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museofspeedTitle: Friends and Flashes
Characters: Preston, Carol, Helen, the cast of Impulse, Bart's friends and family.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 850
Summary: The Flash is dead.
Author's Notes: I noticed a lack of any mention of Bart's friends and family in Manchester at his funeral, and as they're kind of important, I decided to give them a memorial service. man this is depressing.
Preston stumbles downstairs. He’s overslept, and he’s late for school.
His dad is downstairs reading the newspaper. He looks up when Preston steps into the kitchen.
“Morning, Dad,” Preston says.
“Preston,” his dad says, “You remember that friend of yours in middle school who you were always talking about?”
“Bart Allen?” Preston says. “Of course I do. What about him?”
“Sit down, son.”
Preston sits down in a daze. “What’s this about? Did something happen to Bart?”
His dad silently hands him the front page.
Flash Murdered, reads the headline. Underneath, in slightly smaller letters, it reads, Secret identity revealed to be Bart Allen. His former aliases include Impulse and Kid Flash.
Preston stares at the newspaper. Bart had been Impulse? It’s not possible. It can’t be true. It…
It makes a lot of sense, actually.
All the strange disappearances. The complete lack of fear. The way Bart could always contact Impulse but the two of them had never been seen together. The way Bart had taken on the entire school and somehow won.
“I was friends with Impulse?” he says.
Then the rest of it hits him. “Bart…” he says, collapsing. “He’s…I never thought it’d happen to him. He was always so…” Preston wipes furiously at his eyes. “I…I…”
“If you want to miss school, I’ll understand. Helen Claiborne called. She’s getting all of the people who knew Bart well to go to her house this afternoon to hold a memorial service. Just Bart’s closest friends and family.”
“Y-yeah,” Preston says shakily. “I think – I think I need to call Carol.”
Carol is barely coherent. Preston goes over to her house and the two of them cry together over the friend they have lost.
Ms. Claiborne’s a wreck. Her eyes are red and her face is blotchy. It’s clear she’s been crying.
The old gang’s all there. Wade, Mike, Rolly. Carol and Preston, of course. Eddie and his grandfather.
There are also a lot of people Preston’s never seen before. A boy in sunglasses introduces himself as Alvin Draper. He’s standing with a group of girls. Anita Fite, Greta Hayes, a girl with white hair called Rose Wilson. Also with them is a girl he recognizes vaguely as Cissie King-Jones. He’d seen her on TV in the Olympics, and now that he thinks about it, he’d seen her with Bart a few times too. Cassie Sandsmark, Wonder Girl, stands with them too. Jay and Joan Garrick, Jesse Chambers.
He guesses these are the people who knew Impulse. Or the Flash.
People he recognizes as Bart’s family are there too. Bart’s cousin Wally West and Linda Park-West with their kids, Jai and Iris. Bart’s grandmother, Iris West.
He wonders who knew what. Carol had known. She’d kept Bart’s secret all these years. Carol had really loved Bart.
“Bart - ” Ms. Claiborne starts to say, but she bursts into tears again. Her husband puts an arm around her.
Mr. West starts to speak. “I’ve known Bart since he first came to this century,” he says. That had been another surprise that explained a lot. Bart was from the future. “He drove me crazy at first,” Mr. West says with a slight smile. “But he was a good kid. His heart was always in the right place, and I couldn’t be prouder of what he’s accomplished.”
“Bart was a great teammate and a good friend,” Cassie says. “He was exasperating sometimes, but he could always make us laugh. He was…he was…” she bursts into tears and grabs Cissie.
“He was insane and weird, and he never stopped moving, and I can’t believe he’s really gone,” Alvin says. “He was fearless. Mostly because he never thought about consequences, but I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else by my side.” Alvin turns away and pulls off his sunglasses, rubbing his eyes furiously.
Carol speaks, her voice wavering. “I figured out his secret and helped him keep it. He was my best friend, and at one point we even had…I don’t know…we could have…” she gives a shuddering gasp. “I loved him. I’ll always love him. He was such a good person.”
No one else seems to be about to speak, so Preston wheels out a television. He never threw away his videos, and he has hours of footage with Bart in it. He and Carol had gone through it all that morning and put together a montage.
Bart Allen versus the entire school. Bart as the villain in the Impulse movie. Bart helping him search for the swamp monster. Bart camping. Bart vanishing and Impulse appearing in the same place. Impulse verses White Lightning. Impulse helping during the flood. Bart dressed as Impulse on Halloween.
He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed Bart. He may have known exactly what was in the montage, but it still hurt.
Around him, everyone is crying. Some people are smiling or giving sobbing, shuddering laughs at Bart’s antics on the screen. So many people had cared so much for Bart.
And now he was gone. Dead.
