she raced around the room throwing various mechanical parts into various drawers and praying that it wasn’t her mother who was patiently waiting outside her door. After throwing her suit into her closet and slamming the door she gave a breathy. “Come in.” Dawn was met with the warm brown eyes of her brother. “Hey, what’s up?” Dawn said, putting on her best poker face. She tried to not fidget at the sweat that was running down her back. Don walked into his sister’s room, flopping down on her bed and surveying her from her awkward stance near her closet. Dawn narrowed her eyes at her brother’s observational stare and held her head high as she marched towards the chair by her desk and took a seat, daring her twin to say something. Don could tell that Dawn was doing something she wasn’t supposed to be….call it his intuition. “Nothing much, I was just wondering how it was going with Gideon.” Don phrased this more like a statement than a question because he knew that as soon as Dawn figured out his intention she would kick his ass out of her room within 0.0001 seconds. “Oh it was fine, I got everything sorted and now Gideon should be very helpful when we go out on out “little” missions.” Dawn said, quoting their mother from their earlier conversation. Don took a breath, a long time ago he learned that his sister liked to work things out by herself and then when she had calculated all the risks in her head she’d ask him to join. Occasionally she’d be a bit more forthcoming with her ideas but for the past few months Don could tell that Dawn was hiding something from him. He didn’t know exactly what it was but instead of confronting her about it Don had been satisfied with just letting her do her own thing. Now, Don wasn’t so sure he made the right choice. Lately, Don noticed that Dawn was having trouble sleeping, and he rarely saw her when they weren’t out saving people. He felt like she was distancing herself from the family altogether and he had a feeling it had something to do with the Reverse-Flash. A few months ago Dawn began researching all of the speedsters that their Dad defeated back in the day, and Don was worried that she was becoming too lost in the past. “Dawn, why do you keep insisting on researching all of Dad’s old enemies?” Don asked quietly. Dawn didn’t bother answering because she knew that Don already knew the answer. She insisted on researching her Dad’s past because it was the only way that she would ever be able to know him. He wasn’t around now, and as much as she always pretended that it didn’t bug her, she couldn’t always keep up that front around everyone. It’s not that Iris wasn’t enough. Dawn loved her Mom unconditionally, and the rest of her family as well. There were just some things that she simply needed her dad for—it just felt like a piece of her was missing. “You have to stop Dawn, there is no way that he’s coming back, okay. I know that you want him here, and I do too, so does Mom. But the only thing that we can do as a family is to move on and live our lives. You and I are already doing more for the citizens of Central City than it’s seen in a long time. Dad would’ve been proud of us.” Don argued quietly. “You brought up changing the timeline earlier. You can’t do that Dawn. If you left and came back you’d be coming back to a world that only you would know was different.” Don continued.Dawn simply gave her brother a small nod and a tight lipped smile before she got up to head to the washroom to get ready for bed. She’d had a long day and Don’s lecture made her feel bone tired. After letting the blistering heat of the water soak through her sore muscles Dawn put on a pair of sweat pants and a tank top and headed back to her room. Crawling into bed Dawn hoped that it would be a better day tomorrow. Right before she felt herself drift off to sleep Dawn remembered the mysterious note that she had received earlier that day. Racing towards her closet Dawn tore through her pockets at the speed of light and snatched the paper from her suit. Holding the paper up Dawn was able to determine that the note still didn’t make any sense. She couldn’t describe it though, she felt a connection to the symbols that were on the piece of paper. Abruptly, Dawn felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Suit still in hand, she raced down the hall towards her brother’s room and crashed against the door frame as she came to a stop. Don’s room was empty. Turning, Dawn raced down the stairs towards the front door and without warning she watched as men with guns, in black armored suits began to pour through her front door. Shocked, Dawn sped towards the back of the West-Allen house, where her mother’s room was located. She found her brother speeding around Iris’s room throwing things into a suitcase. Iris was gripping a gun and pointing it towards the doorway that Dawn currently occupied. Iris’s eyes widened at the sight of her daughter. “Dawn! Come on