Post by C_Miller on Dec 20, 2011 0:15:05 GMT -5
Ultimate Flash: Requiem #2
A Death in the Family Pt. 2
*Special Thanks to The Wonderful Wachter who helped inspire the first dialogue between Jessie and Wally*
Keystone City, Kansas. Two Days Later.
Snow began to fall gently from the sky as Captain Cold scurried through the darkened streets and back alleys of Keystone City and made his way towards the Waid River. He chuckled at the serendipity of the first snow of the season marking his return to the team he helped put together. After he reached the shipping yard on the river, he hopped the fence and began to make his way towards Warehouse 815. Suddenly, he felt a distinct gust of wind blow past his head.
He looked around and saw Kid Flash or whom he thought was Kid Flash in a strange costume. Rather than her standard yellow spandex with red lightning bolts covering it, she was wearing a skin-tight black leather costume with one yellow lightning bolt on her chest. “Cold…”
“Kid Flash. Get outta my way.”
She stuck her hand up with one finger out and began to wag it in front of his face. “I don’t think I can do that, Cold.”
“I just spent two days watchin’ your mentor’s body. Don’t give me this shit. Now, let me by…” He tried to sneak by her, which she responded to with a swift punch in the shoulder.
She shook her head profusely. “You’ve done wicked things. The wicked must be punished.”
He looked at her through the slits of his snow goggles. “Are you fer real? Youse the same kid that always seemed uncomfortable in her own costume? The same girl that ran all the way ta Star City when ya first ran into me? What changed?”
“I did.” He heard a gruff voice behind him, causing him to turn around and see a man in a costume similar to The Flash’s, but the red was darker, there were more lightning bolts covering it and the headgear was a helmet made out of some kind of metal.
Captain Cold backed up and ran into Kid Flash who pushed him towards the new man. “Wh… who are you?”
The man sneered, flashing his poorly cleaned teeth. “They call me Johnny Quick.” The man pulled a crowbar out from behind his back and smashed it over Captain Cold’s head. “Here’s Johnny!” Soon after Jessie followed suit with her own crowbar, but they were nearly immediately interrupted by a group of Rogues, including Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master and Pied Piper who flew out of the warehouses around them.
Captain Boomerang lobbed a boomerang at Jessie and it attached itself to her. She quickly tried to get it off but it before she could get it off, it began to electrocute her, causing her molecules to go berserk. “D… D… Dad!?! JOHN!?”
John paid no attention as he recklessly attacked as many rogues as he could, before his burst of speed wore off. Curiously, he gazed back at his young daughter, writhing on the floor in paid and shook his head before slamming the crowbar into the Pied Piper’s stomach.
Captain Cold laboriously stood up and blasted Jessie with a shot from his cold gun, which stopped her body from shaking. “Whadaya doin’, mate? She was done!”
“Shut up and focus, Harkness!” Cold spat out as Boomerang took the crowbar to the head, knocking him out cold.
Captain Cold rolled his eyes in exasperation as he shot another blast, on a higher setting towards Johnny Quick who was able to dodge it. Just then, Sage, another member of the Rogues came out of one of the storage facilities, just as Johnny was running by, surprising him. Out of shock, he drove the end of the crowbar through her chest.
“JOHN! NO!” Jessie yelled from her spot frozen on the road.
John’s eyes grew wide under the mask as he backed away from the woman who was roughly his daughter’s age. He turned around completely towards his daughter and fumbled through the pocket of his costume, pulling out a pill. He took it and in a burst of speed, grabbed his daughter and ran towards the center of town.
***
Central City, Missouri
Wally West hadn’t really talked to anyone in the past two days, not since Jessie had left. Even though he felt guilty for not being there for his aunt Iris, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with everything that had been going on between the death of his Uncle and father figure and then the loss of the girl that taught him how to love.
Most of the weekend, he had retired to the garage to work on the car that Barry bought him for his 21st Birthday a little over a year ago. This was the only thing that currently gave him any type of solace.
“Penny for your thoughts.” The unfamiliar voice startled him and he hit his head on the under belly of the car as his head shot up in surprise. He rolled out from under the car and saw the bespectacled fiery redhead that was Jessie’s roommate: Barbara Gordon
Rubbing his head, Wally stood up and greeted her with a light handshake. “Hey, Babs. I don’t think Jack’s going to be here tonight. Sorry.”
“Why would I care about that?! You must be mistaken… err…” A shade of red deeper than her hair erupted across her face and Wally flashed her a slight grin as he went back to the car, this time under the hood. Babs walked around to get a better look at him. “I’m sorry about… I mean… she’ll, you know. She’ll be back, it’s just…”
He cut her off. “Can you pass me that carborator on the shelf over there?” She looked at him with a confused look on her face. “The carburetor, please.”
She shook her head. “Oh yeah. Sorry.” Without hesitation, she grabbed the carburetor and handed it to Wally.
