[ credit where credit is due, he in fact only rolls his eyes once she's gone and he's alone again. he paces back to his cot and takes a seat, looking to his finished carton of food with dismay. what he wouldn't do for one more fry. maybe he should make that her next task - "bring back a big belly combo order" - but no, you can't sneak food into this cell.
he instead leans his head into the wall and stares up to the countdown. watches the seconds wind down and away in wait of her return. ...he should have perhaps been more specific about the return. he hopes she doesn't accidentally come back an hour from now, only to find him a corpse. ]
[Look, it's probably more of a miracle that she did it at all. It took her a couple of tries and a pit stop at Big Belly Burger because she was suddenly starving but she did it. She time traveled. All the way back to 2018 where she arrived an hour too early and got so overexcited when she saw Caitlin that she dropped her own drink on the table. It worked out though. Both Caitlin and Wells didn't seem to recognize her at all. In fact, she knows she annoyed Wells into leaving before he could grow suspicious of her.
So she's working on her return timing, okay.
It's more like thirty seconds before she's back, smiling like an idiot.]
I did it! Thawne! I went to 2018. I actually time traveled.
[ the all telling sound of the whoosh gets him to rise to his feet just as nora starts talking, and a smile comes to his face. quick learner, and she came back in less than a minute. that's good. he may only have an hour, but in theory she could have much longer to learn. ]
Nicely done. [ there may be hope yet. ] How do you feel? It's quite the rush.
Awesome. I feel like I've had sixteen double espressos from Jitters.
[Nora used to lament that she was odd and never knew why. Now she knows why, with the speedforce flooding her synapses she feels whole, powerful, like she can do anything. It's night and day. She can't believe she's lived this long without her powers.]
[ hearing about it makes his cold heart ache. oh what he would do to experience it again. 'awesome' is an understatement from an overstated young girl. ]
Ok. Time to go again. This time... think of an event to go to back in that year. Just nothing too significant, not one where you being there could cause a big change. And nothing involving your dad directly. Not yet.
[ the first time could be a fluke. second time will prove if she can pull it off. ]
Clever. A little personal, but maybe if you pretend to be from a delivery service they wouldn't think twice about it. [ yes, that should work. no one suspects the post office. he snaps his fingers and nods. ] Alright, go off then. ...And get something to eat before you come back.
[ he heard that growl, and he knows her pain. speedsters need to refuel often. ]
[Nora thinks of the six cheeseburgers and mountain of fries she demolished already tonight and winces a little. It makes sense, given everything she knows about the human metabolism that her caloric intake is going to multiply exponentially.]
They don't talk about how much speedsters have to eat in the museum either.
[That's a lot of food. Tacos sound amazing now too. She actually looks a little worried about the amount of food she's going to have to eat and how she'll realistically afford it and have enough time in the day to actually eat.]
I'd offer to bring you some, but...
[Shrug. He knows what would happen. So she'll be back soon, bye!]
[ except, not really, he could really go for a taco. but if he's going to have a last meal it of course must be big belly burger. he watches her go off, sighing in resignation to the silence that floods the chambers, and paces slow around while looking to the countdown every few seconds. well, even if nothing comes of all this, at least he gets to spend his last hour alive with company for the first time in decades. ]
[Well at least she doesn't bring her taco feast back to eat it in front of him. That would just be rude.
This time it's more like five minutes before she's back. It's a waste of time, she knows but her mom almost saw her in the past. Maybe the baby shower was a dumb idea, of course her parents would be there it was held at their loft! What if Iris had answered the door instead of Cecile? She's not ready, not even close to face any version of her mother right now.
She just needed a minute.
She's back, wearing a different jacket than before and not quite looking directly at him.]
It's done. I think it was easier this time too. That's good, right?
[ he's a little surprised when she returns, only because she was gone for so long, but he's staring down at his console when she returns. he slowly turns his body back to her and walks up to the glass, smiling. ]
Means you're adjusting. [ and no time wraiths, which means she's being mindful of how long she stays. ] Yet... I sense something is wrong?
[ the lack of a direct look tips him off. she's a lot more like barry allen than she realizes. ]
[Everything's wrong. Her whole life is turned upside down. Lia's dead. Her mom is the ultimate liar. Her dad was the Flash. The only person left is the Reverse Flash, who's supposed to be a villain and who is also on a limited timeline.]
