Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Barry blinked, slowly. Consciousness returned to him, carrying his memories of the past few days with it. David. Cate. Cody. The moon exploding. The base on said exploding moon.

The transfer pods.

Wait a minute. This wasn't the cold, sleek metal of the pod. This was soft, and warm. Barry took a deep breath and held it for a moment, to ground himself. Then he noticed the other breathing.

His eyes flew open.

He was lying in a bed. A hospital bed, by the looks of it. The sheets were soft beneath him, the blanket soft above him. And slouched in a nearby chair, dark hair partially obscuring a familiar face, was her. Maggie. Her locket, the one David had taken from her body in the other timeline, was hanging around her neck. Barry's breath caught in his throat. The pod had worked! He pulled himself upright, into a sitting position.

His fingers were tangled with Maggie's, he now realized. He squeezed her hand. He reached out his other hand, brushing his wife's hair out of her face.

"...Barry?" he heard his wife ask quietly. There were tears in her wide eyes, her free hand resting on his. He smiled, pulling her close. She nestled against him, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He couldn't believe it. Not only had the pods worked, Maggie was still alive. He pulled her even closer, crying softly. He pressed soft kisses to her face, before she captured his lips in a kiss. When they separated, both smiling despite the tears in their eyes, Maggie pulled away.

"I should probably go let them know you woke up," she said. Barry nodded, though he missed the contact when she left.

The next little bit was a whirlwind of activity. Doctors poked and prodded at him, checking over him for any ill effects. Thankfully, there were none.

So, they cleared him to go home with Maggie.

They left the hospital, and climbed in their old car. While seated in the passenger seat, a memory hit him. He remembered sitting in the backseat of David's rattly old truck, holding tightly to Cody so the young kid didn't go flying. Cate had claimed shotgun, and neither of them had wanted to argue with her.

"Something wrong, my love?" Maggie asked, making him jump. He gave her a warm smile.

"I'm just lost in my thoughts, darling. I'm alright," he answered. She replied, "I'll give you a penny for them." He considered for a minute. Everything that had happened to him seemed like a dream. He loved her, and trusted her with his life, but still feared she would consider him completely nuts if she heard his claims. Then there was the issue of whatever soul inhabited this version of him beforehand. Though given the hospital setting, Barry supposed that that version of him hadn't been faring too well. He'd go with that, it made him feel better. But all things considered, he wasn't sure he was ready to tell her much.

"It's... a lot. I haven't fully processed it all myself, and a lot of it sounds completely unfathomable," he admitted to Maggie, "But I'll tell you more once I've found the others." She seemed confused, but let it go.

The rest of the drive passed in a relatively comfortable silence. Barry let his mind wander. Unsurprisingly, his mind returned to the wasteland. He especially thought about Cody. He knew the kid was an orphan, probably no older than nine or ten. On their second night with David, Cody'd opened up about having been in a coma for a few months. He'd said he'd awakened shortly before the world ended. Poor, innocent Cody.

A tap on the shoulder drew him from his thoughts. They were home. The same home he'd always lived in, except it wasn't ruined now. He smiled, climbing out of the car. He took Maggie's hand. He wanted to tell her about Cody. He was confident they could find the kid, if they just searched hard enough.

"How would you feel about adopting a child?" he asked her. She gasped as she turned to look at him, frozen in the living room. He stood in the entryway. He walked toward her, explaining, "When I mentioned others, one of them was just a kid. An orphan, barely around ten. I know what orphanage we'd need to go to."

"What's the kid's name?" she asked, hesitantly but seeming genuinely interested.

"His name's Cody."

Maggie gave a sort of half-smile, sinking to sit on the couch. Barry joined her. After a moment Maggie promised, "We'll do something about Cody. But first, I think we should just be together."

Barry couldn't agree more, so he rested his head on her shoulder. She wrapped an arm around him, and they just sat there. They just talked, but they avoided the topic of Barry's earlier thoughts. It was easy for him to push them away for the moment, there with his wife.

He could settle into this new life, he thought.