He looked at her with a look of bemused surprise on his face. “How did you know exactly what the carburetor was?” Wally indicated towards the shelf that was packed with different car parts of all shapes and sizes with a slight head nod.
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah… Dad’s a motor head, not only did he want me to learn how to perform minor fixes my own car, but he didn’t have a son to play in the garage with. James was never one for that kind of stuff, well, neither was I, but you know, I was a bit more open to Dad’s… whims shall we say.”
A silence fell between the two of them as Barbara found a seat and Wally continued to work on his car. “Babs…” Wally broke the silence with a sense of uncertainty in his voice. “I want to find her. I need her now more than ever.”
He looked over at her and she had a wide smile on her face. “I was starting to think you wouldn’t say anything.”
Nearly an hour later, the pair was hard at work in Wally’s bedroom, on his computer patrolling through police records with Barry’s old police scanner on his desk. Barbara, although she went to school for English and History education, she was quite adept at computers and finding information. “There seems to be a series of attacks on masked criminals around the docks… all reports speak of some type of entrapment.”
“Entrapment?”
Barbara nodded. “Yeah, if you’re right about Jess’ father and that he’s lost his powers, then they would need that to have the upper hand.”
“Any idea of where they’re staying?”
Barbara typed several words into the keyboard and after a couple clicks of the mouse, she answered. “There are several apartment complexes in the area… it’s possible.”
Wally shook his head emphatically. “I’ve spent some time researching and I believe that John Chambers came into town right after Barry’s death. I don’t think his permanent residence is in the twin cities.”
“Well, there’s this hotel… the only one close enough for a non-Speedster to escape to… let me do a quick run of the credit card history.” She typed a couple of things into the computer and her face lit up. “Perfect… Jessica Belle Garrick used her credit card to buy a room.”
Wally clapped his hands together and let out a loud holler as he quickly threw on his denim jacket. “Babs, you’re amazing. Come on, let’s go.”
“Go? Go where?”
Wally eyed her cautiously. “After Jessie…”
Barbara let out a long, deep sigh and stood up to walk over to Wally, laying her hand on his cheek. “Look, Wally… Jessie left for her own reasons… Wally, I just want you understand that you might not like it when you find her.”
“I’ll take my chances.” He grabbed his keys and quickly exited the room.
***
Keystone City, Kansas
It had been a few hours since they tried to engage the Rogues at the docks and Jessie had just recovered from the effects of the Cold Gun and the Electro-Rang. Her father John remained unconcerned as he was constantly pestering her to go on another run for Velocity 9, the one thing that was keeping him a viable fighter.
“Jessica, are you ready to go? Savitar’s not going to be there all night.” John asked her frantically as he parted the blinds with his fingers to peer out of the window out of paranoia.
Jessie stretched and reached behind her back to briefly massage her shoulders, which were still tensed from the pulses of electricity that went through her body earlier. “We wouldn’t want to keep your dealer waiting, now would we?”
John ran over to her, grabbing her and pushed her up against the wall next to her bed. “Don’t you ever let me catch you talking like that again.” He her down and wiped his nose, which had started bleeding. “You sound just like Jay. The Speed Force just throws itself at him… and then he talks down on everyone else who wants to pursue it. Hypocrites all of you.”
“Is that why you experimented on me?” She shot out faster than she was able to control realize what she was saying.
John stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her. He let out a hearty belly laugh and glared at her. “You’ve been waiting thirteen years to ask me that, haven’t you?”
Jessie was silent. This man frightened her. He always had and now for some reason, she had put all of her faith in him. She nodded to answer his question, but as she did it, she made sure to avoid eye contact.
He let out an angry chuckle. “You of all people should know what it’s like to feel connect to paradise and then have it be ripped away from you. You know what that feels like…” He took a couple deep breaths and regained his composure. “I met Jay Garrick in 1972… and I first met the Speed Force… I spent the next decade trying to get back… and unfortunately you were born, but I solved that problem.”
Jessie winced as she got a quick flashback to her father performing an experiment on her that involved being exposed to multiple electric shocks of high voltage while being doused in a variety of chemicals. That was her seventh birthday. By the next year the Garricks were formally adopting her.
“I found my way back only to have lost it again… yes, you know about that one… and here I am with my connection severed again. Hh. You have NO idea what that does to a man.” John put his fist next to Jessie’s head on the wall. Then he smiled widely. “Lucky for me, I found Velocity 9.”
Jessie’s eyes darted to the bedside table where a syringe with a needle, a strip of rubber tubing and a small injection bottle with a little bit of fluid left in it. “You weren’t like this before Mom died.”
John rolled his eyes. “We’ve got more important things to worry about than that whore’s death. Did anyone ever tell you why she was in that car in the first place? She was off to have a midnight rendezvous with Alistair Mardon… yes, the billionaire… her death was the best thing that happened to me.”