My mom almost saw me. She didn't, I swear, I just... it's been a long night.
[ he crosses his arms as his smile tempers to a neutral. ]
Time travel has a way of... messing with your sense of time. You say it's been a long night, but to me you've only been gone a few minutes. [ he glances up to the countdown for a brief moment, then back to her, lowering his arms to his sides again. ] That's the beauty of it though. As long as you know what you're doing, you could stay in the past for a long time. An hour, a day, months. Years.
...Then you come back here and it's been just a few minutes.
[If she times everything right. Nora glances up at the countdown as well, wincing when she realizes how long she was gone to that baby shower. That's five minutes she won't get back. That's five minutes where he could have taught her something else about being a speedster.]
I thought you said time wraiths will stop me if I stay too long.
[ not quite infinite, no, but from her perspective it may as well be. it'll be one of the longest hours of his life, that's a given. ]
Only if you're not careful. Time wraiths mostly come for us when we go to a point in time we already exist in. You won't run into that if you're going to a Pre-Crisis era.
[ that's how he sees the timeline. Post-Crisis and Pre-Crisis, because everything comes down to that day when the skies turned red and the world came closer to ending than any time before. ]
Ok. One more test. November 27th, 2017. Does that day ring a bell for you?
[Of course she knows that. That picture of Iris and Barry on their wedding day is one of her favorites. She'd stolen it to keep in her room as a kid so many times that Iris had another one printed up just for her.]
You said I wasn't ready to meet my dad yet either. And I'm not going all that way so my mom can yell at me for something else now.
You're not meeting your mom. Just your dad. [ he leans into the corner wall of the cell, gently tapping the glass with one hand of fingertips. ] You can disguise yourself as reception staff easy enough. Say hello to the groom and come back.
Two travels through time undisturbed proves you can handle yourself in terms of getting from Point A to Point B. Now, blending into significant days in insignificant ways - that's the test of a seasoned time traveler. You need to be inconspicuous. Don't say anything to give yourself away. [ he stops, then smiles to himself. ] Adopt a role. Play the part. No one will question it if you believe it.
[ no one ever did for him, at least not for fifteen years. ]
[He's going to see right through her. Nora is a bad liar on her best days and today has been a very bad, no good day. But there's really no other way, since Eobard isn't going to make it to the morning.]
[Yeah, actually, she does kind of want to know his entire life story. There's clearly a lot of gaps between what she knows from the articles her mom has written, the museum and how the guards are treating him here.]
I just... realize there's a lot I don't know about you.
[ he deflates a little, only because it's nice to have someone care after so long, but- ]
There's no time.
[ so much as he likes talking about himself, there are more pressing matters. and it may be for the best she doesn't know. she wouldn't be standing here if she did. ]
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Don't talk anymore than you have to. Don't say your name. ...And don't look for your dad.
[ he already said it, but he'll reiterate again with a sterner than usual tone so she (hopefully) gets the message. ]
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[Don't nag like her mother. It's not going to win him any favors. Nora drops her braid, stepping back from the glass. Taking a deep breath, she nods.]
See you in a flash, then.
[Yes, she does think she's pretty funny. She runs off in a flash of gold and purple before he can roll his eyes at her.]
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he instead leans his head into the wall and stares up to the countdown. watches the seconds wind down and away in wait of her return. ...he should have perhaps been more specific about the return. he hopes she doesn't accidentally come back an hour from now, only to find him a corpse. ]
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So she's working on her return timing, okay.
It's more like thirty seconds before she's back, smiling like an idiot.]
I did it! Thawne! I went to 2018. I actually time traveled.
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Nicely done. [ there may be hope yet. ] How do you feel? It's quite the rush.
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[Nora used to lament that she was odd and never knew why. Now she knows why, with the speedforce flooding her synapses she feels whole, powerful, like she can do anything. It's night and day. She can't believe she's lived this long without her powers.]
Is it like this every time?
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[ hearing about it makes his cold heart ache. oh what he would do to experience it again. 'awesome' is an understatement from an overstated young girl. ]
Ok. Time to go again. This time... think of an event to go to back in that year. Just nothing too significant, not one where you being there could cause a big change. And nothing involving your dad directly. Not yet.