Chapter Text

Cody blinked. Then he blinked again. It was quiet, and dark. He missed Barry and David. He even missed Cate! Nothing trapped him, which he was grateful for. No glass above his head. He sat up. He was in a bed, right next to a wall. A window was set into the wall a bit further down. Sunlight streamed from a tiny gap between the heavy curtains. He peered over the edge of his bed. He was on the second bed up, with a stack of beds across from him.

This was... the orphanage?

Something was nestled comfortably in his arms. He peered down, noting the white and black contrasted against the green flannel. It was his most prized possession.

"Tiger!" he shouted gleefully. He cuddled it close to him, nuzzling it with his cheek. He felt a sense of calmness and safety. The plush was his safety net. He knew it had protected him on the way there, from the moon.

He slipped out of the bed in a practiced motion. He stumbled over nothing, though, and crumpled into a heap. He pouted as he pulled himself to his feet.

His legs were shaking. Why were his legs shaking?

He couldn't see. With the curtains shut, there wasn't enough sunlight. He stumbled over to the window, pulling the thick fabric open. He smiled as the sunlight washed over his face.

"We aren't supposed to open the curtains!" another child whisper-yelled, "We could wake... Cody?"

Cody turned around, giving a little wave. He tried to force a smile. The other boy was staring, visibly confused. Then he turned around and yelled, "Headmistress! Cody's awake!"

"You didn't wake him up, did you?" she growled as she entered the room. Cody chimed in, "I woke up myself, Headmistress. I didn't realize he was in here until I opened the curtains. He gave her a polite smile and nod, using one hand to support himself on the windowsill. She clicked her fingers at him, a gesture that Cody recognized as a sign for him to get dressed and meet her in her office.

So he quickly got ready, and rushed to the headmistress's office. He knew the headmistress didn't like it when the older kids carried stuffed animals around, but he couldn't bring himself to leave the tiger behind. He tucked the plush toy into his jacket as he creaked the door open.

"Headmistress?" he murmured.

She was seated behind her desk. Sitting on the desk was a spread of food. His stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten since the day they met Barry, after all.

The Headmistress smiled, a rare hint of compassion on her face. She gestured to everything and told him, "Eat up, young man."

So he did, though he did it carefully under the headmistress's watchful eye.

He was lounging in the common room, pacing in circles with his tiger held close to his chest, when it happened.

"Get over here, dumbnuts!" one of the older girls called to him. He plodded toward her, before blinking up at her in a silent question. She gave him a flat stare and pointed in the direction of the headmistress's office.

He took a deep breath, before slinking into the office. As he opened the door, he heard the headmistress saying, "This boy has had a few... issues. Are you sure you want to adopt him?"

Issues...? He didn't have issues! ...Did he? He whimpered a little bit. He didn't want to burden whoever was in that room. He held his tiger to his chest, furiously blinking away tears.

Wait...

Adopt?

"Thank you for your concern, ma'am, but we know who we're adopting," a woman's voice replied sharply.

He poked his head through the doorframe warily. The headmistress gave him a dismissive nod. There were two people seated in the chairs across from her. A woman, presumably the one who had spoken, smiled at him. She had light brown skin, short black hair, and friendly brown eyes. She gave him a wave, and Cody waved back shyly. She chuckled warmly, and Cody could also hear a friendly laugh booming from the man who sat on the woman's other side. Cody felt at ease, now, and he walked farther into the room.

"There's the man of the hour! It's nice to meet you, Cody," the woman greeted, "My name's Maggie. My husband and I hope you'll accept us as your parents."

Her voice was warm and gentle, and she had a smile to match. When Cody got closer, she ruffled his hair. He smiled at the parents comment. Because what else would he want? The place was nice enough, but the headmistress was strict. But who was the man? Her husband?

"Is that your husband next to you?" he decided to ask. Maggie chuckled at the question. She told him, "He's been looking forward to taking you in as our child. He's missed you, Cody."

Confused, Cody raised an eyebrow. Missed Cody? He barely even knew anybody outside of the orphanage. How could he even have anybody who would miss him, especially of the age they would be able to adopt him? He racked his brain trying to think of somebody. He chewed on his lower lip as he thought, coming up with no answers to his question.

Could it be...?

"Hey, Cody."

