A Future Sooner than Tomorrow

The Today You Face

Kon looks scandalised in a way Kal can't help but compare to the old ladies that sometimes buy the Daily Planet newspaper in the morning - their mouths would part slightly and their their eyebrows would raise in miniscule increments as they read the front paper, truly a spectacle to behold. The younger employees, ones the Clark would see everyday, would chuckle at the elder ladies and their careful reactions to the things they found 'shocking' but it was something that the older workers had always seemed sad about.

"Kid Flash, get off of him! He's not our Flash, you shouldn't be hugging him!" Kon hisses frantically. The words swim mutely around Kal's head as he thinks.

Clark had asked some of the elders at the Daily Planet about the little, old ladies' almost non-reactions before. They'd all answered almost the same way...

'Woman from that generation were judged rather harshly for their supposed "dramatics", you know?'

'It wasn't a great time to be emotional or heavily reactive. No one would take you seriously and you'd end up feeling all the worse for it.'

'Ever heard of hysteria? Or being hysterical? That's what big, grand feelings would get a woman accused of.'

'Those times were less... empathetic than now. Old habits die hard, I suppose.'

And all Kal can think is why Kon would share those mannerisms, that hiding of or lessing of his expressions.

Did someone make you feel ignored, Kal thinks. Did someone tell you that you were wrong for your feelings, Kon?

When Kal comes back to himself, he sees that the other teenager has gotten off of the Flash and is latched on to Kon's arm.

"Kon, what do you mean that's not 'our Flash'? Wait, hold up, is that a cyborg? A hologram?" Kid Flash squints skeptically at Flash for all of three seconds. "Wait, no, I touched it, it can't be a hologram. That one rogue of Batman's? Clay man, I think? Is he a clone-"

"Kid Flash." Kon's voice sounds monotone. His eyes are facing his feet. Kid Flash's head jerks upwards to look at him, eyes apologetic.

"I'm sorry," Kid Flash says nonsensically. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think before speaking, I-"

"Try not to call anyone by their civilian names, okay? Not anymore, now that you know," Kon shrugs, looks at Kid Flash and gently pats the red spandex covered arm still resting on his bicep.

The Justice League stares, befuddled by Kon's complete non sequitur but Kid Flash simply smiles at Kon and relaxes.

Kal looks over at his teammates and, seeing that Green Lantern is looking his way, mouths, 'Am I missing something here?'

Lantern mouths back, 'I am just as confused as you are. Why did the kid apologise?'

"Well, are you going to introduce us or what?" Hawkgirl asks. Her wings loosely rest against her back and her hand doesn't so much as twitch towards her mace.

Kon runs a hand through his hair and gestures to Kid Flash. "This is Kid Flash. If you haven't figured it out yet, he and the Flash of this universe are related," he says. Kid Flash mumbles 'of this universe' under his breath as he looks between Kon and the Justice League at break neck speed.

Flash pulls himself off of the floor at last, dusts himself off and more casually than anyone could have hoped for, starts to speak. "Hey, Kid Flash. Nice to meet you. Me and my friends here are from an alternate universe. We're not holograms or Clayface, promise," he snorts. Kid Flash looks up at him wide-eyed and mouth agape.

"Oh, wow... Also, so sorry for tackling you earlier, I thought you were... Well, yourself but from our universe, I guess and that was a totally normal assumption to make, so I don't think I was wrong for thinking that but I am sorry for like, invading your space and stuff. Probably pretty weird for you to be hugged by your alternate universe nephew, huh?" Kid Flash taps his right hand against his thigh. "I'm not making you homesick by being here, am I?"