Archive of Our Own ^beta

Thad was gone.

He had never been loved, he had never felt love, all that was at his core was a hatred of Bart that wasn’t even really his, it was something that had been built into him.

He was made only to hate, his heart was an empty husk with nothing but hate to fall back onto because… He was made only to hate, for a fake feud that’s ending didn’t matter, his life didn’t have any true meaning or worth.

“I hate you so so much!”

Thad finally feels true hate, a hate that is personal and his own, a hatred of his own birth and more importantly at the moment a hatred for his maker, his namesake President Thawne.

“He lied to me. ALL OF MY LIFE WAS A LIE!” Thad was still within the walls of the speedforce, safe from time moving on, safe from the moment being gone. The hate almost hurt to feel, it was so overwhelming, every inch of it felt like a tar sucking him into it but this was a hate he was gladly letting himself stink into.

Finally the world was making sense to him, finally he actually felt what he was made to, he could work with this, he understood how hate worked and what to do from here. Fake love was hard, misdirected love was hard, love with an impossible condition was like pulling teeth but hate?

Simple. He would destroy his maker, make the man feel all the pain, the shame, the humiliation that he was feeling, he would force it down President Thawne’s throat til the man choked to death on it all.

Thad’s pace as he walked though the speed force was fast but not flat out running, not anymore. He was going to end this all, end the Thawnes, end his pain, end it all.

He was finally in his home time, finally back to where he was meant to report the success of killing Max and Bart but no. Not now, he left his lab not saying a word as Craydl questioned what had happened and tried to say sorry for Bart escaping but couldn’t even get that out before Thad was gone.

Thad was within the office of President Thawne, he used to think there was so much glory in how the Thawnes had been able to take over, that it was well deserved but no… This was all an insult to the truth, to the reality of the Thawnes who were simply selfish hateful people who didn’t care who they hurt. That was Thad’s bloodline.

“I’m back.”

“I noticed that Inertia, were you successful?” Of course the man already knew, he had the history records, he just wanted to hear Inertia explain his failure, wanted to see the shame in the boy but that’s not what Thad’s face was showing.

“You. Lied.” Thad’s voice was cold and angry. He was fighting back to not scream or to sob.

“Excuse me?” President Thawne sounded offended, like Inertia had slapped him.

“YOU LIED ABOUT EVERYTHING.” Thad could barely hold himself in place, stop himself from rushing at President Thawne and tearing him limb from limb for what he had done, for the life that Thad had never asked for.

“Oh?” President Thawne almost sounded amused as he leaned forward, bringing his hands up from under his desk to rest his face on as he listened.

“The feud, what the Allens are like, what we’re like, you were never going to love me, you WERE USING ME, I WAS JUST A TOOL TO YOU, THAT’S ALL I WAS WASN’T IT?” Thad’s eyes tear up, his life has been nothing but wasted, he would never be given what he wanted and President Thawne was to blame. Thad had never asked for this existence.

“And?” President Thawne sounded bored by the boy’s rant, like he had known this would happen any day now.

“I’M SICK OF IT, ALL OF THIS, THE PAIN AND THE LONELINESS. I HATE YOU SO MUCH!!” Thad’s screams could be heard throughout the building, he had never hated someone as much as he hated President Thawne, his life had never been happy due to this man, his ‘birth’ was a mistake and secret that should have never happened.

“I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS, TO BE A DIRTY LITTLE SECRET OF THIS FAMILY, TO HATE. ALL I WANTED WAS FOR YOU TO LOVE ME, BE PROUD OF ME” Thad couldn’t hold back his tears, he was shaking, barely stopping himself from either running away again or just ending the man right then.

“How would I ever love a cheap copy of Bart, of Meloni? You could be very helpful but even now you failed your mission and then come complaining to me. This is the feeling of being a Thawne Inertia, we are in the shadows of the Allens.” President Thawne had a small grin on his face.

Thad was stunned for a moment, too stunned to even cry.

“I’ve never meant anything to you, have I? None of us have. You- You DON’T CARE ABOUT ANYONE OTHER THAN YOURSELF!” Thad’s blood felt it was boiling, he was gonna do it, he was going to end this.

“I’m ending this feud, there will never be another Thawne that will feel the way I do.” Thad’s voice had found its footing, it was ice cold.

“And how exactly do you intend to do that Inertia?” President Thawne sounded bored, maybe a tad annoyed.