we have to go, you and your brother have to leave now!” Iris’s panicked voice filled Dawn’s veins with ice and for the first time in her life Dawn felt truly terrified. Don shoved the last of their mother’s clothes into her suitcase and looked up at Dawn. “We need to go.” That’s when Dawn realized that the clothes Don was packing weren’t for Iris, they were for her. Don grabbed his backpack and Iris’s suitcase and he shoved the latter into his sister’s hands before turning back to Iris. “I’m taking you to Uncle Wally’s and Aunt Linda’s place.” Don said firmly to his mother. Don turned back to his sister and they shared another look. They'd meet at the Meeting Place.Dawn nodded and the twins parted ways as they each raced in separate directions. Don sped out the back door with his mother, and Dawn dodged her way through bullets, while taking out as many of the intruders as possible before racing through the front door and down Danville. Dawn didn’t stop to look behind her until she was almost to City Centre. Skidding to a stop in front of Big Belly Burger, Dawn’s heart lurched into her throat when she rounded the corner and came face to face with Wally. “Jesus Fu-” Dawn was cut off by Wally grabbing her by the shoulders and pinning her to the wall in the alley behind the fast food chain. Slamming his hand over her mouth to keep her from growling out more curses, Wally whispered in Dawn’s ear.“They’re rounding up the metas….I don’t know why. Linda took the kids and your mom to a safe location, we’re meeting them there but we have to get out of here fast before anyone fin—” Wally was interrupted by a loud bang and both speedsters turned at the sound of the barrel of a gun being emptied. Wally easily dodged the bullets and walked over towards the man, before he pushed him against the wall and knocked him out. Turning back to his niece who was looking wild eyed and bit like a deer stuck in the headlights. Wally grabbed Dawn’s arm and looked at her, eye level, before he said something that he hadn’t said since Team Flash disbanded. “I’ll drive them in another direction. Just find your way back to Don and your Mom ok. I believe in you. Now Run, Dawn, Run!” Dawn’s mind was travelling a mile a minute as she heard Wally relay his plan to her. She dropped the suitcase and spun around throwing on her super suit. With his final request Dawn rocked forward and gripped her Uncle in a bone-crushing hug before she shot off into the night. Hearing Wally’s unwavering faith in her made Dawn certain that she had to get help. Dawn raced through Central City, a purple firework down the streets as she ran, faster and faster. Dawn needed to find someone to help her save the city. She would find someone to help her, and she knew exactly who it was that could fix whatever it was that was happening in her town. With renewed vigor, Dawn dug her heels into the dirt and sped off towards the outskirts of the city. Dawn thought back to all those times that Iris had smiled and told her how much like her father she was, how Don had always been there for her, how Wally was the supportive Uncle and father-figure that she adored. She was determined to not let any of them die. Dawn screamed as she threw herself into the tunnel that was steadily forming. She remembered reading about the Speed Force in the Reverse-Flash’s journal but being inside it herself was a whole other experience. The sheer amount of energy that surrounding Dawn made her feel like she was being crushed, but Dawn continued running. There was something that she was looking for, she was looking for the Flash. The Flash could save her city. Her father could save her family. So Dawn kept running, she ran and ran…until she felt another presence behind her, turning to look back Dawn was horrified to see the withered, skeletal face of some kind of black eyed demon. Except this black eyed demon was gaining on her…terrified Dawn veered out of the way right as the demon speedsters claws gripped her shoulder. Tumbling out of the Speed Force was not a very pleasant experience to say the least. Especially when that person tumbles out of the Speed Force above a Big Belly Burger and crash lands through the roof. “Ouch” Dawn moaned, as she pulled herself up off the floor of the restaurant. Dawn raked her hands over her body to see if there were any broken bones before she unsteadily got to her feet and exited the fast food joint. Leaving behind a very startled looking college kid at the front counter. Dawn tapped the side of her armband and Gideon’s voice bloomed throughout her com. “Good evening Dawn West-Allen, what can I do for you.” “Gideon…” Dawn said between erratic breaths as she frantically looked around the streets. “Where the hell am I?”