16325/Titans 3023 Family Matters

Titans 3023 Family Matters
Date of Scene:	13 November 2023
Location:	Future Titans Timeship
Synopsis:	Irie and Present-Day Wally talk about the stunning revelation that Caitlin is her mother.
Cast of Characters:	Irie West, Wally West
Tinyplot:	Titans 3023

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Irie West has posed:
    Irie just spent the last half our or so with her mother from the future, and when she gets back, her eyes are all puffy and red from crying. She spies her father, or rather, to father-to-be across the room of the time ship and goes up to him.

    "Hey," she says gently. "I'm sorry about dropping that bombshell like that. It's just... I couldn't deny her. Did you see how she looked at me? Like I was the world to her. How do you just... pretend not to be her daughter like that?"

Wally West has posed:
Wallace Rudolph West....

Is sitting down. He's not running, he's not distracting himself by doing something else. He's just sitting down with his face in his hands, his cowl down and his goggles hanging loosely around his neck as his hands rub at his forehead and over his eyes. To say that was a bombshell would be more than kind.

He's just feeling a little overwhelmed. But his eyes lift to see a recently cried Iris West approach her soon-to-be father and he does what all father's do when their kid needs a hug: shoves their own feelings DEEP down and he immediately stands up and wraps his arms around his daughter.

She's more important than him.

"It's okay kid. It's okay." He starts to chuckle as Iris might feel a year hit her shoulder. "There's a relief in knowing - like...you have no idea how in love with your mother I am." he shakes his head. "Man, that's...it's a lot to handle. I don't even know how you must be feeling right now, but I'm here. I don't know if I'm a good dad in the future or if I'm...even around, but I'm here now. Your mom got /intense/." he tries to joke to help cheer her up.

"It must've been really hard keeping that one in Huh?"

Irie West has posed:
    Irie returns Wally's hug, holding him tightly. "Are you kidding? You're the best dad ever. You're an //amazing// dad. Even when I landed on your doorstep like I did, you didn't hesitate to be there for me." She sniffles a little as she adds, "I'm glad I did, though. I... can you imagine how hard it would have been if I had to hide from both you //and// mom?"

    She lets out a deep breath, "It was hard enough with just her, watching the two of you circle each other for a couple of years, and not being able to do anything about it. I wanted to tell her so badly but... I didn't know if doing so would have scared her away from you."

Wally West has posed:
Wally starts to cry a little bit. A not-so-hidden fear of his is that his future self is truly a terrible human being, it just a terrible father. "Kid, you are something else you know that?" Wally ruffles her red hair and he just looks into her eyes. "I knew I saw her features on you. Man, your dad can be pretttyyy blind, you know?" He wipes at his eyes. "Goooood I'm a wreck."

He meets her eyes. "You showing up was one of the best things that ever happened to me. But I get it, I really do. Dint want to influence anything or make people feel forced to get together. But you know what? Your destined to be here. And trust me, it takes /a lot/ to scare your mom." He smiles. "How does it feel to get it off your chest? And how do you feel about -" He gestures around to the time sphere. "/This?/." He chuckles.

Irie West has posed:
    Irie can't help but grin when her hair gets ruffled. "It's okay. I played my cards pretty close to my chest. You weren't supposed to know, you know? But now..."

    "It feels good to get it off my chest," she says with a deep breath. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm worried about how this might effect the timeline but... She didn't remember me. To her, I just up and disappeared when I was training with you and never came back. I think when I went back, I created a divergent timeline, so I don't have to worry about spoilers as much."

    "As for //this//," she says nodding to the time sphere itself, "It's... I don't know. This isn't even the second time I've time traveled. First time doing it on purpose, though, so that's a nice change." She gets something of a goofy grin on her, "But I think you really rock that beard and should grow it out. Not sure about the hair though."

Wally West has posed:
"Honestly, it's a West thing. Trust me, we just blurt stuff out. Ever survive a talk with me? Like *whew!* I can just keep it going. It's okay though...and to be honest, I don't know anymore if branching timelines even exist. Time has a way of fighting itself...I Uh, had a long chat with future me and maybe the Speed Force isn't as world-ending dangerous as I thought."

He rubs his chin. "So you're probably okay. And honestly I was thinking about growing a beard but I felt like I'd look a LOT older. But I'm thinking about growing my hair out. If I keep it short AND grow a good beard, I look like I got out of jail or look a LOT tougher than I actually am. Buuuuut maybe if I trim it? Keep it neat?" Wally asks his daughter her thoughts.