[ the first time could be a fluke. second time will prove if she can pull it off. ]
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[It isn't Nora's brain that protests another trip to the past. It's her stomach, which growls loudly at his suggestion.]
Okay. Yeah. I can... do that. My Aunt Jenna was born that year, I could drop something off at her baby shower?
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Clever. A little personal, but maybe if you pretend to be from a delivery service they wouldn't think twice about it. [ yes, that should work. no one suspects the post office. he snaps his fingers and nods. ] Alright, go off then. ...And get something to eat before you come back.
[ he heard that growl, and he knows her pain. speedsters need to refuel often. ]
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They don't talk about how much speedsters have to eat in the museum either.
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[ he's kiiiiidding. mostly. like 50% ]
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[That's a lot of food. Tacos sound amazing now too. She actually looks a little worried about the amount of food she's going to have to eat and how she'll realistically afford it and have enough time in the day to actually eat.]
I'd offer to bring you some, but...
[Shrug. He knows what would happen. So she'll be back soon, bye!]
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[ except, not really, he could really go for a taco. but if he's going to have a last meal it of course must be big belly burger. he watches her go off, sighing in resignation to the silence that floods the chambers, and paces slow around while looking to the countdown every few seconds. well, even if nothing comes of all this, at least he gets to spend his last hour alive with company for the first time in decades. ]
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This time it's more like five minutes before she's back. It's a waste of time, she knows but her mom almost saw her in the past. Maybe the baby shower was a dumb idea, of course her parents would be there it was held at their loft! What if Iris had answered the door instead of Cecile? She's not ready, not even close to face any version of her mother right now.
She just needed a minute.
She's back, wearing a different jacket than before and not quite looking directly at him.]
It's done. I think it was easier this time too. That's good, right?
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Means you're adjusting. [ and no time wraiths, which means she's being mindful of how long she stays. ] Yet... I sense something is wrong?
[ the lack of a direct look tips him off. she's a lot more like barry allen than she realizes. ]
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[Everything's wrong. Her whole life is turned upside down. Lia's dead. Her mom is the ultimate liar. Her dad was the Flash. The only person left is the Reverse Flash, who's supposed to be a villain and who is also on a limited timeline.]
My mom almost saw me. She didn't, I swear, I just... it's been a long night.
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Time travel has a way of... messing with your sense of time. You say it's been a long night, but to me you've only been gone a few minutes. [ he glances up to the countdown for a brief moment, then back to her, lowering his arms to his sides again. ] That's the beauty of it though. As long as you know what you're doing, you could stay in the past for a long time. An hour, a day, months. Years.
...Then you come back here and it's been just a few minutes.
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[If she times everything right. Nora glances up at the countdown as well, wincing when she realizes how long she was gone to that baby shower. That's five minutes she won't get back. That's five minutes where he could have taught her something else about being a speedster.]
I thought you said time wraiths will stop me if I stay too long.
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Only if you're not careful. Time wraiths mostly come for us when we go to a point in time we already exist in. You won't run into that if you're going to a Pre-Crisis era.
[ that's how he sees the timeline. Post-Crisis and Pre-Crisis, because everything comes down to that day when the skies turned red and the world came closer to ending than any time before. ]
Ok. One more test. November 27th, 2017. Does that day ring a bell for you?
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[Of course she knows that. That picture of Iris and Barry on their wedding day is one of her favorites. She'd stolen it to keep in her room as a kid so many times that Iris had another one printed up just for her.]
You said I wasn't ready to meet my dad yet either. And I'm not going all that way so my mom can yell at me for something else now.
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Two travels through time undisturbed proves you can handle yourself in terms of getting from Point A to Point B. Now, blending into significant days in insignificant ways - that's the test of a seasoned time traveler. You need to be inconspicuous. Don't say anything to give yourself away. [ he stops, then smiles to himself. ] Adopt a role. Play the part. No one will question it if you believe it.
[ no one ever did for him, at least not for fifteen years. ]
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How do you know so much about time travel?
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I just... realize there's a lot I don't know about you.
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There's no time.
[ so much as he likes talking about himself, there are more pressing matters. and it may be for the best she doesn't know. she wouldn't be standing here if she did. ]
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back here like 100 years later, my bad