Without Bart Allen, the world was a darker place.
Characters: Preston, Carol, Helen, the cast of Impulse, Bart's friends and family.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 850
Summary: The Flash is dead.
Author's Notes: I noticed a lack of any mention of Bart's friends and family in Manchester at his funeral, and as they're kind of important, I decided to give them a memorial service. man this is depressing.
Preston stumbles downstairs. He’s overslept, and he’s late for school.
His dad is downstairs reading the newspaper. He looks up when Preston steps into the kitchen.
“Morning, Dad,” Preston says.
“Preston,” his dad says, “You remember that friend of yours in middle school who you were always talking about?”
“Bart Allen?” Preston says. “Of course I do. What about him?”
“Sit down, son.”
Preston sits down in a daze. “What’s this about? Did something happen to Bart?”
His dad silently hands him the front page.
Flash Murdered, reads the headline. Underneath, in slightly smaller letters, it reads, Secret identity revealed to be Bart Allen. His former aliases include Impulse and Kid Flash.
Preston stares at the newspaper. Bart had been Impulse? It’s not possible. It can’t be true. It…
It makes a lot of sense, actually.
All the strange disappearances. The complete lack of fear. The way Bart could always contact Impulse but the two of them had never been seen together. The way Bart had taken on the entire school and somehow won.
“I was friends with Impulse?” he says.
Then the rest of it hits him. “Bart…” he says, collapsing. “He’s…I never thought it’d happen to him. He was always so…” Preston wipes furiously at his eyes. “I…I…”
“If you want to miss school, I’ll understand. Helen Claiborne called. She’s getting all of the people who knew Bart well to go to her house this afternoon to hold a memorial service. Just Bart’s closest friends and family.”
“Y-yeah,” Preston says shakily. “I think – I think I need to call Carol.”
Carol is barely coherent. Preston goes over to her house and the two of them cry together over the friend they have lost.
Ms. Claiborne’s a wreck. Her eyes are red and her face is blotchy. It’s clear she’s been crying.
The old gang’s all there. Wade, Mike, Rolly. Carol and Preston, of course. Eddie and his grandfather.
There are also a lot of people Preston’s never seen before. A boy in sunglasses introduces himself as Alvin Draper. He’s standing with a group of girls. Anita Fite, Greta Hayes, a girl with white hair called Rose Wilson. Also with them is a girl he recognizes vaguely as Cissie King-Jones. He’d seen her on TV in the Olympics, and now that he thinks about it, he’d seen her with Bart a few times too. Cassie Sandsmark, Wonder Girl, stands with them too. Jay and Joan Garrick, Jesse Chambers.
He guesses these are the people who knew Impulse. Or the Flash.
People he recognizes as Bart’s family are there too. Bart’s cousin Wally West and Linda Park-West with their kids, Jai and Iris. Bart’s grandmother, Iris West.
He wonders who knew what. Carol had known. She’d kept Bart’s secret all these years. Carol had really loved Bart.
“Bart - ” Ms. Claiborne starts to say, but she bursts into tears again. Her husband puts an arm around her.
Mr. West starts to speak. “I’ve known Bart since he first came to this century,” he says. That had been another surprise that explained a lot. Bart was from the future. “He drove me crazy at first,” Mr. West says with a slight smile. “But he was a good kid. His heart was always in the right place, and I couldn’t be prouder of what he’s accomplished.”
“Bart was a great teammate and a good friend,” Cassie says. “He was exasperating sometimes, but he could always make us laugh. He was…he was…” she bursts into tears and grabs Cissie.
“He was insane and weird, and he never stopped moving, and I can’t believe he’s really gone,” Alvin says. “He was fearless. Mostly because he never thought about consequences, but I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else by my side.” Alvin turns away and pulls off his sunglasses, rubbing his eyes furiously.
Carol speaks, her voice wavering. “I figured out his secret and helped him keep it. He was my best friend, and at one point we even had…I don’t know…we could have…” she gives a shuddering gasp. “I loved him. I’ll always love him. He was such a good person.”
No one else seems to be about to speak, so Preston wheels out a television. He never threw away his videos, and he has hours of footage with Bart in it. He and Carol had gone through it all that morning and put together a montage.
Bart Allen versus the entire school. Bart as the villain in the Impulse movie. Bart helping him search for the swamp monster. Bart camping. Bart vanishing and Impulse appearing in the same place. Impulse verses White Lightning. Impulse helping during the flood. Bart dressed as Impulse on Halloween.
He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed Bart. He may have known exactly what was in the montage, but it still hurt.
Around him, everyone is crying. Some people are smiling or giving sobbing, shuddering laughs at Bart’s antics on the screen. So many people had cared so much for Bart.
And now he was gone. Dead.
Without Bart Allen, the world was a darker place.
