Chapter 30 : It always starts with a training montage (A talk between friends)

 

The Thompsons’ home living room, The Thompsons’ home, Forest Hills, Queens, New York, 26th of January, 13:53

 

I perk up when I realize that three relatively familiar minds, I only got to be familiar with them for less than a day after all, are nearing toward the house.

 

My eyes narrow in consideration when I feel a fourth one among them.

 

A casual sweep of surface thoughts letting me catch a glimpse of a very confused and angsty mind later, I turn myself toward Flashy, who is busy catching up with his classes on a nearby seat.

 

Jessie, seated next to me with her head comfortably laying on my shoulder, renews her attention.

 

“Flashy, they are coming soon.” I tell him, “And Liz’ is with them.”

 

The wordless nod of acknowledgement he’s giving me halts, and his eyes snap toward me.

 

His mouth flaps open for a beat, before he shuts his eyes close, exhaling slowly.

 

“Ok.” Flashy starts, “Ok. I’m not ready but I guess I never will.”

 

He takes another deep breath, closing the book in his lap a bit more forcefully than needed, a little shockwave of displaced air reaching us, which prompts Jessie to give him the stink-eye.

 

I absentmindedly pat the younger girl on the head, a motion mimicked by my half-dozing blood-sister from her shoulder-spot, throwing Jessie a look.

 

We have an understanding and she chooses to sulk silently instead of annoying her brother.

 

“I guess you’re going to want some privacy ?” I comment offhandedly.

 

“Yeah, I think so too.” Flashy nods, “Guess I’m lucky my room never looked that clean in my life, then.”

 

A little smile curls the corner of my lips as Jessie quietly snickers.

 

“My, who could have succeeded in that most perilous and herculean task ?” I question loftily, batting my eyes at him all the while.

 

He snorts, shaking his head as his shoulder relaxes a little.

 

“Thank you for that ‘sis’.” Flashy answer genially, a little bit of mirth showing.

 

It’s my turn to snort, considering how he behaved yesterday when I informed him that from now on, we were as good as twins in the public eyes.

 

There was a lot of swearing, blatant dismay and eyes raised to the sky while ‘praying for a merciful god to deliver him from this hell’ involved.

 

“Twinsies for life !” I peppily goad him with a high-pitched voice, opening my arms in a hugging invitation and giving him my best expectant look.

 

An act he answers by rolling his eyes and giving me a rude gesture, the corner of his mouth valiantly trying not to show the beginning of a smile he is struggling to school.

 

“Please, tell me that you won’t act like that in school.” Flashy begs aloud while Jessie snickers.

 

“You’re so mean, little bro’ !” I answer as I keep my act, plastering an expression of mock-hurt on my face and pouting while hugging Jessie in his stead since he so rudely refused my invitation.

 

I totally might just to annoy him, though.

 

Iris mentally snickers at my most foul and traitorous thought.

 

The younger girl surrenders herself with a content expression, now much more clingy and open in her appreciation of my golden majestic self, which definitely warms my heart a lot.

 

“And why would you be the eldest, pray tell ?” Flashy drawls, eyebrows twitching in irritation.

 

“She’s literally forty-two.” Jessie answers matter-of-factly, still enjoying our hug and Iris’ silent pampering.

 

“She acts nothing like it !” He exclaims, arms akimbo, “And why are you taking her side ?”

 

“Because she’s cuddly, beautiful and she helps me with my school stuff ?” Jessie mercilessly points out.

 

My heart melting a little in happiness, a sentiment shared by my symbiotic half if her soft cooing sounds are anything to go by, I bent forward to plant a kiss on Jessie’s head in appreciation.

 

“Traitors, all of you.” Theatrically lament Flashy, displaying mock-dismay and holding his heart in faked outrage.

 

The four of us laugh for a bit, enjoying the calm before the storm.

 

***

In front of the Thompson’s home, Forest Hills, Queens, New York, 14:02, In Liz’ Allen’s mind.

 

“Again, I’m sorry to intrude.” Liz’ shyly said for the nth time to the three girls she was walking with.