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Dawn hastily pushed past people as she sped down the damp sidewalk. She tugged at the corners of her signature purple eye mask and desperately searched for a sign that told her where the hell she had ended up....or when. Gideon told Dawn that she was still on Earth 1 but she had been less helpful to Dawn at determining what time period she was in....it was clearly somewhere in the past and by the looks of the television screens she caught a glimpse of as she passed the window of an electronics shop. She was way farther back than she anticipated. While Dawn continued to dodge the various people walking down the street she couldn’t help but notice that there were startlingly fewer people roaming the streets than were previously. In fact, as Dawn took in her surroundings, she quickened her pace and increased her efforts to locate a date—or a name of the city she ended up in. The streets began to narrow and the lights illuminating the sidewalks got dimmer and more spread out the farther Dawn walked. She was afraid that she was heading away from civilization...until abruptly she found herself speeding through empty streets and up and down walkways until she came to a stop outside of a rather seedy looking bar. It must’ve been past closing time because Dawn had to dodge the sea of people that were emptying out of the bar. That’s when something waving in the wind caught her eye and Dawn looked down to find a glimpse of a muddy newspaper on the sidewalk, about 5 feet away. Bending down Dawn gripped the paper between shaky hands and felt her knees buckle when the date swam into view. Starling City News
April 21, 2005Dawn began to shake and she gripped the already crumpled newspaper harder, trying to blink away the numbers 2005 that were printed evenly across the page. She was right, she was too early. WAY WAY too early. Before she could register that there was someone coming she felt a pair of legs crash into her curled up form.
The man that tripped over her was now sprawled out across the sidewalk beside her, groaning and cursing. “Damn it, what the hell are you doing down there—“ the man who was clearly drunk stopped halfway through his sentence as he sat up and squinted in her direction.
“Wow, hello gorgeous.” The man exclaimed as he extended a hand to her from his place next to the gutter.
Dawn was still reeling from her recent discovery so she simply stared at the man. He was about her age, maybe a bit younger and he was without a doubt drunk off his ass.
Grabbing the man by the collar Dawn shoved him up against the wall with inhuman amounts of speed.
“What year is it?” Dawn desperately tried to hide the growing panic from her voice.
“W-what do you mean....listen you’re pretty hot but have you been living under a rock your entire life? It’s 2005 psycho. Do you even know who I am?!” The man demanded between staggered attempts to get out of her grasp.
“I’m Oliver Queen!” The man exclaimed in her face. Dawn dropped her arms in shock, almost as if touching him physically burned her.
She back peddled away from the man in fear as she tore down the street, speeding between roads, faster and faster, trying to build up the momentum to re-enter the Speed Force and find her way home. Something was wrong though, she was running just as fast as she’d always run but the Speed Force didn’t appear. Dawn was stuck....in 2005...with no way to get home and no one to help her.
The Flash didn’t exist yet...her parents were barely old enough to drive, no one knew who she was and the fact that she was this far back...anything she did was liable to erupt the timeline and erase everyone in her family out of existence. Gasping, Dawn skidded to a stop on the outskirts of the city. She had been running for hours and she had no luck entering the Speed Force so far. Dropping to the ground in exhaustion she let out a sob of frustration, raking her hands through her long dark red hair and curling her knees up to her chest. Dawn placed her head between her knees and rapidly worked to come up with a possible solution. For starters, she absolutely couldn’t let anyone know her real name. If she was stuck here she’d need to find a better power source for Gideon...because there was no way in hell that she was going to survive in this time without the AI.
Dawn wracked her brain trying to remember what her mom said about their friends in Starling City. Billionaire, Oliver Queen was shipwrecked in 2007 on an island and returned in 2012 as the Green Arrow. Ray Palmer, a Legend...but before that he was the owner of Palmer Tech....not until after 2012...damn it.Fel—that's it! Felicity Smoak. Hacker extraordinaire, worked for Queen Consolidated but before that—she was working on a degree at…MIT? Dawn shakily picked herself up off the ground and hastily braided her hair so that it fit nicely down her back. She tugged down her purple mask and dusted off her knees. Preparing to run halfway across the country was going to take a bit of a toll on her, so she wouldn’t be able to be racing around for a few days after she got to Massachusetts, this trip would likely drain her.