A tear rolled down Jessie’s cheek to which John scoffed at. “Jess, I know you don’t fully understand me. Barry and Jay snuffed out any chance of that… but I know a part of you can…” He saw her eyeing the syringe. “Take some. Then we’ll be able to fully see eye to eye.”
Jessie wasn’t sure what to do. She still had her speed and about thirty times prior to this moment had thought about taking off and going home, but her pride wouldn’t let her. There was also something compelling about him.
Reluctantly she nodded and John’s hand went towards the strip of rubber tubing which he tied around her upper arm after he helped her roll up her sleeve. Once her arm was ready, he carefully prepared the syringe with the last bit of the drug and placed her arm firmly in his hand. He then delicately moved the needle into position, after finding a vein and pushed the needle into her skin.
She quickly breathed in at the pain that the needle gave off and again considered running away, but he soon pressed down the syringe, letting the drug course through her veins. The drug quickly took over and it all went to her head. She knew what being fast was all about, she knew the Speed Force, but this was the first time her brain joined her body in working at super speed. It felt… good.
“Wow…” she let out in a satisfied breath. “That was… wow…”
John smiled and stood up after he took the syringe from her arm and removed the rubber tubing. “I’m going to go hop in the shower. After I’m out we can head to Savitar and get some more.” He exited the room and when Jessie heard the shower start, she fell back onto the bed. Almost immediately, she heard a knock at the door.
She stood up to answer it and when she did, Wally charged into the room with his fists out. “Jessie, where is he?” Her eyes darted to the bathroom and she pointed towards it. “Perfect. We have to get you out of here.” Wally grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door.
“No.”
Wally stopped dead in his tracks. “What?”
“Wally… I… I can’t.”
Wally glared at her. “I heard about Sage. Was that you? Did you kill her… did you take the easy way out there too… Barry would have expected better from you.”
Jessie responded with a swift slap across Wally’s face that was fueled by Velocity 9, which sent him stumbling backwards. While she felt bad, she didn’t think to apologize to him. In a rage, she ran over to the table in the corner of the room where there was a pad of paper. She quickly scribbled down her old formula with a pencil.
“There. Why don’t you say it a couple hundred times and maybe, just maybe you’ll get your wish to be little Barry.” She spat at him with vigor and poison in her voice that she had never ever used with someone before.
Wally took a step back, holding his hands up in front of him. “Jess… I didn’t mean. I’m…”
Jessie continued as she continued to take closer steps to him. “No. You don’t understand. You don’t know you the way I do. All your life you wanted to run alongside Barry, but never prepared for what came along with it. Tell me, Wally, if you had the choice, what would you do?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. No, shut up. Don't speak to me about duty or loyalty or respect of Barry. Barry's dead. Gone. Hell, at this rate, Jay's on his way out too. Their opinion don't matter... What. Would YOU. Do?”
She felt lightning in every word due to the drug, but she didn’t dare stop. “If the choices was yours, would you accept a destiny of knowing you can't save everyone no matter how fast you run? Would you live every day knowing that a failure that lasts on a second for others lasts a lifetime for you?” She felt a tear roll down her cheek followed by five more. “It's not over in an instant. It takes forever.”
By the time she finished, she had falling back on the bed and was nearly sobbing. “So tell me, would you like to spend every week knowing, you’ll have at least one day that feels like a life time, watching someone die.”
Wally moved over towards her and wrapped his arms around her, lovingly kissing her forehead and temple. “Jess, you’ve never told me any of this before… why not?”
“Barry was able to deal with it... I didn’t want to seem… I didn’t want to be weak in front of any of you. With John… I can cover it up with him and not feel guilty… he understands.” She was pleading with him. Even though he helped her deal with her abuse, he had never seen her like this.
Just then, John walked out of the bathroom wearing his costume without the helmet. “Ah, Barry’s little lapdog. Good of you to join us.”
Wally shot up and drew an antique Colt 45 out of his jacket and pointed it directly at John as he cocked it back. “Jess, get out, I can hold him off.”
She stared mortified at the gun as John brushed it off with a laugh. “That thing is nearly 3 times as old as I am. Can that thing even still shoot?”
Wally flashed him a half smile. “Want to find out?” Wally asked in his best Clint Eastwood impression, which even he would say lacked the same punch.
With that John charged him and without thinking, Wally pulled the trigger, lobbing a bullet towards Jessie’s father. In a split second, Jessie shot up and grabbed the bullet nearly before it had left the barrel. Wally was wide eyed at what he had just almost done, but he quickly snapped out of it. “Jess… come on…”
“Wally, I can’t.” She moved towards him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Before she pulled away, she gave him a light affectionate kiss on the lips.
John grimaced. “Isn’t that sweet… now Jessica, Savitar’s waiting… Oh and boy, tell Jay hello for him. Tell him that Jessica knows who her real father is.” With that Wally lobbed the gun at his head, which connected right above his eye.
Before he could wait for the reaction, Wally stormed out of the room and ran towards the car where Barbara was still waiting for him. “Jessie?”