“I was made to kill, was I not? I’m simply going to do as I was meant to.” Thad put on a grin, he tried to show the curaltity he was made to. It seemed so forced and fake.

President Thawne simply raised as hand, as if to brush the boy off but as Thad felt some hard hit into his back, he had been so focused on the man in front of him, the hate he felt, the self control he had to have on to not just tear the man apart that had missed that armed guards had entered the room at some point, had gotten behind him.

Thad felt a shock go through his body, he could feel his heart literally skip a beat and start to race, his body tensed and twisted in ways he couldn’t control. He tried to yell, to scream, to say something, to beg for the pain to stop, to use what might be his last words to say something meanful and hateful to President Thawne but not a word or sound could come out.

The world was going dark, Thad felt his body becoming numb he could barely feel his fingers… Was this death? No, a Thawne won’t offer such mercy.

Thad was gone.

Rebooting Has Began…

Thad found himself in his lab, with all of his tech watching Impulse and Craydl analyzing what Thad could see on the screens.

“So as you can see Impulse only ever wins out of prue stupid luck, you could take him on any day now. There isn’t any need to wait longer, you are more than ready.”

Thad was confused, so confused, his heart was still beating faster than it should, he couldn’t remember how he got here, where in the timeline of events in his life he was.

“Craydl…? Wha- Where am I? What- What is going on?” His voice was shaky, he wasn’t sure what was happening, wasn’t he… just somewhere else?

“You are in your lab sir, and you should be getting your ass in gear to kill Impulse already.” Craydl didn’t sound quite right, something was wrong with their tone, with the words coming out of them, something was very very wrong.

“I- Huh- Craydl?” Thad felt his heart going faster, his body tensed like it was expecting to be gut punched in a moment.

“You’ve waited long enough to make use of yourself sir, you have to act sooner or later. Don’t you want the Allens dead?” This wasn’t Craydl, it was… It was. IT WAS HIM.

“You’re not Craydl.” Thad tried to sound calm and cold but his voice cracked, it was hard to breathe.

“What makes you say that Inertia? What makes you reject me?”

“YOU’RE NOT CRAYDL, CRAYDL IS PATIENT, YOU’RE HIM. Where- Where am I, really? What- What is happening?” Thad was so angry but also felt so scared. He couldn’t remember how he got here.

“You are exactly where you need to be, Inertia. You must remember who you are, who the Allen’s truly are. They’ve warped you, tricked you, made you lesser like them but don’t worry you can be fixed, and you will be.”

Thad felt a pit grow in him, that wasn’t the truth, that wasn’t the truth at all. There was nothing to fix.

“Stop hiding behind Craydl’s voice, his face! Just show yourself!”

“Tst. Tst. Tst. Fine you want nothing to hide, then let’s see what I am talking about.” ‘Craydl’s’ voice sounded distorted and like it was crumbling apart as Thad heard the words.

Thad felt suddenly like he was falling, in a blink the world around him was gone and he was in a void, he couldn’t see the ground, he couldn’t see where he was going.

“Please stop! You aren’t proving anything!” Thad screamed through tears, he couldn’t stop his body from feeling fear no matter how much hatred was in his heart.

Finally below him he saw something, water.

Thad knew better than to think he was in for a soft landing, no… It’d be like hitting solid stone and then having to swim.

He braced himself, tears choking out any word that tried to leave his mouth causing only a cry of fear to come out.

He felt like his whole body broke as it hit the water, there was a sharp pain everywhere and he couldn’t stop himself from grasping in pain and from the shock so in came water into his lungs.

He felt himself stinking, the world going dark (AGAIN). He tried to call for help.

“MAX, HELAN, CRAYDL, ANYONE-” Thad knew his words won’t save him, that his cries only let more water(?) into his lungs as he stunk deeper in to pitch black. But his words were clear, and sounded just as they would above the waterline.

“-HELP ME.”

He didn’t want to die, not like this, he shut his eyes tight as he could and despite the pure agony of moving his limbs tried to hug himself

“I’m so proud of Bart, he managed to defeat you so easily. I mean you had me right where you wanted me and him but he was able to throw you off your game.” That was Max’s voice Thad heard

Thad opened his eyes, he was home- No he was in Bart’s home, Max was standing in front of him dressed up in his hero costume. Thad still felt like he was choking, like every bone in his body was broken but he was able to stand and think clearly.