Grimacing at the not-so-bright prospect Dawn contemplated staying in Starling City for the night but instead she decided that it would be too much of a risk and set to work. Taking off in a flash, leaving a hazy trail of deep purple lightning in her wake. ********* The journey itself wasn’t particularly eventful in Dawn’s opinion, no running into anything (obviously) and no spontaneous reappearances of the Speed Force, much to her disappointment. When she finally came screaming to a stop in front of a sign that read Maseeh Hall, she was teetering, about ready to collapse, either from lack of nutrition or too much running she couldn’t really tell. It was rather dark outside, leading Dawn to believe that it must’ve been the middle of the night by now. She looked down at her attire while she tried to catch her breath, forcing the anxiety that threatened to crush her at any given moment back down. Stupid, why did you think this was going to be a good idea. You don’t even have any clothes to fit in with this time period, people are going to think you’re insane. She thought to herself, ripping off her mask and shoving it into the pocket, lining the thigh of her sleek silver suit. The purple trim glinted slightly in the streetlights and she muttered to no one in particular that she looked like a ‘reflective traffic sign’. Sighing, Dawn wiped the sweat from her brow with her gloved hand and walked slowly but steadily down the streets of Cambridge, keeping her eyes open and alert for any signs of danger on the deserted streets. She absent-mindedly fiddled with the gear switch on her arm-band, checking the integrity of Gideon’s power source. It looked to be in decent shape but she didn’t expect the AI to last longer than a few weeks to a month at most before she would need to find a new power source. Dawn shook her head in dismay as she turned the corner, not looking where she was going Dawn hastily ran straight into another person that night. This time though, she didn’t have the strength to stay on her feet and she crashed to the ground, groaning in pain as her elbows smacked harshly against the concrete of the pavement. Lying back against the hard sidewalk Dawn looked up at the person she had run into, her eyes widening when none other than Felicity Smoak began babbling apologies in her face. Hastily offering her a hand to help her up, Dawn couldn’t keep herself from staring as she accepted Fel’s outstretched palm.“Ohmygoodness, I am so sorry! I totally didn’t see you, I guess I need better glasses...I don’t really need better glasses--I mean I have contacts and my prescription is pretty perfect honestly, I just wasn’t paying attention to you...not that you weren’t important or anything--I mean, I'm sure you’re a very nice person...I was just kind of in my own head...are you ok---wait what are you wearing?!” Felicity burned through a lot of topics very quickly and if it weren’t for her uncannily similar personality in 2040 Dawn would’ve been stuck back on the word “sorry”. Gaping at Fel, Dawn took in her black and blue streaked hair, and her heavy eye make-up. The woman before her didn’t look anything like the powerhouse blonde Aunt that she had known her whole life. Grasping her hand Dawn hastily looked down and murmured her apologizes, hoping that Fel would just skim over her curiosity about Dawn’s choice of attire. Wincing slightly as she was hoisted up by Fel, she brushed her hand through her hair causing loose strands to fall to the side, framing her face. Dawn realized that she hadn’t said anything other than a small word of assurance and was still gawking at Felicity Smoak like she was the one dressed in a futuristic super suit equipped with alien technology.“Erhmmm, thanks--for helping me up.” Dawn said, awkwardly rubbing her elbows.
“Is that made of heat resistant reinforced tripolymer?” Felicity questioned, eagerly devouring the suit that Dawn was wearing, with her keen eyes. Dawn paled slightly, she couldn’t avoid to divulge too much information about the things that were integrated into her suit. Instead Dawn went for the old-fashioned approach of lying her ass off. “Ahahaha no actually this is just something I sewed together for a p-party!” Dawn exclaimed, giving her a sheepish smile, in her best attempt to seem embarrassed. “A-actually, I’m here visiting a friend--I’m from Central City and I seem to be lost...I’ve never been to this city before. I was wondering if you would be able to help me?” Dawn asked--pleaded with Felicity to offer her a place to stay. Felicity must’ve seen something in Dawn’s gaze beneath the limelight of the dull streetlight that flickered above their heads, because she offered her a small smile and said “I actually have a place you might be able to stay the night. What’s your name?” Felicity asked.