"I bet it won't be the first if you're anything like me. Don't worry, you got A LOT of me." He smirks. "Even my shaggy hair!" He jokes. "You we're with Mr when you vanished?" Wally questions, looking shocked. "Oh no...that couldn't have sat well with your mom." Ge rubs his neck. "I'm sorry. What happened, do you think? Just ran too fast?"

Irie West has posed:
    Irie can't help but chuckle. "Yeah. I'm something of a motormouth, you know? I get that from you." She falls silent for a moment. "If there aren't branching timelines, then how do you explain future-Cait not remembering that I went back to 2021? Will things realign itself and she'll start to remember? Or will she just kind of... disappear and be replaced by a new one?" She shakes her head. "This is all very complicated."

    "Yeah. I had just aged up again, and could fully use the Speed Force and we wanted to test my limits," she explains. "Then something happened and I just kind of shot into the Speed Force." She shudders at the memory. "It was awful. But then I could sense you like a beacon, so I went towards you and when I popped out there you were! But I didn't know that it was 2021 so I just kinda let the cat out of the bag almost immediately."

    "I think a lot of it was just pushing myself too hard and my connection to the Speed Force was a bit unstable at the time," she muses. "I'm not sure we'll ever know for sure."

Wally West has posed:
"Yeeeep." Wally smirks at Irie. "And trust me, it's a good strength to know when to shut the cake hole." He makes a 'zip it' motion across his lips and throws away the key. Though he considers the question. "I have no idea." He answers honestly. "I think it's because Cait didn't experience it. It's a new thing. So even though she doesn't remember it, modern-day Cait knows because you appeared here. I think it's a 'river corrects itself' kinda thing."

He pauses. "Alternatively, Cait has been alive for a thousand years at that point easy, so she could also just have some immortal amnesia." Wally shrugs. "Wow...." He listens to how the accident happened that threw her into the Speed Force. "I'm glad you were able to find me." Wally eventually admits. "But I can't imagine what that would be like." He remarks softly, looking at Irie's eyes and...for a moment, all he can see is Caitlin.

Though he shakes his head softly. He sees himself too. "It's okay, you didn't know. Honestly, I'm just happy you were okay. I'm...admittedly terrified to go into the Speed Force."

Irie West has posed:
    Irie vehemently shakes her head. "If you had heard her talking about it... no. She doesn't have immortal amnesia. My disappearance scarred her. Hurt her deeply." Tears begin to sting her eyes and she rubs at them with the heel of her hand. "I wish I could have gone back to her. Or... or find some way to have let her know. She didn't deserve this. Not at all."

    She leans against her father-to-be (maybe) as she sniffles, just being silent for a moment. "Thank you for being here for me," she says. "I know you're not him. My dad, that is, and it's unfair of me to lean on you like this. I mean. Emotionally and physically," she chuckles. But... thank you. I don't think I say that often enough."

    She falls silent again, her brows furrow as she wrestles with something. "Have an anchor," she says eventually. "Be it me, or Cait, or.. or an object you infuse with the Speed Force that has meaning for you. Have an anchor. It'll guide you back if you ever go into the Speed Force."

Wally West has posed:
Wally looks surprised when Irie vehemently shakes her head. "Oh no...she kept going, it wasn't like...you /just/ vanisheda nd this is time playing catch up." Wally frowns a little bit. "I...won't ask where I was during all of this, but..." He looks at the ground, then back at her. "I promise I would've gone to look for you." He wonders if his future self is somewhere in the Speed Force, still looking for Irie even after all of this time.

But is a strange kind of false heroism, isn't it?

Yet, she leans against him as she fights back her tears and all Wally can do is just wrap his arms around her and be a father, even when he was never ready to be one. "I always will be, Irie. Even when you get older and decide you don't need /actual/ me hanging around anymore." She thanks him all the same and Wally seems to actually...feel appreciated. He smiles softly at her and gives her a playful nudge.

"An anchor....huh. Why didn't I ever think about that?"

It's very likely he did and told Irie the same thing. Or maybe she's just incredibly smart. Either way!

"What...what am I like? In the future? Did I get old and serious?"

Irie West has posed:
    Irie snorts. "No, you're still a goofball. I mean, yeah, you're older and have more responsibilities, but you still make sure you have time to have fun, you know? You took us adventuring all the time. Mom didn't like it, but you were all," she deepens her voice, "'They've got powers and are going to go on adventures anyway. At least this way we can teach them how to be safe.' She really couldn't argue with that."