"Barry!" Cody exclaimed, lighting up. Barry was wearing some nice clothing, complete with a tie. Cody grinned. He ran to Barry's side, latching on in a tight hug. He mumbled, "I knew you'd find me."

"So you're sure?" the headmistress asked in a flat tone. Cody heard Barry give an answer, but he was more focused on the fact that he wasn't alone anymore. He had parents! Well, he didn't have them yet, but he would! Barry ruffled his hair affectionately.

"I have to do some paperwork, Cody. I'm not going anywhere, don't worry," Barry said. Cody took a step back, releasing his new father. Maggie came up on his other side, giving him a smile. She opened her arms, offering the boy a hug. He leaned into her arms, and she squeezed him close.

When the paperwork was done, it was time to head home. Barry took one of Cody's hands, Maggie took the other, and the three exited the office.

Just outside of the office, Cody yawned. "Let's go, Cody," Barry said, scooping the child onto his back. Cody wrapped his arms around Barry's neck.

He dozed off just as he was being placed in the backseat of his new family's car. He heard Barry saying, "I'm going to sit in the back with Cody, darling."

He leaned sleepily against Barry, who lazily wrapped an arm around him. He drifted off, but not before murmuring one last thing.

"Thank you, Barry."

Chapter Text

It was dark when Cate woke up. She was on the couch in her rundown old apartment in the city.

It worked.

Good.

She squinted from the force of the headache beating at her skull. Reading about reality transfer and actually experiencing it were two different things, after all.

She swung herself off the couch, watching her reflection in the glass window. The first thing she noticed is the way her clothes hung off her frame. She brought her hands up to her torso. Her chest was nonexistent. She sighed, grumbling out a curse. Of course her body in this world hadn't gotten the surgeries.

Or the hormones, a quick search of the apartment revealed.

Okay.

Focus.

Compartmentalize.

All of her work in transitioning in the other world had been undone in this one. That was fine. She could live with that. All she had to do was get into the waiting list for it. It would take time, and a lot of it. But nowadays time wasn't a finite resource. Well, not as finite. Not nearly as finite. Just add it to her mental list of things to get started on. But she wasn't going to be very functional until after she'd had a coffee. Which she could likely have now, thanks to David's hard work.

And wasn't he something to think about.

She let her mind wander as she made her way to the kitchen. She navigated the apartment with a practiced familiarity. The kitchen had bright neon lights that made her cover her eyes for a moment. The coffee maker was right where it had always been.

It was a quick affair to make the coffee she'd craved for months.

Except now her body didn't have the same craving. Because it wasn't the same body. Well, she knew that already.

Ugh. Trying to figure this out was making her headache worse.

When the coffee finally finished brewing, she poured herself a mug. No sugar or cream, she liked it black. She took a sip, savoring the warmth that passed over her.

Her thoughts went back to David. She had no idea what his life was like before the apocalypse. What his life was like now. She could tell there had been something deeper going on when he'd claimed to be his own twin.

She missed him.

There. She admitted it.

He was the kind of guy who it was hard to not like. He was quiet overall, but had a tendency to just say whatever thoughts came to his mind. To a certain extent, she found him annoying. How much of that was her actual opinion and how much was her trying to avoid being hurt, she wasn't entirely sure. Beyond being just annoying, he was also annoyingly endearing.

He'd broken through Cate's walls terrifying fast. She'd been careful to keep her guard up. But after three days of spending non-stop time with the guy he had started growing on her.

She could probably find him.

The thought made her pause. It was likely true. But the biggest shock was how much she wanted to find him. She wanted David back in her life. And she kind of wanted it a lot.

She'd better get searching, then.

She made her way to the Sidereal Plexus office. (Apparently she was still employed there in this universe, who knew?) She scanned in via her work badge, then made her way to an office.

There was a monitor that took up almost the entirety of one wall. A keyboard sat beneath it, and she dropped herself onto the swivel chair. It creaked aggressively as she fell heavily onto it. There was some research to be done, about a man who's last name she didn't even know.

She spent hours searching.

After far too many searches, she'd found him. His face stared at her from the screen. It was just a photo, but it made her feel better. He was still alive, at least.