“She’s with him now.” Wally slammed his hand down on the dashboard as Barbara drove away.
***
St. Baron Cathedral. Central City, Missouri. The Next Day.
The funeral was a sight for the ages; the first superhero funeral that was held in the public eye and unfortunately, it would not be the last. The entire Keystone City Police Department was there for both their friend Barry and their unofficial guardian, The Flash. Wally recognized Commissioner Hotchkiss with Joe Jackam in the first row. Joe’s granddaughter Julie who was attending the Police Academy was also there. She had graduated High School with Wally and was actually his date to Senior Prom, when he and Jessie were having a spat. Patricia Spivot, Kristin Kramer and James Forrest were all there as Barry’s closest friends from the force.
Of course the Justice Society of America was there, or what was left of it. Rex Tyler and Ted Knight sat with their families near the middle of the main hall, even though Rick Tyler and Jack Knight refused to show. Erin Tyler and David Knight managed to make a showing. Of course Barbara Gordon and Jennifer Hayden were there in support of Jessie, but now it all went to Wally. There was a group of people who Wally didn’t recognize that was congregated together. Iris told Wally that they were members of Barry’s old partner, Danielle’s family including her daughter Marley, who looked to be around seven
Of course several politicians were there, to remain in the public eye. The Mayors of Keystone City and Central City were both there as were both Senators of each Missouri and Kansas and a smattering of State Assemblymen, State Senators and Representatives. Wally did recognize that outspoken Republican Senator from Colorado, Roy Hudson who was the former brother in law of Rex Tyler was there and he brought along his daughter Delilah Tyler who had just signed on to a major record deal.
And of course the family was there in the front row. Iris, Danielle, Gabriel, Bart, Joan Garrick, and other relatives were all present. Even Wally’s parents had managed to make an appearance. While he was worried about them
Wally pulled his head back in to the room where he and the rest of the pallbearers were waiting. It was him, Fred Chyre (Barry’s closest and oldest friend), Albert Desmond (his protégée at in the Science Lab), and Jay Garrick. When the time came, they carefully took the casket that held Barry’s body into the main hall of the church and onto the altar and took their seats up there. It was then when Wally saw a sight that made his heart skip a beat. He saw Jessie sitting in the back of the cathedral.
The rest of the funeral went by in a blur. Even his speech went on autopilot, only saying some generic things about how The Flash wasn’t his hero, but that it was Barry. Otherwise, he was numb to everything.
After he loaded Barry’s casket into the hearse that was headed towards the crematorium for cremation, he began to head to his car. When he got there, he saw Jessie sitting on the back bumper, rubbing her hands together for warmth. Wordlessly, Wally took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she replied with very little emotion in her voice and the silence continued to plague the pair. “I’m sorry,” she breathed sadly.
Wally eyed her and pulled her close to him. “What happened?”
“I don’t… I can’t…” She started, but couldn’t finish. She closed her eyes and let a tear run down her cheek. “My fath… John’s not a good man. And I saw that last night..”
Wally’s blood turned both cold and boiling at the same time as fear and rage took over his body. “What did he do to you?”
Jessie shook her head. “Nothing… he killed Sage… he told me that it was self-defense, but I saw him… he didn’t feel anything… I can’t…” She stopped and dried her eyes before the tears froze to her face.
“Then I saw you. You didn’t come for any other reason than to save me… from John, from myself...”
Wally nodded. “It was nothing.”
Jessie smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Hush. It was something. Wally, you’ve been my first everything. You were my first kiss when we were twelve. Four years later we gave each other our virginity. You were my first friend, my first boyfriend. The first person I was able to trust. Yet, I’ve played you… I never gave you what you needed… what you wanted…”
“Jessie, you don’t need to.”
She silenced him with a long, passionate kiss. “Wally, I love you. I wish I could be more creative than that, but I love you more than anything and I want to be with you. It took me all these years, but I want to be with you.”
Wally kissed her back with the same love behind it and when he pulled back, they were both smiling through their tears. “I love you too, Jess.”
The kissed several more times to reaffirm their commitment to each other and they began to drive back to Wally’s house with his free hand in Jessie’s lap. Once they got to the house, Jessie turned to him with a deadly serious look. “What you told me about letting Barry down hit home… I’ve been on the streets since Barry died… it’s not pretty.”
They stepped out of the car and Jessie sped to the other side of the car facing Wally. “These cities… the police are great, but they can’t handle some of these things. The Twin Cities need The Flash.”
Wally looked at her curiously, but deep down he knew what she was saying and it excited him. Nearly immediately, she tapped into the Speed Force and came out of it in costume; not her yellow Kid Flash costume or her black Jessie Quick costume. This one was red with yellow boots, lightning bolt wristbands and a lightning bolt belt. The costume was finished off with a white circle split diagonally by a lightning bolt.
“Jessie…”
“Nope. You can call me The Flash.”