 

They had met by happenstance at the bus stop and, when the fact that they were all going in the same direction was made clear, she had accepted to walk with them.

 

Probably a good decision in hindsight, since it had forced her to go through with her goal of meeting with Flash instead of giving up like she had intended to while stepping outside the bus.

 

Liz’ didn’t know why, but Aria’s admission of her deceit and Flash's recent return, as fantastical as it sounded, had raised a lot of doubts in her heart since yesterday.

 

What was real and not was getting mixed up in her mind, and she didn’t really know why she even considered the idea to meet him.

 

She had changed, she was sure of it. Being regularly exposed to the no-nonsense and serious attitude of Aria when she was still wearing her (ex ?) boyfriend’s skin made her reconsider a lot of things in life.

 

She had stuck to the review sessions the two of us had with Gwen even after they ‘broke up’ because the ambiance, while serious, was still underlaid with banter and quipps, and Aria had made learning enjoyable, something she never expected it to be.

 

So, Liz’ had started to work on other matters too. Her grades weren’t anything stellar, but she was still steadily climbing, intending to build herself a future, after Aria had reminded her that it was highschool’s true purpose with a pinched expression on her face when she whined brattily about it.

 

Not gallivanting around rating potential boyfriends with the other cheerleaders while cruising on barely acceptable grades.

 

Liz’ still chose to continue her cheerleading activities because she enjoyed it, but she had started to put a more conservative distance between it and her. While an acceptable physical outlet, it wouldn’t help her build a life for herself, after all.

 

“No biggies,” easily shrugged Jessica Jones, a girl that would have looked at her with palpable distaste two days ago and was simply not caring about her presence right now.

 

“As Jess’ said so eloquently,” Reiterated Gwen while throwing toward her friend a look, “That’s not an issue, Liz’. Aria’s invitation was rather open.”

 

Liz’ was actually surprised that Gwen just sort of rolled with Aria’s change. She had herself easily understood that the blond was pinning after ‘Flash’ since a good month ago, a knowledge she had managed to stay privy too until Thursday when Gwendolyn might have displayed a bit too much of her affection publicly than should have been reasonable if she wanted to shield herself from the rumor mill.

 

Since yesterday, though, everybody that pretended to be someone that mattered talked with their nose pointed upward about Aria and Gwen being real cozy during the Oscorp Tower’s tour.

 

A fact that actually annoyed Liz’ quite strongly. While surprising, Gwen’s orientation was her business and only hers, and talking behind her back about it was just plain rude.

 

She had an inkling that Aria wouldn’t give those rumors even a smidgen of her attention though, the girl having impressed on her on multiple occurence that she just didn’t give a fuck about some random teenagers’ opinions about her.

 

Yesterday’s events actually contextualized the girl’s behavior better than any kind of argument : she did what she wanted, and if someone was feeling offended by it, she wouldn’t care either way.

 

That was actually quite a feat, and Liz’ found herself admiring the baby blue eyed girl a lot for her pride and self-esteem.

 

“Don’t worry about it, Allen.” Easily added Cindy Moon, arms raised and hands clasped behind her head, her eyes looking upwards at the sky, “Beside, you have a good reason to come too.”

 

“Yeah, I’m not so sure about that.” Liz’ mumbled under her breath, more to herself than for anyone else’s benefits.

 

“You’re nervous ?” Intently asked Gwen, but Liz’ could feel that there was no judgment behind the tone.

 

“I,” She started, stopping for a beat to structure her thoughts, “I don’t know ? It seems sort of unreal to me.” She confessed a bit lamely.

 

“Tell me about it,” Drawled Cindy, which prompted Gwen to lightly swat her on the shoulder, earning herself a glare from the taller dark haired girl, “...Forget it.”

 

Liz’ got curious at the biplay, Gwen’s staring contest with Cindy still ongoing while Jessica chuckled openly.

 

“So, why are you going to the Thompsons anyway ?” Liz’ asked, trying to shift the focus the farther away from her that she could.

 

The three other girls looked at each other with various degrees of discretion, ranging from blatantly to sneaky eye contact, before Gwen coughed lightly in her hand with an awkward expression.