“Um...my name is Celeste, yeah...Celeste Thompson.” Dawn caught herself in a moment of cosmic inspiration as her grandmother’s maiden name rolled off her tongue. Felicity offered her a friendly smile, and introduced herself. She grasped Dawn’s hand and motioned for her to follow down the dully lit street. As an afterthought Felicity turned back and pointed a finger at Dawn “You’re not a murderer or anything, right?--don’t answer that” Felicity said and abruptly turned back around heading quickly down the street. Dawn looked grimly after her and prayed to the Speed Force that she would be able to interact with Fel without royally fucking up this timeline as well as her own.
*************
Dawn let the hot steam of the shower wash over her body. She craned her neck to one side, trying to massage out the knots. Taking a deep breath she looked down at the small raised cut that rested at the base of her right hip. She must’ve gotten that while she was running. Sighing to herself, Dawn turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She wrapped herself in a towel and stared at the silver and purple stretch of fabric that was hanging on the back of the door. It was covered in sweat and dirt, it definitely needed to be washed. Wrinkling her nose at the aspect of having to put the disgusting garments back on, Dawn hoped that Felicity had found something of hers for her to wear. For the first time since she arrived in this time Dawn felt herself relax. She cleared the fog off the mirror and looked at herself. Green eyes—like her brothers. And her father’s, although she had never had the chance to see his in person. Waist-length dark hair. People always told her it was more red than anything but she thought it held a bit of a darker tinge to it. Small nose, fine eyebrows, and a little dimple on the right side of her cheek when she smiled. It was just her face, she didn’t see anything particularly spectacular about it—although she and her brother had been known for being quite a good looking duo back in her time.
She reached a hand up and tugged on one of the wet strands of hair, moving it out of her face. She could hear Felicity banging around in the room next door. Dawn tightened her hold on the towel she had around herself and turned to open the door. Peeking out of the little crack that she made, Dawn was able to spot Felicity rummaging around in her closet. Her apartment was about the size of Dawn’s bedroom back home. So that left very little space for anything other than a bed, a desk, and the small bathroom that Dawn currently occupied.
“Hey Celeste! I found some clothes for you to wear. I hope you don’t mind the colour black. Tomorrow we can go shopping if you want?” Felicity called over her shoulder as she burrowed deeper into the wall of clothes that lined her small closet. “That’s no problem, as long as I don’t have to put on that gross--erhm...cosplay?” Dawn cringed at how fake that sounded as she heard Felicity make her way behind the door. Suddenly, Dawn was faced with a fistful of clothes as Felicity shoved her hand through the crack in the door. Dawn thankfully took the clothes and hastily changed, throwing her hair up in a bun to keep it out of her face.