A Death in the Family Pt. 2
*Special Thanks to The Wonderful Wachter who helped inspire the first dialogue between Jessie and Wally*
Keystone City, Kansas. Two Days Later.
Snow began to fall gently from the sky as Captain Cold scurried through the darkened streets and back alleys of Keystone City and made his way towards the Waid River. He chuckled at the serendipity of the first snow of the season marking his return to the team he helped put together. After he reached the shipping yard on the river, he hopped the fence and began to make his way towards Warehouse 815. Suddenly, he felt a distinct gust of wind blow past his head.
He looked around and saw Kid Flash or whom he thought was Kid Flash in a strange costume. Rather than her standard yellow spandex with red lightning bolts covering it, she was wearing a skin-tight black leather costume with one yellow lightning bolt on her chest. “Cold…”
“Kid Flash. Get outta my way.”
She stuck her hand up with one finger out and began to wag it in front of his face. “I don’t think I can do that, Cold.”
“I just spent two days watchin’ your mentor’s body. Don’t give me this shit. Now, let me by…” He tried to sneak by her, which she responded to with a swift punch in the shoulder.
She shook her head profusely. “You’ve done wicked things. The wicked must be punished.”
He looked at her through the slits of his snow goggles. “Are you fer real? Youse the same kid that always seemed uncomfortable in her own costume? The same girl that ran all the way ta Star City when ya first ran into me? What changed?”
“I did.” He heard a gruff voice behind him, causing him to turn around and see a man in a costume similar to The Flash’s, but the red was darker, there were more lightning bolts covering it and the headgear was a helmet made out of some kind of metal.
Captain Cold backed up and ran into Kid Flash who pushed him towards the new man. “Wh… who are you?”
The man sneered, flashing his poorly cleaned teeth. “They call me Johnny Quick.” The man pulled a crowbar out from behind his back and smashed it over Captain Cold’s head. “Here’s Johnny!” Soon after Jessie followed suit with her own crowbar, but they were nearly immediately interrupted by a group of Rogues, including Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master and Pied Piper who flew out of the warehouses around them.
Captain Boomerang lobbed a boomerang at Jessie and it attached itself to her. She quickly tried to get it off but it before she could get it off, it began to electrocute her, causing her molecules to go berserk. “D… D… Dad!?! JOHN!?”
John paid no attention as he recklessly attacked as many rogues as he could, before his burst of speed wore off. Curiously, he gazed back at his young daughter, writhing on the floor in paid and shook his head before slamming the crowbar into the Pied Piper’s stomach.
Captain Cold laboriously stood up and blasted Jessie with a shot from his cold gun, which stopped her body from shaking. “Whadaya doin’, mate? She was done!”
“Shut up and focus, Harkness!” Cold spat out as Boomerang took the crowbar to the head, knocking him out cold.
Captain Cold rolled his eyes in exasperation as he shot another blast, on a higher setting towards Johnny Quick who was able to dodge it. Just then, Sage, another member of the Rogues came out of one of the storage facilities, just as Johnny was running by, surprising him. Out of shock, he drove the end of the crowbar through her chest.
“JOHN! NO!” Jessie yelled from her spot frozen on the road.
John’s eyes grew wide under the mask as he backed away from the woman who was roughly his daughter’s age. He turned around completely towards his daughter and fumbled through the pocket of his costume, pulling out a pill. He took it and in a burst of speed, grabbed his daughter and ran towards the center of town.
***
Central City, Missouri
Wally West hadn’t really talked to anyone in the past two days, not since Jessie had left. Even though he felt guilty for not being there for his aunt Iris, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with everything that had been going on between the death of his Uncle and father figure and then the loss of the girl that taught him how to love.
Most of the weekend, he had retired to the garage to work on the car that Barry bought him for his 21st Birthday a little over a year ago. This was the only thing that currently gave him any type of solace.
“Penny for your thoughts.” The unfamiliar voice startled him and he hit his head on the under belly of the car as his head shot up in surprise. He rolled out from under the car and saw the bespectacled fiery redhead that was Jessie’s roommate: Barbara Gordon
Rubbing his head, Wally stood up and greeted her with a light handshake. “Hey, Babs. I don’t think Jack’s going to be here tonight. Sorry.”
“Why would I care about that?! You must be mistaken… err…” A shade of red deeper than her hair erupted across her face and Wally flashed her a slight grin as he went back to the car, this time under the hood. Babs walked around to get a better look at him. “I’m sorry about… I mean… she’ll, you know. She’ll be back, it’s just…”
He cut her off. “Can you pass me that carborator on the shelf over there?” She looked at him with a confused look on her face. “The carburetor, please.”
She shook her head. “Oh yeah. Sorry.” Without hesitation, she grabbed the carburetor and handed it to Wally.
He looked at her with a look of bemused surprise on his face. “How did you know exactly what the carburetor was?” Wally indicated towards the shelf that was packed with different car parts of all shapes and sizes with a slight head nod.