 

“Studying ?” The blond attempted, but her tone being one octave higher than usual definitely clued Liz’ that something was afoot.

 

Her eyes narrowed as they all finally neared the Thompsons’ home.

 

“Ok, what’s the deal ?” Liz’ asked a bit more forcefully, staring at the blond.

 

“Don’t bother.” Answered Jessica with a lazy wave of her hand, “Can’t even talk about it if we wanted to, props to Miss G&G.”

 

“Miss G&G ?” Liz’ asked, blinking in puzzlement.

 

“It stands for Golden and Gorgeous, obviously.” The dark haired girl answered with a smirk directed Gwen’s way, who promptly sputtered.

 

“That was one time, Jess’, one time.” The blond whined softly, eyes closed.

 

“Stop bothering her, Jess’, we told you it’s not like that.” Cindy said with a look of exasperation, which made Liz’ blink anew.

 

It’s definitely like that, though.

 

But why golden ?

 

Because of Aria’s hair ?

 

“Look, we’re here !” Gwen forcefully redirected, walking faster in the vain hope of escaping the discussion.

 

Jessica snickered playfully as Cindy kept looking her way with the look a mother gave her children when they misbehaved.

 

Shaking her head in amusement, which coincidentally lifted some of the tension that weighed on her shoulder, Liz’ accelerated her pace to catch onto Gwen, who was frantically ringing the bell.

 

A slew of muted sounds getting heard from the outside later, it opened, revealing a cheerfully smiling Aria to the both of them, as well as the two dark haired girls behind them as they finally stepped next to Gwen and Liz’.

 

Aria’s dress was sublime, and Liz’ was instantly a bit jealous because the other girl made it look so good and natural it wasn’t even fair. The tall blonde’s silhouette was framed in black and purple fabrics so deep it evoked the night, in a design that was both conservative and new at the same time, with lacey accentuations around a corset top crafted in a way she couldn’t possibly imagine.

 

Aria also had a very nice pair of boots, and Liz’ made a mental note of asking her where she found them because, while not totally her style, she could maybe find something for herself at the address proper.

 

“Gwennie, Liz’, girls !” Aria gushed as she saw them, motionning for them to come closer.

 

In the corner of her eyes, Liz’ witnessed Gwen’s brain sort of crash as her eyes roamed the taller’s blond figure, before briefly rebooting as her cheeks gained an interesting color.

 

Despite her best attempt to display some discretion toward her friend’s crush, Liz’ couldn’t stop herself from letting a little smirk slip past her lips in front of Gwen’s display.

 

Yeah, ‘definitely not like that’ my buttocks.

 

But where Gwen Stacy surprised her was when she schooled her expression in favor of friendliness and stepped to hug the taller blond without flinching, prompting Aria to first blink in surprise before flushing herself a little when the two made contact.

 

Oh ?

 

It barely lasted a second before the taller girl got the situation back under control, quickly releasing Gwen after a short embrace to motion to Liz’ and the two others to enter while stepping aside herself.

 

“Please, come in,” Aria said with a gentle smile.

 

After a slew of greetings, shoes and heavy winter clothes dropping, their hosts guided them toward the living room.

 

Flash and his sister were waiting for them, the former seated on a chair while the latter was laying with her legs folded under her on the couch.

 

“Hey.” The younger girl waved shilly at them, her eyes shifting a little in front of Aria’s friends, before settling on Liz’ with a more confident smile, “Hi, Liz’.”

 

“Hi Jessie.” She answered in turn with a soft smile.

 

Flash’s sister had always been a dear with her, after all.

 

“Hello, and welcome to you all.” Flash said as he rose from his seating position, and Liz’ thought process halted.

 

There was something that was different about him, and, thinking about her first encounter with Aria when she woke up in her hospital bed, the reality hit her like a truck.

 

His speech patterns and general attitude had changed.

 

In the corner of her eyes, she could see that the other girls were also carefully taking stock of the changes, the worst offender of all being Jessica Jones who was looking at him with eyes as wide as two UFOs.

 

Gone were the bombastic tones and rather forceful demeanor, letting place to quiet strength and easy calm.