“Do you have any food? I’m on a ‘special’ diet...” Dawn shrugged sheepishly, as she walked into the room and longingly stared at the empty plate that was left on the side of Felicity’s desk. Felicity offered Dawn a cheeky smile before throwing a grey hoodie at the redhead. The goth ushered Dawn past her desk, but before she could completely push Dawn out the door something caught the speedsters eye. Dawn snaked the drive that was sitting on the desk and ran to the bathroom--grasping her arm band from her suit Dawn instructed Gideon to analyze the drive--before Felicity even had time to blink Dawn was back in the girl's grasp.Felicity blew the hair out of her face from the sudden gust of wind that seemed to come from nowhere. She took the wrist of the redheaded girl and ushered her out of her dorm room. The girl seemed to think that this was Felicity’s apartment--in reality it was simply her room she paid for while she attended MIT. Having Celeste in her room had put Felicity a bit on edge--she did have a potentially--scratch that...she had a VERY illegal computer virus along with multiple plans for potential just displayed all over the room. She was pretty sure that the redhead wouldn’t understand half of the stuff that was displayed, but just to be safe she decided it was best that they stay out of the room as much as possible. Although not much was open at 3am--the cafeteria on campus merely had snacks for those that got the munchies. The redhead didn’t seem to care all that much because as soon as they had access to a vending machine the girl took Felicity’s credit card and went to town--much to the latter's dismay...she watched as the number of snacks just kept growing. She caught herself thinking that it was going to be a LONG night. **********After ordering a sufficient amount of food that would get her system kick-started again, Dawn was overcome with an overwhelming exhaustion. As the two girls walked back upstairs to Felicity’s dorm Dawn received an alert from Gideon. The AI’s message flashed across her vision, lighting up the special computerized contacts that she wore. “VIRUS detected”
Gideon had finished analyzing that drive that Dawn had snatched. Growling in frustration, Dawn felt her exhaustion ebb away as fear for her future Aunt began to creep into her thoughts. She remained silent the rest of the way back to the dorms. Once the two of them had made it inside, Dawn motioned for Felicity to sit on her bed. Walking over to the bathroom Dawn glowered slightly at her Aunt as she tossed the drive to the girl. Felicity’s eyes ignited with anger, but underneath that Dawn could see the fear--and that’s what she needed to get ahold of, the fear. Suddenly the air turned electric as Dawn allowed her eyes to flash for merely a second, the purple lightning reflecting in her green irises.
“You should get rid of that--the best thing you can do is to destroy it.” She said cooly, from her spot beside the bathroom door.
Felicity was shaking with anger at this point as she stared at Dawn, her gaze turned weary as Dawn administered her with a warning.
“What do you know about this?” Felicity asked.
“I’m not an idiot, I know what a basic schematic looks like.” Dawn scoffed. For a brief moment Don’s face flashed before her and she felt the crushing weight of knowing that she might not see him for a very long time...maybe ever.
Felicity brushed over the look of pain that flashed across the redhead’s face, she gripped the drive in her hand, she felt the Brother Eye’s virus burning a hole into her very being. She knew that creating something so dangerous was a risk, and here was this stranger telling her that her predictions were correct.
Refusing to believe that she was at fault, that the virus was for evil--Felicity turned her back on the redhead and said “I think it might be best if you’re gone by the morning…” Dawn flinched, she couldn’t help it. She had always known her Aunt as being the person that she would turn to for help in any situation. The fact that this younger version of her Aunt was turning her back on Dawn shouldn’t have made her feel abandoned, but it did. As Felicity turned to place the drive in the drawer of her desk, the air sparked with electricity and purple flashed behind her. Whirling around Felicity was facing her empty dorm room. There was virtually no evidence that there had ever been a person there--other than the fact that her grey hoodie, and jeans were missing. Felicity looked curiously around her room, a bit unnerved by the events that had taken place. Glancing at the flash drive, Felicity shoved it deeper into the drawer that was located near her bed, shaking her head at the bizarreness of the whole affair.*******
Dawn snaked her way through alleyways and streets before she came to a stop outside of the Department of Physics. Looking over the horizon, Dawn could see the entirety of the MIT campus from her spot in front of the building. Taking a quick look around to see if anyone was looking Dawn fazed straight through the wall and found solace in one of the many study rooms that were located on the upper levels of the building. Slumping down, Dawn allowed herself to feel the gravity of her situation…I’m trapped.
The only familiar person that I know here isn’t the person that I know.
