Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“To Understand what I’m about to tell you, You need to do something first. You need to believe in the Impossible. Can you do that ? Good !”

Racing through the city a singular red blur continued to cross left and right across the streets of the city in a Flash

“You see that Red Blur ? THAT’S ME !” 

Weaving through cars in and out the red blur only moved faster

“THAT TOO !”

More and More the red blur raced through the city barley being saw

“THERE I AM AGAIN !”

With another blur through the city, the blur was going so fast it caused a plethora of windows to be broken and shattered

“My name is Barry Allen. I am the fastest man alive”

“My Story is pretty Simple”

14 years ago

“My whole life, I have been running” 

Racing through the streets of Central City a smaller, Younger version of Barry Allen continued to run as fast as he could

“...usually from Bullies” 

Away from the 4 bigger bullies that chased him

“Sometimes I escaped” 

One of the bullies tackled him to the ground before soon enough all 4 bullies started beating on Barry senseless

“Sometimes I did not” 

“Tell me what happened” Nora said with a smile as she continued to tend to her Son’s cut lip

“Those guys were picking on kids, Just cause they thought they weren’t cool…..it wasn’t right” Barry proclaimed leaving Nora to nod her head

“I know honey” Nora had cooed, softly rubbing Barry’s leg

“I guess I wasn’t fast enough….”

“No” Nora was quick to say as she took Barry’s hand

“You have such a good heart, Barry. And it’s better to have a good heart than fast legs”

KNOCK KNOCK

The sound of padded feet and walking legs had gotten the families attention added with the sound of a voice making its presence more known 

“I’m home” Henry Allen had said with a glimmering smile upon his face to see his family right there waiting for him

“Barry got into a fight today” Nora said making Henry quake his head

“Oh yeah ?” 

“And he won” Nora stated making Barry smile at their little white light

“Well way to go, slugger” Henry grinned only to receive a look from his wife quickly changing his expression 

“Oh, and uh…no more fighting” 

Giving Nora a quick kiss before leaving so he could go place his stuff down, The redhead had soon placed a soft hand upon her son’s face letting Barry simply know no matter how many fights he lost or how many times he got beat up

He lived a great life  

Later that night……

Being awoken to the sound of clattering noise downstairs, Barry huffed his breath and shook his head confused on what was happening 

Everything had seemed normal in his room, nothing fallen nothing disbursed 

Except

The water within his fish bowl was going upwards escaping it’s containment

the sight only made Barry’s eyes go so wide they were gonna pop out of his skull not knowing if he was still dreaming or not

“But after that night, I was running from something much scarier…Something I could never explain….Something…..Impossible” 

Coming down the steps of his home Barry had heard the sounds of his mother calling for his Father. Pleading sounds of “HENERY !” being screamed over and over again only lead Barry downstairs 

The screaming had only gotten louder and the feeling of heavy and high wind coming from within his home had only scared Barry more but nothing….nothing prepared him for the sight that he laid his eyes on 

Walking to the living room, Barry had seen his mother crying, Stuck in a single positions as flashes of Yellow and Red raced all around her

“MOM ! MOM !” Barry had immediately started to cry getting Nora’s attention 

Seeing his mother with tears in his eyes, crying for her life had only scared him more

Using all of his courage to step forward Nora had Immediately put her hand up

“BARRY DON’T ! DON’T LET HIM TOUCH YOU !” she cried pure terror and fear within her voice

Stepping forward a little, Barry was Immediately shot back by the feeling of lighting touching him before soon his Father had ran into the room

“NORA !”

Stepping in front of Barry protectively, Henry himself had to assess the beyond bizarre situation before attempting to reach out to his wife

“NORA ! HOLD ON ! HOLD ON I’M COMING !”

Immediately turning to look at Barry, Henry had grasp at the young boy with a look of determination

“RUN BARRY RUN !”

As soon as Henry finished those words a bolt of yellow lighting had flashed by Henry taking Barry away and in the blink of an eye, Barry found himself 20 blocks away from his home

Looking around his surroundings in nothing but confusion and horror Barry had no clue what to make of the situation he was in

“MOM ? DAD ?!” 

Not knowing what to do or what to say, Barry did exactly what his Father told him

He Ran

Ran as fast as he could

TODAY

Huffing his breathe, Barry ran as fast as he could carrying his strapped bag on his shoulder

Mentally beating himself up over another tardiness he knew he’d be grilled for, Barry continued to run pushing past everyone on the street saying “sorry” and “excuse me” as he raced by

A local crime scene was being set up in front of a recently robbed bank, Cars parked all upon the lot with yellow tape all across the perimeter 

“Second Robbery this week, the Teller I.D. ‘D Clyde Mardon as the shooter” Joe had reported as he and his partner walked out of the Bank

“What ! oh Jeez the Mardon Brothers are Back ?”

Approaching the two cops, Captain Singh had let out his own exhale seeing the work they had on their hands

“What do we got”

Joe handed the man two different pictures of both Mark and Clyde Mardon

“Perps took the Bank, shot out the cameras and as a chaser, killed the security guard right over there” he reported, pointing over at the covered body with a tarp over it

“I’ve got unis kicking in doors of known Mardon Brothers associates”

“CSI been over it ?” Captain Singh had asked and that was the moment Joe’s face had gone cold

Looking around not seeing Barry in sight the man bit the inside of his tongue with a growl

“Uh….no….” he responded Immediately making the police Captain groan

“Where’s Allen ?!”