“I… Max please listen to me I don’t know what is going on, I need-”

“Help? Why on earth would I help someone who tricked me for months, who tried to kill me and my student? While you do have my pity boy you do not deserve my help, let alone forgiveness.”

Thad stared at Max, at a loss for words.

“I- I thought- You said you were proud of me, for me doing good despite everything- That you wanted me- Wanted me to be a part of your family- I-” Thad kept having to take deep breaths, his heart was racing at speeds that would kill a normal human. This felt worse than drowning.

“Inertia you were about to kill me, I would’ve said anything to keep you busy. How could I ever be proud of a Thawne? Of a monster such as yourself?”

Thad felt like he had a heart attack right there and then, or at least his heart felt like it had just been stabbed. It had all been a lie….?- NO THIS WAS ALL A LIE, it had to be a lie, please if there was a god let it be a lie.

“You’re… You can’t be Max.”

“What makes you say that Inertia? What makes you reject the truth?”

“You meant what you said, you- you are proud of me. You wanted me…” Thad was all but begging for some glimpse of kindness, of understanding… Of love.

“You are such a stupid navie boy, Bart won’t have even brought what I said. Respect has to be earned, love has to be earned-” ‘Max’ walked closer to Thad, grabbing Thad’s shoulders which made a cracking noise as they were grabbed. Thad whimpered in pain.

“-You Inertia, are nothing but a disappointment to me, a problem that gladly left.” As the last words left ‘Max’s’ mouth he pushed Thad away from himself, Thad hitting the wall behind him with force.

“Wh… Why are you doing this?” Thad’s voice was cracking, he was fighting back sobs.

“Because I hate you Inertia. I hate you and all of the Thawnes, everything you all stand for makes me sick.”

“Pl- Please you aren’t Max- I- I’m not buying any of this, he won’t say this to me.” Thad’s words were more of a cry.

‘Max’ walked over to Thad and picked the slumped boy up, slamming Thad into the wall over and over until eventually stopping to throw Thad through the home’s window.

Thad felt glass cut into his flesh, felt shards of his bones stabbing into him as he went through the air, he was moving too fast to breathe, he was only able to spit out tar as he tried to take in air.

And then he landed, feeling the ground tear and rip into his costume and then flesh as he slid on the ground for a moment before stopping. Laid out on the ground face seeing the sky.

Thad looked around, he was outside the Flash museum. Right over his head was a statue of the second Flash, Barry Allen. The man that started the Allen and Thawne feud.

“Look what the cat dragged in. A Thawne.”

Thad looked up at the voice, it was Bart’s Grandfather, Barry.

“I’m not really in the mood.” Thad was crying, sobbing even but he kept his voice flat as a board when speaking with his grandfather.

“I’ve heard about you Inertia, you’re a threat to my family, to Bart.”

Thad wanted to argue that, wanted to say right now he couldn’t hurt a fly but he knew that would do nothing, he was going to get hurt more.

So instead he got up and then started to run. Flee from Flash, from Barry and maybe get somewhere safe.

“Ha! Trying to run? From the fastest man alive? You are a lot less smart than I was told. I guess it's just another case of a Thawne with an ego problem.” Barry sounded amused by Thad, like this was all some big joke to him.

“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE.” Thad’s running was frantic, he was tripping over himself, he overshot turns, he kept coughing as he tried to breathe in air, any air.

“And let you become a problem another day, no way! Today is the day you die scum!” Barry’s tone was cheerful, like this was just a normal morning for him.

“FLASH DOESN’T KILL, THAT’S LIKE- ONE OF YOUR DAMN RULES.” Flash had to be joking, lying, he wouldn't really kill Thad would he?... Would he?

“Well you nearly killed my grandson, and his mentor! You’re some sort of physco Thawne, overreacting to my family’s actions.” ‘Barry’ was so close, hand outreached to grab Thad.

Thad tried to run faster, to tap into the speedforce but as he did he felt a very sharp pain throughout his body, like needles put into all his limbs, some sort of gel entering his mouth and lungs as he tried to breath, his feet off the ground… Like he was in some sort of liquid.

But this connection dampened and stopped totally, he was back in the moment, running away from Barry Allen, the one that started it all.

Thad felt his throat once again be grabbed, Barry held him up in the air, turning the boy around to face him.

“I’ll end the Thawne’s right here and now, you people will never win.” Barry seemed to be readying to use phasing with his hand to… Thad didn’t want to think about what was about to happen to him.

