Within Seconds: Flashpoint Edition

The Love You Save

Barry started to run to her apartment. Halfway there, he stopped, realizing that it was close to noon already. There was no way she would be home on a Tuesday afternoon. He rerouted to her high school. He skidded to a stop in the parking lot, searched for her beat down little Honda, then slid a note underneath her windshield wiper. 

Parker Sylas,
This is the last note I'll ever write that consists of me begging to see you, because I don't want to keep doing this to you. I want to be in your life, in our children's lives. I was overwhelmed, which doesn't sound like a good excuse, until I tell you the full story. I will tell you everything, if you just meet me. My house at six? If you don't, I promise I'll leave you alone. It's your decision to have me in your lives. But, I beg of you, please, to just give me this last chance. Then, you'll understand everything. 
-Barry Allen

It didn't take long for Barry decide leaving that note was one of the worst decisions he had ever made. His heartbeat was fast, faster than normal and a nauseous feeling in his gut had begun and wouldn't stop. He was terrified of her reaction. If she was to react badly, not believe him, the rest of his life would have to be lived without her. He wasn't sure if he could survive a life absent of her. 

At six o'clock, Barry slipped out of his front door and took a seat on his porch steps. He laced his fingers together and tapped his intertwined hands against his lips. He hadn't noticed the rocking of his body, nor the obnoxious tapping of his foot. 

"You're nervous."

If Barry's face wasn't already red and flustered, it was after he noticed Parker sitting on the swinging chair on his porch. He scrambled to his feet.

"I meant to knock on the door. I just needed a second to breathe, get my thoughts together," she continued softly, timidly. She didn't meet his eye. "I don't even know why I'm here, Barry."

"It's the same reason I came back: you feel something for me," he admitted. 

"I'm always going to, Bar. You gave me my babies," she said. 

Barry inhaled a breath. "No. I didn't."

"So, you're just gonna tell me I got pregnant by myself?"

"No, I did, but I didn't."

"...Okay?"

For several seconds, Barry's face morphed as his mind tried to piece sentences together. He stared at her, his brow furrowing, then flattening as he decided on a beginning, but then discarded it because each one sounded worse than the last. 

"Barry, just spit it out," encouraged Parker. 

Without thinking, he said, "See, by now, the other Parker would have cursed me out."

"'The other Parker'? What other Parker?" she asked. 

 "Okay, so, I'm not your Barry. I am Barry, but I'm not the one from the life that you know. I come from a different timeline. I changed mine, which turned into this one, which is why I'm here," he explained. 

Parker continued to stare blankly at him. 

"Okay. Let's see... Um, I have abilities. I can run fast, fast enough to change time," he explained.

"So, you're a meta-human?" 

"I am."

"Does that mean our...?"

"No, because you didn't have those kids with me. You had them with other Barry. Now, I'm him, though. So those are, technically, my kids."

Parker blinked, but she still looked utterly confused.