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Carol Bucklen is a friend and classmate of Bart Allen.

Carol Bucklen, an unusually bright middle school student, lives with her brother and sister in Manchester, Alabama, her parents having been killed in a collision with a drunk driver. Her older brother, Bobby, works at Manchester University to support his siblings.

Carol befriended Bart Allen shortly after he came to Manchester, though she initially had serious problems with him. He always seemed to be running off to do crazy things in what seemed to her to be bids for attention. And whenever he did something stupid, his excuse was even more inane. As they became friends, she kept trying to convince him he didn't need to be a glory-hound, not realizing (at this point) that both his risk-taking and lame excuses were part of his secret superhero identity.

The turning point in Bart and Carol's friendship came when Bobby was framed for stealing an artifact on display at the university. Carol found it in her brother's briefcase, and, believing the worst, ran off with it to keep her brother from being found out and taken from her and her sister. Bart found Carol and helped her rediscover her faith and trust in her brother. The case was resolved, her brother exonerated, and from then on the two of them were the best of friends.

Carol was also the only one of Bart's circle of friends who figured out his dual identity, something that even Preston, the other member of the trio, never figured out. Carol and Bart shared secrets, plans, even an accidental first kiss (followed immediately by hysterical laughter).

Eventually, Carol and Bart began to realize they felt more than friendship for each other. Just as their relationship was entering a new phase, Carol was snatched away.

Into the Future

With Max and Helen killed by madman Lucius Keller, Bart left for the 30th century to live with his only remaining relative, his mother, Meloni Thawne. Carol went with him, becoming a cutting-edge biophysicist over the next decade. Hoping to use the Speed Force to extend and enhance life for everyone, she developed a ray that would grant anyone super speed. Earthgov President Thawne appropriated her incomplete research to produce super-speed soldiers, continuing even when further testing revealed that complete mental breakdown occurred in nearly all subjects. Thawne planned to expose the entire planet to the hyper-ray; in one stroke he would eliminate overpopulation and improve the quality of life for the survivors. Carol refused to be responsible for the deaths of billions of people, and set out to stop it.

Unable to prevent the slaughter, Carol worked with Meloni and the Russells (Bart's great-grandparents) to change her own history. Unable to stop the catalyst event by saving Max and Helen, they decided to abduct Carol's younger self. This failed to change anything, and indeed Bart followed, and joined forces with the future Carol and Bart in trying to stop the destruction. They failed, and so the teenaged Carol chose to go further into the future with Meloni, never to return. Ironically, Bart had, without realizing it, already sent avatars (a power he gained through exposure to Thawne's hyper-ray) back in time to save Max and Helen, and Carol's sacrifice was unnecessary.

Back Home

Carol and Meloni had a number of adventures in the future before Bart finally found them, let them know the darkness had been averted, and brought her back. Carol returned to her family in Manchester. She and Bart agreed to remain friends despite the distance (he was living in Denver at the time).

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