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah… Dad’s a motor head, not only did he want me to learn how to perform minor fixes my own car, but he didn’t have a son to play in the garage with. James was never one for that kind of stuff, well, neither was I, but you know, I was a bit more open to Dad’s… whims shall we say.”
A silence fell between the two of them as Barbara found a seat and Wally continued to work on his car. “Babs…” Wally broke the silence with a sense of uncertainty in his voice. “I want to find her. I need her now more than ever.”
He looked over at her and she had a wide smile on her face. “I was starting to think you wouldn’t say anything.”
Nearly an hour later, the pair was hard at work in Wally’s bedroom, on his computer patrolling through police records with Barry’s old police scanner on his desk. Barbara, although she went to school for English and History education, she was quite adept at computers and finding information. “There seems to be a series of attacks on masked criminals around the docks… all reports speak of some type of entrapment.”
“Entrapment?”
Barbara nodded. “Yeah, if you’re right about Jess’ father and that he’s lost his powers, then they would need that to have the upper hand.”
“Any idea of where they’re staying?”
Barbara typed several words into the keyboard and after a couple clicks of the mouse, she answered. “There are several apartment complexes in the area… it’s possible.”
Wally shook his head emphatically. “I’ve spent some time researching and I believe that John Chambers came into town right after Barry’s death. I don’t think his permanent residence is in the twin cities.”
“Well, there’s this hotel… the only one close enough for a non-Speedster to escape to… let me do a quick run of the credit card history.” She typed a couple of things into the computer and her face lit up. “Perfect… Jessica Belle Garrick used her credit card to buy a room.”
Wally clapped his hands together and let out a loud holler as he quickly threw on his denim jacket. “Babs, you’re amazing. Come on, let’s go.”
“Go? Go where?”
Wally eyed her cautiously. “After Jessie…”
Barbara let out a long, deep sigh and stood up to walk over to Wally, laying her hand on his cheek. “Look, Wally… Jessie left for her own reasons… Wally, I just want you understand that you might not like it when you find her.”
“I’ll take my chances.” He grabbed his keys and quickly exited the room.
***
Keystone City, Kansas
It had been a few hours since they tried to engage the Rogues at the docks and Jessie had just recovered from the effects of the Cold Gun and the Electro-Rang. Her father John remained unconcerned as he was constantly pestering her to go on another run for Velocity 9, the one thing that was keeping him a viable fighter.
“Jessica, are you ready to go? Savitar’s not going to be there all night.” John asked her frantically as he parted the blinds with his fingers to peer out of the window out of paranoia.
Jessie stretched and reached behind her back to briefly massage her shoulders, which were still tensed from the pulses of electricity that went through her body earlier. “We wouldn’t want to keep your dealer waiting, now would we?”
John ran over to her, grabbing her and pushed her up against the wall next to her bed. “Don’t you ever let me catch you talking like that again.” He her down and wiped his nose, which had started bleeding. “You sound just like Jay. The Speed Force just throws itself at him… and then he talks down on everyone else who wants to pursue it. Hypocrites all of you.”
“Is that why you experimented on me?” She shot out faster than she was able to control realize what she was saying.
John stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her. He let out a hearty belly laugh and glared at her. “You’ve been waiting thirteen years to ask me that, haven’t you?”
Jessie was silent. This man frightened her. He always had and now for some reason, she had put all of her faith in him. She nodded to answer his question, but as she did it, she made sure to avoid eye contact.
He let out an angry chuckle. “You of all people should know what it’s like to feel connect to paradise and then have it be ripped away from you. You know what that feels like…” He took a couple deep breaths and regained his composure. “I met Jay Garrick in 1972… and I first met the Speed Force… I spent the next decade trying to get back… and unfortunately you were born, but I solved that problem.”
Jessie winced as she got a quick flashback to her father performing an experiment on her that involved being exposed to multiple electric shocks of high voltage while being doused in a variety of chemicals. That was her seventh birthday. By the next year the Garricks were formally adopting her.
“I found my way back only to have lost it again… yes, you know about that one… and here I am with my connection severed again. Hh. You have NO idea what that does to a man.” John put his fist next to Jessie’s head on the wall. Then he smiled widely. “Lucky for me, I found Velocity 9.”
Jessie’s eyes darted to the bedside table where a syringe with a needle, a strip of rubber tubing and a small injection bottle with a little bit of fluid left in it. “You weren’t like this before Mom died.”
John rolled his eyes. “We’ve got more important things to worry about than that whore’s death. Did anyone ever tell you why she was in that car in the first place? She was off to have a midnight rendezvous with Alistair Mardon… yes, the billionaire… her death was the best thing that happened to me.”
A tear rolled down Jessie’s cheek to which John scoffed at. “Jess, I know you don’t fully understand me. Barry and Jay snuffed out any chance of that… but I know a part of you can…” He saw her eyeing the syringe. “Take some. Then we’ll be able to fully see eye to eye.”