He had a twin, too. That was... bittersweet, considering the man's state.

Well, the twin was alive in this universe.

David wasn't too far away. Cate knew she'd be able to find him. It would take some time, but she would find him. She knew how to do it, and generally where he was. She looked up, and spoke out loud to the empty room.

"David, I'm coming to find you."

Chapter Text

A blade glinted in David's field of vision. Just a knife, but the person wielding it was blocking his way out of the alleyway.

Razor.

While he led a sizable gang in the other universe, he didn't seem to have a gang here. That was good. Less chance of reinforcements. Of course, David also had no reinforcements to speak of.

Razor planted his foot onto David's chest, driving the steel toe of his boot into the man's throat. David grabbed Razor's ankle, clawing at the thick leather. It was mostly inefficient, until his fingernails dug into pale skin. Razor yowled like a wounded dog, shaking his leg to get David off. David's head flew back, hitting the wall with a dull thud. Then, the cold steel of the blade was pressed against his throat.

"I don't have anything for you," David protested weakly.

His ears were ringing, and he was hearing things. Like the sound of boots on the ground. Not the thick steel sole of Razor's boots, but other ones.

Click.

His vision was a bit blurry, but he narrowed his eyes to try and focus.

The barrel of a gun was pointed at him. David threw his hands up, assuming it was backup for Razor. The gun clicked again, an ominous noise.

"You'd better put that knife down, get off of him, and step away," a voice growled. A young woman's voice, one that sounded familiar to him. Why would somebody come to rescue him? He didn't socialize with anybody, and had only had conversations with personnel at stores and the like.

A conversation floated into his mind out of nowhere. That happened a lot, but it felt significant now.

"Just don't point your gun at me when we do, okay?"

"Can't promise that."

The woman he'd fought to get to the Moon with. He struggled to recall her name.

...Caroline? No, that wasn't it. ...Clementine? No, not that either.

Catherine! That was it!

"Catherine?" he rasped, his throat still sore from having a steel toe driven into it. He started coughing, and his vision swam. Razor's foot was still firmly planted on David's chest, cutting off his air. At least he knew she was pointing the gun at Razor, and not at him. It made him feel a bit more hopeful. Razor pressed his foot harder into David.

"I said, get off of him!" Catherine roared, the gun going off and making David's ears ring.

Razor yowled again. David gasped for air when the foot moved from his chest. The sound of Razor's footsteps receding was like music to David's ears.

"You may have won this battle, but I will win this war! This wolf always gets his prey, you know!" Razor shouted. Then he howled, mixing with the sound of the motorcycle engine that had started this whole situation. Then a firm hand rested on his cheek. He forced his eyes open, staring blankly at Catherine. She flinched back, crossing her arms. Her face, however, betrayed her worry.

"Don't scare me like that, David," she hissed.

"You know you like me," he teased as his head cleared. He managed to slide himself into a proper sitting position against the wall. Catherine looked the same as he remembered. And now that he had time to think about it, he was pretty sure she preferred Cate. Cate flipped her hair, trying to look calmer than she was. He gave her a fond smile, which she hesitantly returned.

"How'd you find me?" he asked. Cate, suddenly looking embarrassed, glanced to the side. She quietly admitted, "I've been looking for a while. Good thing I showed up when I did, huh?"

She offered him a hand, which he gratefully accepted. She pulled him to his feet. He swayed a bit, so she looped an arm around his shoulder. She helped him walk out of the alleyway, walking past tire tracks from the motorcycle, and he gave her a fond look. He still couldn't entirely believe that Cate would come to his aid. Although, given their conversation right before Cate had gone to sleep, he wasn't entirely surprised. He was glad she was okay, it was good to finally see her again, and it was helping him remember things that had happened during the apocalypse. It seemed like she remembered a lot, as well. He glanced over at her, and noticed she was giving him a warm smile. When she noticed him looking, she turned away from his glance. Her cheeks were burning.

"You're taking me back home this quickly?" David teased. Cate squeaked, socking him in the shoulder with her free hand. David snickered, his head finally starting to feel better.

"Thank you, though. I'm glad that we found each other again."