 

Liz’s eyes narrowed, truly observing him now as he neared them, Aria herself remaining silent while laying her back on the threshold, her hands clasped in front of her.

 

“Sorry if I’m a bad host, I would normally offer you something to drink, but I think there’s someone I have to meet first.” Flash offered with a helpless gesture and a disarming smile toward them, his eyes locking with Liz’s own.

 

Liz’ heart did a little hiccup as she took in his gentlemanly demeanor, a bit of heat rising to her cheeks.

 

“Unless you want something first, Liz’ ?” He asked her hesitantly.

 

“No, no, that’s fine.” She croaked, despite her mouth suddenly feeling as dry as a desert, “Talking is good.”

 

Captivated by his baby blue eyes, in which she could see something that she did not properly understand, she could still see in the corner of her own Aria raise her hand to hide a little mirthful smile.

 

The other girls were acting no better, their expressions ranging from disbelief toward knowing smirks, Gwen’s eyes in particular having that glint in them that someone had when they just saw something extremely interesting.

 

Traitor ! I’ll make you pay !

 

Oblivious to her dismay, Flash simply nodded, glancing at Aria who made a vague gesture of understanding.

 

“It’s ok, she’s under too, you can talk all you want.” The blond smiled at Flash, who answered with a grateful nod.

 

“Let’s go to my room ?” He asked testily, giving Liz’ a chance to choose a more comfortable setting if she didn’t want to.

 

She wordlessly nodded, at which Flash threw a last questioning look toward Aria.

 

“Go on, I’ll take it from here with the girls,” She lazily answered while leaving her spot against the threshold.

 

“Good.” He answered with a smile, redirecting his attention toward Liz’, “Follow me ?”

 

“Will do.” She croaked anew.

 

What the hell is wrong with me ?

 

I know him, by heart, so why am I so flustered around him now ?

 

Silently following Flash upstairs, Liz’ found herself in his bedroom before she realized it.

 

“Take the seat, please.” He offered kindly, and she nodded, setting her purse in her lap as she did so in his office chair.

 

Flash plopped himself on his bed, silently locking eyes with her, considering.

 

The silence stretched for a beat, as Liz’ finally properly took stock of her ‘boyfriend’s’ state.

 

He looked just the same, but there were a few differences between what had been until yesterday’s Aria’s apparently unwillingly borrowed body and his own. His traits were just as she remembered, but they were a little more perfectly shaped than previously, which ended up being a bit ery.

 

Flash finally sighed, raising his head toward the sky with his eyes closed, a hand coming to scratch the back of his head.

 

“Fuck, I’m so awkward at this.” He lamented under his breath.

 

That surprised Liz’ even more because she couldn’t remember him displaying being vulnerable even once.

 

While she was just blinking in surprise, Flash’s attention snapped back to her, his brows a little furrowed.

 

“Aria told you that I was…” He stopped, visibly struggling with something, “Away for a time, right ?”

 

Still a bit dumbstruck by all of his changes, Liz’ simply nodded assent to his statement.

 

“Ok, that’ll make things easier, I guess.” He mumbled under his breath, eyes looking downward for a beat, before spearing her owns again, “Please, let me speak about it all at once, because it’s rather difficult for me and I’d rather do it in one go, you’ll be able to ask any questions you want after that, alright Liz’ ?”

 

“Alright.” Liz’ agreed softly, curious about what brought those changes in him.

 

“So, it all started when McBurrow shoulder-checked me during the match.” He started, eyes focusing on something she couldn’t see, probably on memories only he could see, “That tackle was anything but regular, and, next thing I knew I was knocked out cold.”

 

“Where it started to get weird was that I didn’t wake up in the locker-room or the hospital, or even here, at home.” He continued, gesturing vaguely around him, which prompted Liz’s eyes to roam the room.

 

She hadn’t noticed before, but it was way cleaner than she ever saw it be. And the distasteful posters he had hung on the walls were now gone.

 

A good thing because she always found herself a bit inadequate in comparison.

 

“No, I woke up in the strangest of all places, trapped into a contraction that I cannot hope to comprehend, albeit Aria suspects it to be of magical nature, in something she calls the Astral Plane.” He carried on, and Liz’ wanted to intervene when he mentioned the M word, but his raised hand halted her.