Jessie wasn’t sure what to do. She still had her speed and about thirty times prior to this moment had thought about taking off and going home, but her pride wouldn’t let her. There was also something compelling about him.
Reluctantly she nodded and John’s hand went towards the strip of rubber tubing which he tied around her upper arm after he helped her roll up her sleeve. Once her arm was ready, he carefully prepared the syringe with the last bit of the drug and placed her arm firmly in his hand. He then delicately moved the needle into position, after finding a vein and pushed the needle into her skin.
She quickly breathed in at the pain that the needle gave off and again considered running away, but he soon pressed down the syringe, letting the drug course through her veins. The drug quickly took over and it all went to her head. She knew what being fast was all about, she knew the Speed Force, but this was the first time her brain joined her body in working at super speed. It felt… good.
“Wow…” she let out in a satisfied breath. “That was… wow…”
John smiled and stood up after he took the syringe from her arm and removed the rubber tubing. “I’m going to go hop in the shower. After I’m out we can head to Savitar and get some more.” He exited the room and when Jessie heard the shower start, she fell back onto the bed. Almost immediately, she heard a knock at the door.
She stood up to answer it and when she did, Wally charged into the room with his fists out. “Jessie, where is he?” Her eyes darted to the bathroom and she pointed towards it. “Perfect. We have to get you out of here.” Wally grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door.
“No.”
Wally stopped dead in his tracks. “What?”
“Wally… I… I can’t.”
Wally glared at her. “I heard about Sage. Was that you? Did you kill her… did you take the easy way out there too… Barry would have expected better from you.”
Jessie responded with a swift slap across Wally’s face that was fueled by Velocity 9, which sent him stumbling backwards. While she felt bad, she didn’t think to apologize to him. In a rage, she ran over to the table in the corner of the room where there was a pad of paper. She quickly scribbled down her old formula with a pencil.
“There. Why don’t you say it a couple hundred times and maybe, just maybe you’ll get your wish to be little Barry.” She spat at him with vigor and poison in her voice that she had never ever used with someone before.
Wally took a step back, holding his hands up in front of him. “Jess… I didn’t mean. I’m…”
Jessie continued as she continued to take closer steps to him. “No. You don’t understand. You don’t know you the way I do. All your life you wanted to run alongside Barry, but never prepared for what came along with it. Tell me, Wally, if you had the choice, what would you do?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. No, shut up. Don't speak to me about duty or loyalty or respect of Barry. Barry's dead. Gone. Hell, at this rate, Jay's on his way out too. Their opinion don't matter... What. Would YOU. Do?”
She felt lightning in every word due to the drug, but she didn’t dare stop. “If the choices was yours, would you accept a destiny of knowing you can't save everyone no matter how fast you run? Would you live every day knowing that a failure that lasts on a second for others lasts a lifetime for you?” She felt a tear roll down her cheek followed by five more. “It's not over in an instant. It takes forever.”
By the time she finished, she had falling back on the bed and was nearly sobbing. “So tell me, would you like to spend every week knowing, you’ll have at least one day that feels like a life time, watching someone die.”
Wally moved over towards her and wrapped his arms around her, lovingly kissing her forehead and temple. “Jess, you’ve never told me any of this before… why not?”
“Barry was able to deal with it... I didn’t want to seem… I didn’t want to be weak in front of any of you. With John… I can cover it up with him and not feel guilty… he understands.” She was pleading with him. Even though he helped her deal with her abuse, he had never seen her like this.
Just then, John walked out of the bathroom wearing his costume without the helmet. “Ah, Barry’s little lapdog. Good of you to join us.”
Wally shot up and drew an antique Colt 45 out of his jacket and pointed it directly at John as he cocked it back. “Jess, get out, I can hold him off.”
She stared mortified at the gun as John brushed it off with a laugh. “That thing is nearly 3 times as old as I am. Can that thing even still shoot?”
Wally flashed him a half smile. “Want to find out?” Wally asked in his best Clint Eastwood impression, which even he would say lacked the same punch.
With that John charged him and without thinking, Wally pulled the trigger, lobbing a bullet towards Jessie’s father. In a split second, Jessie shot up and grabbed the bullet nearly before it had left the barrel. Wally was wide eyed at what he had just almost done, but he quickly snapped out of it. “Jess… come on…”
“Wally, I can’t.” She moved towards him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Before she pulled away, she gave him a light affectionate kiss on the lips.
John grimaced. “Isn’t that sweet… now Jessica, Savitar’s waiting… Oh and boy, tell Jay hello for him. Tell him that Jessica knows who her real father is.” With that Wally lobbed the gun at his head, which connected right above his eye.
Before he could wait for the reaction, Wally stormed out of the room and ran towards the car where Barbara was still waiting for him. “Jessie?”
“She’s with him now.” Wally slammed his hand down on the dashboard as Barbara drove away.
***
St. Baron Cathedral. Central City, Missouri. The Next Day.