    She presses her lips together as she turns contemplative. "I don't want you to feel pressured about all this. Like you //have// to go and date Cait or else I'll disappear into a cloud of causality. Just... let things take their course, okay? If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, then it won't. Like I said. I think me coming back created a divergent timeline so no matter what you do I'll still be around."

Wally West has posed:
"Heh. Good to hear I change a lot." Wally smirks at Irie a little bit. "I was worried when I saw Donna and Caitlin from the future being...stiff, like they had no life in them anymore." He shakes his head. "Just...serious. Far more serious than they ever were here. I understand what happened with Cait. God, I...I have no idea how I could even survive after that. But Donna? What happened with her?" He asks Irie, as if kinda hoping she has the answers.

Though he smirks. "Sounds like something I'd say." But...then he goes serious. She turns contemplative and speaks of Caitlin and Wally. "Trust me kid...I don't think that's ever going to happen." He sighs softly. "Had a talk with Caitlin the other day about all of this and...well, she put it very gently, but I don't think I'll *ever* be on her radar. Doesn't change how I feel but I'm just going to respect her and try and live my life."

He shrugs. "Even before all of this...timey, wimey, fun fuzzball. I want it to be organic, but now it just feels like this is just time really just..." He sighs.

"Anyway, not gonna dump that on you. Just...don't worry. Way ahead of you on that note."

Just...letting life have it. No hands on the wheel. If it happens, it'll happen.

Irie West has posed:
    "I don't know," Irie says quietly. "We didn't really talk about Donna. We were a little preoccupied with catching up, crying, and a lot of hugging. She showed me holos of my brother, all grown up with kids, and their kids and so on. I've got the holodisk on me but..." She purses her lips. "I think what I'm gonna do is record something for her and give it back. She deserves to have something from me, you know? After so long without..."

    She nods slowly as Wally explains where he currently stands with Cait. "Yeah. I can see how this would just... cause her to retreat, you know? I need to talk to her. Tell her same thing I told you back when I realized that you were past-Wally. 'You don't have to be my mom. It's okay if you want space from that. I won't push.' She's still family, though, even if she wasn't my mom. All the titans are. You all gave me a place when I had nowhere else to go. You all have looked after me and, in that respect, you're as much a family to me as my future-family ever was."

Wally West has posed:
Wally turns to look at Irie then, a little bit of mist in his eyes.

It's been...a really hard few days. "Yeah. I get it." He chuckles. "God, I can't even imagine-" Wally seems to pause for a moment. "Wait, a brother?" Wally looks at Irie, a look of absolute bewilderment in his eyes. He never thought he'd actually ahve kids, even with Irie. But to have a son? "What...what's his name?" He asks Irie. "I think that'd be amazing of you to do. Both the holo and...and telling Cait that."

He looks away for a sec. "I think she needs to hear it from you." He chuckles softly. "I uhm...you know, this is the only family I know too. We'll always have your back Irie." He looks at her. "Always. We love you, kiddo."

Irie West has posed:
    "Yeah! Jai, my twin." Irie grins. "He took after Cait's side of the family. Super strong, super serious. Good heart, though, but don't let him catch me saying that." Her grin slowly fades, "For all the fighting we did, I miss him. I see you and Cait every day and while you're not //really// my parents, I can pretend, just for a little bit, that you are. But Jai hasn't been born yet... may never be born in this timeline... so I don't know if I'll ever get to see him again."

    After a small moment of silence, she bumps shoulders with him. "I'm here for you too, you know. If you need anything or just to... talk, I guess."

Wally West has posed:
"Jai..."

Wally seems to smirk a little bit. He finds it funny that one of his future children is named after the first Flash, Jay Garrick, with a little spin on things. He was a major person in Wally's life and to have him honored just felt...right. I naddition of course to the fact that he has TWINS with Cait, in a certain future. He just...looks at Irie, just listening to the characteristics of Jai when compared to Irie. "Man...I would have loved to meet him. He sounds like a great guy, sibling rivalries aside." He chuckles.

"And...even if I never do actually become your dad, I can pretend for awhile." Wally smiles at her, a happiness on his face. "But I think you'll see us again. One day. Nothing is impossible as long as you believe it can be possible." He gives her that fatherly advice. "After all, you turned out great. I'm just a guy who fights jewelry thieves and occasionally talking monkeys and I ended up with a pretty great kid whose limit is the stars. and time itself, apparently." He jokes softly to her, mimicking something he told Cait just earlier.

He's bumped. His eyes drift towards his future(maybe) daughter and he smile at her. "Thanks Iris. Really." He smiles. "I'll be okay though...eventually, I think."