Thad started kicking his legs into Barry’s gut, started crawling into Barry’s arms with his hands, shifting his weight around to try to break free from Barry’s grip.

“I don’t want to be a part of this! I never asked to be a part of this! Just let me go!” Thad at this point was on the edge of grief that overlooked anger.

“What makes you say that Inertia? What makes you reject your own blood? You’re a part of this weather you want to be or not.” Barry slammed Thad down into the ground as he asked his question, picking the boy back up awaiting an answer.

Thad’s face was swollen from all the damage it had taken, his nose was likely broken and his neck felt… squishy.

“...I don’t like being hated…” Thad’s voice was weak, he wanted to sob again but he was out of tears. He knew what was about to happen so he closed his eyes again, and tensed as he readied himself for more pain.

He felt himself hitting the ground, over and over until he felt it break under himself, for a moment he fell but quickly hit the ground, it was with less force than last time.

He opened his eyes and found himself somewhere he had never seen before, it looked like a family’s mansion, there was a painting on the wall of President Thawne and in front of him a woman that looked a lot like Bart but whom he didn’t know.

“I pity you, why don’t you reject them? The Thawnes? You could be a part of the Allens, the winning side of this all. All you would need to do is run away from the Thawnes and beg for the Allens to take you in! They gladly took me in after I renounced my blood and father, I’m sure they’d pity you too.” The woman’s smile looked so fake to Thad, the warmth so… Wrong.

“I- I don’t want your pity! I don’t want anyone’s pity! Please I just need a moment to think, I haven’t had a moment in- I don’t know how long” Thad’s confusion mixed well with fear, he couldn’t remember how this started… It was while he was in the lab, right…?

“Inertia you don’t have time to think! You have to go with your gut and join the Allens NOW. Or what are you, my father's lap dog? He is an amoral asshole that I was happy to be rid of.” The woman gave Thad a nasty look, it was a familiar look to one he gotten… When?

“I- No- no- no- I don’t- Please stop.” Thad is almost begging for everything to slow down, he holds onto his guts scared that if he didn’t it’s turn out that he was holding them in, his lungs still felt full of tar… He just wanted the world to stop for a moment, any moment so he could catch his breath.

“Inertia you loyalist tool, it’s no wonder you won’t. All you are to the Allens is a sick joke, a pathetic thing made as a copy of my wonderful son.”

Thad didn’t reply, he couldn’t reply, he was just trying to breathe.

“What makes you say that Inertia? What makes you reject the Allens.”

Thad still didn’t reply, he was cradling his own broken body.

The woman walked over to him and kicked him in the gut up into the air for a moment before he landed with a thud.

“ANSWER ME INERTIA, ANSWER HIS MOTHER.”

“...The Allens have been nothing but cruel to me.”

“And the Thawnes are deserving of it.” The woman walked over the front doors, opening them and as she stepped out she turned off the lights.

Leaving Thad in the darkness.

He felt himself in the tar again, himself stinking. It felt like the pressure was ripping him apart, one would think by now his body would’ve become numb to the pain but it was as if something stopped his body from apdating, from protecting itself.

For a moment he considers just letting himself stink, giving up and allowing the pain to envelop him and have it end… No.

He can’t find it in himself to give up, not now, not ever. He had been so close to winning, he couldn’t give up now.

“Someone… Anyone… Help me…” Thad’s body felt so weak.

He saw a light, felt a warmth and felt some of the pain ease.

“Inertia you will be okay, I know you will make me proud, just remember our family, reject all of the lies the Allens tried to tell you. You are a Thawne and that is the best thing to be, even if the would unfairly hates us we have each other.” It was President Thawne’s voice, some small part of Thad wanted to yell at him, to ki- But the rest of Thad would gladly take this kindness, he understood it, he knew how to play along with this.

“Let your hate for the Allens fuel you. Make them suffer. Make me proud of you.”

Thad took in a deep breath.

“I promise.”

He opened his eyes and found himself in what looked like the speed force, Bart was there, there was no Max, nothing to get in the way.

“Please… Please don’t kill me…” Bart’s cry ring out through the space.

Thad calmly walked over to the boy and grabbed him by the throat.

“Aw what makes you say that Impulse? Scared?”

Bart’s eyes welled up with tears as his only reply.

Thad crushed the thorat in his hand, feeling the body go limp.

“I hate you.”

Rebooting Complete….

Thad was gone. Long live Inertia.