 

“I promise it’ll all make sense when I’ve finished, Liz’.” He answered her unasked question with a gentle smile, and Liz’s heart betrayed her once again.

 

“I was in a sort of cube, present only in spirit and not in body, the vistas around me ever changing, displaying fantastical cities, gloomy hellholes, unnatural and strange creatures.” He continued, “See, when we dream, we are all subconsciously tapping into the Astral Plane. So, nothing makes any sense in it, because our dreams do not really make any sense either.”

 

His eyes narrowed for a bit, hands coming under his head with his knees on his laps, fingers crossing as he laid his chin on them, his back arched.

 

“And I was trapped here, amid the stuff of dreams and nightmares, without any possibilities of moving or getting away, only vaguely aware by intermittent flashes of what was going on outside, of what Aria was doing while in my skin.” He added on, a little shiver of discomfort disrupting his otherwise still body.

 

Liz’ got rather pale at that, because what he depicted, the loss of agency while trapped in the middle of something that shared more similarities with an asylum than anything else, sounded like a hellish torment.

 

She started to open her mouth to speak. To say anything, really, because the pain in his eyes was genuine, even if she had some doubts about the veracity of the facts, but he didn’t let her.

 

“That’s not the worst part, though.” He added, having gathered enough steam to end up his tale in one go, “The worse was that the time is apparently quite fucked up in that Plane. It didn’t feel like three months to me, but decades, Liz’.” He ended up softly.

 

As Liz’ was finally realizing the true horror of what Flash had endured, the latter exhaled, eyes closing for a beat.

 

“When she found me yesterday, I was this close,” Eyes still shut, he gestured with his thumbs and index to show her a tiny, little gap, “To go completely mad.”

 

Liz’ didn’t need the subtitles to understand whom he was talking about.

 

“Aria saved me. She left a part of her with me for months, or that at least felt like it, to heal my damaged psyche while she was looking for a proper body to put my mind into.” He admitted under his breath, his baby blue eyes locking with hers anew.

 

He scratched his head in frustration, looking for a way to convey what he had to say, eyes shifting for a beat, before exhaling slowly once again.

 

“I guess what I’m trying to say, Liz’, is that I’ve changed.” He told her bluntly, his eyes spearing through her, determination and hurt mixed in it like only someone older than their years could display, “You can’t come back from that unscathed, it’s impossible.”

 

Liz’ belatedly realized right this instant that she believed him fully, the intensity of his gaze something impossible to fake.

 

Wordlessly, she rose herself up under his intrigued gaze, and walked to sit herself next to him, placing one of her hands on his thigh in a comforting gesture.

 

They remained silent for a moment, the both of them processing their new normality.

 

Flash broke the silence first.

 

“So, I don’t really know where you want to go from there.” He started hesitantly, eyes cast downward, “I know you broke up with Aria a few weeks after she took over, but considering she wasn’t me proper and since I don’t know what’s going on in your head better than you do…” He paused, mulling over his thoughts, “I just thought that if you ever wanted to give us another shot, you should know what was going on.”

 

Liz’ let a little smile slip, actually touched by his display of forwardness and honesty.

 

“I changed, too.” She answered simply, “I think meeting Aria forced me to without me properly realizing it, and after that, it was already too late.”

 

Flash snorted, slowly shaking his head as a smile ghosted on his face.

 

“Yeah, she has a tendency to do that.” He answered with a note of amusement.

 

Liz’ chuckled too, remembering Gwen’s earlier display, the usually rather aloof girl reduced to a starstruck teenager.

 

“So, what would you say if we started back as friends ?” Flash asked with a soft smile.

 

Liz’ had to refrain herself from gulping before his kind and genuine display.

 

“That’s fine with me.” She answered, her voice a tad higher than usual.

 

When Flash graced her with a beaming smile, a weight visibly lifted from his shoulder, Liz’ started to immediately lament her own choices of words.

 

Friends my ass, I’m totally under this new mature-kind-and-tortured-Flash’s spell.

 

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