The funeral was a sight for the ages; the first superhero funeral that was held in the public eye and unfortunately, it would not be the last. The entire Keystone City Police Department was there for both their friend Barry and their unofficial guardian, The Flash. Wally recognized Commissioner Hotchkiss with Joe Jackam in the first row. Joe’s granddaughter Julie who was attending the Police Academy was also there. She had graduated High School with Wally and was actually his date to Senior Prom, when he and Jessie were having a spat. Patricia Spivot, Kristin Kramer and James Forrest were all there as Barry’s closest friends from the force.
Of course the Justice Society of America was there, or what was left of it. Rex Tyler and Ted Knight sat with their families near the middle of the main hall, even though Rick Tyler and Jack Knight refused to show. Erin Tyler and David Knight managed to make a showing. Of course Barbara Gordon and Jennifer Hayden were there in support of Jessie, but now it all went to Wally. There was a group of people who Wally didn’t recognize that was congregated together. Iris told Wally that they were members of Barry’s old partner, Danielle’s family including her daughter Marley, who looked to be around seven
Of course several politicians were there, to remain in the public eye. The Mayors of Keystone City and Central City were both there as were both Senators of each Missouri and Kansas and a smattering of State Assemblymen, State Senators and Representatives. Wally did recognize that outspoken Republican Senator from Colorado, Roy Hudson who was the former brother in law of Rex Tyler was there and he brought along his daughter Delilah Tyler who had just signed on to a major record deal.
And of course the family was there in the front row. Iris, Danielle, Gabriel, Bart, Joan Garrick, and other relatives were all present. Even Wally’s parents had managed to make an appearance. While he was worried about them
Wally pulled his head back in to the room where he and the rest of the pallbearers were waiting. It was him, Fred Chyre (Barry’s closest and oldest friend), Albert Desmond (his protégée at in the Science Lab), and Jay Garrick. When the time came, they carefully took the casket that held Barry’s body into the main hall of the church and onto the altar and took their seats up there. It was then when Wally saw a sight that made his heart skip a beat. He saw Jessie sitting in the back of the cathedral.
The rest of the funeral went by in a blur. Even his speech went on autopilot, only saying some generic things about how The Flash wasn’t his hero, but that it was Barry. Otherwise, he was numb to everything.
After he loaded Barry’s casket into the hearse that was headed towards the crematorium for cremation, he began to head to his car. When he got there, he saw Jessie sitting on the back bumper, rubbing her hands together for warmth. Wordlessly, Wally took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she replied with very little emotion in her voice and the silence continued to plague the pair. “I’m sorry,” she breathed sadly.
Wally eyed her and pulled her close to him. “What happened?”
“I don’t… I can’t…” She started, but couldn’t finish. She closed her eyes and let a tear run down her cheek. “My fath… John’s not a good man. And I saw that last night..”
Wally’s blood turned both cold and boiling at the same time as fear and rage took over his body. “What did he do to you?”
Jessie shook her head. “Nothing… he killed Sage… he told me that it was self-defense, but I saw him… he didn’t feel anything… I can’t…” She stopped and dried her eyes before the tears froze to her face.
“Then I saw you. You didn’t come for any other reason than to save me… from John, from myself...”
Wally nodded. “It was nothing.”
Jessie smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Hush. It was something. Wally, you’ve been my first everything. You were my first kiss when we were twelve. Four years later we gave each other our virginity. You were my first friend, my first boyfriend. The first person I was able to trust. Yet, I’ve played you… I never gave you what you needed… what you wanted…”
“Jessie, you don’t need to.”
She silenced him with a long, passionate kiss. “Wally, I love you. I wish I could be more creative than that, but I love you more than anything and I want to be with you. It took me all these years, but I want to be with you.”
Wally kissed her back with the same love behind it and when he pulled back, they were both smiling through their tears. “I love you too, Jess.”
The kissed several more times to reaffirm their commitment to each other and they began to drive back to Wally’s house with his free hand in Jessie’s lap. Once they got to the house, Jessie turned to him with a deadly serious look. “What you told me about letting Barry down hit home… I’ve been on the streets since Barry died… it’s not pretty.”
They stepped out of the car and Jessie sped to the other side of the car facing Wally. “These cities… the police are great, but they can’t handle some of these things. The Twin Cities need The Flash.”
Wally looked at her curiously, but deep down he knew what she was saying and it excited him. Nearly immediately, she tapped into the Speed Force and came out of it in costume; not her yellow Kid Flash costume or her black Jessie Quick costume. This one was red with yellow boots, lightning bolt wristbands and a lightning bolt belt. The costume was finished off with a white circle split diagonally by a lightning bolt.
“Jessie…”
“Nope. You can call me The Flash.”
That Ends the Era of Barry Allen as The Flash. Next issue we will finally get to good old 2011 (just in time for 2012). So stay tuned to see where the Saga of The Flash goes from here!