Everyone that I DO know, is most likely gone forever...Don...Mom...Uncle Wally. The only people in my life that have ever loved me have been erased, my whole world has been destroyed, because of my reckless decision. Dawn didn’t realize she was crying until Gideon presented her with a warning, notifying her that her electronic contacts would be disabled until her vision field was cleared. Dawn allowed the AI to hibernate, while she let out a heart-wrenching sob. She let the pain overcome her, consuming her. The pain of being on her own was slowly eating away at her. She was stuck in this time, and she still hadn’t figured a way out. Gasping for breath Dawn brought her knees up to her chest from her position on the chair located in the private room. Eventually, the redhead fell asleep. She was awoken at around 10:30am to Gideon notifying her that there was someone coming. Dawn had folded her suit into a small ball about the size of a tennis ball. She felt for it in her pocket, to make sure that the familiar cloth was still with her. Grunting, Dawn sped forward and lurched towards the cafeteria, she was able to stealthily sneak away with a few bananas and an orange, along with a small carton of milk. Ignoring the pain in her swollen eyes from crying all night, and taking her recently acquired breakfast. Dawn scarfed it down hastily, a habit that she never did outgrow was eating quickly and being in a different time didn’t change that. As she speedily devoured the food, she walked through the halls of the Science Department. Most of the rooms that lined the white colored walls were marked with the signature laboratory warning symbols and various directions to certain areas. It was a pretty standard set-up as far as schools went, although Dawn couldn’t help but arch an eyebrow at the somewhat outdated technology.
Scurrying past a group of students that were walking by in lab coats, Dawn dodged the oncoming body of a man that was in conversation with another man-who was the most incredibly attractive man she had ever seen. The other one on the other hand, seemed kind of like a leech, clinging to the god-like man as if he were a--well, god. Scowling, Dawn grumbled something under her breath that answered the young man’s obvious question about something to do with particle acceleration. She then added the word ‘dumbass’ as quietly as she could as she continued on her way...but before she could make it more than a few steps she was stopped short by a voice. “Mr. Rathaway, undoubtedly you know my reputation when it comes to finding the best and the brightest. You have the experience and the potential of a very good candidate to help me with my research project. However, I can assure you that it will not be an easy road, and that is why I would suggest that you take the summer to participate in some lab work with a very prestigious colleague of mine here at MIT. You can come back for your full-time position once you’ve mastered your workload here.” The older gentleman excused himself after talking with the younger man. Dawn was not so stealthy in her eavesdropping, as she realized the tall, dark, and handsome professor was making his way down the hallway. She hastily hurried to make her way down the hallway before he caught up to her, hair flapping around her shoulders as she tugged on a piece of it nervously. She could feel her heart rate pick up at the thought that this incredibly attractive man was watching her walk in front of him.
Abruptly, she turned right at the first corner she saw and walked straight into what looked to be a small lecture hall. Groaning internally, Dawn went to turn back and head back into the hall but before she could she ran smack into a solid chest, clad in a black sweater.
Tripping into the very solid body, the man caught her by grasping her arms gently. Dawn felt a rush of embarrassment, and something else that she couldn’t put her finger on. It felt like a pulsing sensation, coursing through her whole body. Dawn suddenly realized that she still had her hand on the man’s chest.
Mortified she looked up to apologize and her face erupted into red, heat racing from her throat to her forehead. Looking at the man in absolute horror Dawn met the icy blue eyes of the man that she had been trying to avoid in the hallway. Dawn just opened her mouth and closed it, like a fish. The man with the calculating blue eyes looked at her face questioningly. He raised an eyebrow and his lips lifted in a ghost of a smile as he released his gentle hold on her arms.
“Leaving my class so soon? I’ve always thought that my guest lectures were quite popular...Ms.?” “tall, dark, and handsome” joked, raising a questioning eyebrow towards the redhead. Recovering, Dawn ducked her head and introduced herself as ‘Celeste Thompson’ a Particle Physics graduate.
“Yes, well Ms. Thompson, if you could take a seat so that we can get started that would be wonderful.” The professor offered her one more twitch of his lips as his gaze slid over the rest of the lecture hall, looking through the sea of faces. Dawn gulped, and instead of bolting right out of the door, which is what she wanted to do, she took a seat at the very front of the lecture hall. Closest to the door so that hopefully she wouldn’t draw anymore attention to herself--also so she had the quickest escape route if she needed it. Getting comfortable, Dawn watched from her spot as the man walked towards the front of the board. “Hello, I am Dr. Harrison Wells--” Dawn felt the blood drain from her face when she heard the name leave the man’s lips. Harrison Wells built the particle accelerator in 2020...he shouldn’t be at this stage of his research. What is going on? Her mind was racing... Holy fuck.