Continuing to run down the street as fast as he could, Barry had bumped into a man making them both groan. But that didn’t stop Barry from moving his strapped bag up onto his shoulder tighter as he looked back at the man quickly

“Sorry, sorry” he groaned picking up his pace seeing the crime scene up ahead, and by the look Captain Singh had on his face he could tell he wasn’t happy

“You can’t keep covering for him” Singh had stated as Barry flashed his badge entering the crime scene so that he could join in on the conversation

“If he’s not here now I’m gonna have to carry on this investigation without him”

Right as he said that Barry made his appearance leaving the 3 cops to look at him

“Sorry I’m late, Captain” Barry said with his own smile, one the older men didn’t enjoy much of

“What was it this time, Mr Allen ? you forget to set your alarm clock ?”

Barry was going to respond but his superior already spoke for him

“Before you answer, do I need to remind you the excuse you gave last time was car trouble. Want to know why that one was particularly memorable” 

“I do not own a car” Barry blurted out making Joe groan before stepping in knowing he had to save him

“He was running an errand for me” he said before turning to look at the young man

“Barry, did you get me what I asked for ?”

Seeing the face Joe made Barry knew he had to make something up on the fly but even as he dug within his pockets immediately finding his excuse he knew deep down it was gonna be just as lame

“Yeah yeah it’s uhh…it’s right…here” 

Revealing the cookie he bought from Jitters, Barry let out an awkward laugh while Joe simply stared him down as he accepted the cookie

“I may have had a few bites” Barry admitted but Joe didn’t let him say anything more, just nudged his head signaling Barry to get to work

Somehow surviving the awkward shoe of what that was the introduction to his work, Barry placed down his bag before getting down to the ground, examining the tire tracks upon the ground

Seeing the tracks running up north with a 12 inch asymmetrical tread Barry immediately knew what happened 

“Getway car’s a mustang shelby GT500” Barry began to report leaving Joe to form a small smile as he started taking notes

“Shelby’s have a rear super-wide tire, specific to that model, 12 inches to an asymmetrical tread….but there’s something else”

Grabbing the pen from the nearby detective's vest. Barry gave him a small “Thanks” before returning to the crime scene

Scooping up a brown sample within the scene, Barry took a sniff immediately cringing 

“Fecal excrement” he reported looking back at the detectives

Pulling out a bag Barry shook it

“Animal, I’d guess”

Continuing to do his job, Barry placed the pen and sample within the plastic bag but the one detective he took it from still had his own personal grudge

“My dad gave me that pen….” he said making Barry look back at him

“Before he died”

Letting out a cringe Barry zipped up the bag silently sighing 

“Sorry….”

Yep…this was his life

….

Walking around within his lab Barry continued to watch the data analysis whilst eating a bag of chips within his hand

Placing the bag at his nearby table, Barry had wiped his hands before looking at the file of the Mardon brothers

“Ok, I am ready to see this atom smasher….smashing !” Iris said walking into the lab

“There was a shooting today” Barry reported leaving the laptop so that he could walk over to the vile 

“Your dad needs me to process some evidence”

Fixing his map of the city, Iris followed Barry deeper into the lab while he continued to ramble

“Which means I don’t know if we’re gonna be able to make it to S.T.A.R. LABS”

“But seeing this thing turn on is like…your dream” Iris said as they walked over to his main desk that held his recent order of Big Belly Burger. Grabbing a big handful of fries

“Your sad, little…nerdy dream” 

Taking a bite of the fries Iris continued

“Besdies I canceled a date for this. So you kinda owe me”

Looking Iris up and down Barry scrunched his face

“Hands off my fries” he said before snatching it away from her 

“Unbelieavable” 

“Umm, I’m stress eating over my dissertation, we started selling cronuts at jitters. I ate two today”

Letting out a small grin and shaking his head Barry continued to work while Iris continued to speak, dropping all the tea that Barry may or may not have needed

“If I don’t graduate soon, I’m gonna be more muffin top than woman”

Turing to look Iris up and down Barry only blushed more, releasing how pretty she looked….how pretty she always looked

“You look amazing” Barry truthfully said

Iris had simply scoffed at the comment, playfully. She brushed it off due it being one of millions of compliments he’s given her over the years but that didn’t make it any less true to Barry. Leaving him to just turn and walk away while Iris grabbed a nearby newspaper about the particle accelerator expected to go off tonight 

“Hey what’s so special about this particle accelerator anyway ?” Iris asked

Barry’s face immediately went flux full of excitement at the simple thought of what to expect at the genius device

“Harrison Wells’ work in Quantum theory is literally LIGHT-YEARS ahead of anything they’re doing at cern”

“Jesus Barry, you really need a girlfriend that explains anything you just said. She wouldn’t leave you alone”

Letting out a scoff and smile Barry rolled his eyes

“No girl like that exists” he joked before continuing, walking away from Iris and heading to the whiteboard picking up a marker

“Just imagine”

Barry drew a small dot in the middle of the board

“That that dot is everything the human race has ever learned until this moment” Barry exclaimed. Animating with his hands 

“Does that include “twerking” 

Simply ignoring Iris' comment Barry continued. Drawing an even bigger circle around the smaller one

“That is everything we could learn from the particle accelerator. It’s a whole new way of looking at physics ! it will literally change the way that we think about EVERYTHING !!”

Placing a hand on his shoulder again Iris smiled at Barry’s newfound excitement 

“Again, Barry, like I said. You GOT to get a girlfriend” 

“Hey, leave him alone. He’s working” a newfound voice said getting both their attention 

Barry and Iris had turned to see Joe standing right there 

“Hi Dad”

With a sound of a ding the trio looked over at Barry’s computer seeing the data scan complete 

“Looks like your test thingy’s done”

Going over to his Data scanner, Barry had his own verdict he came up with

“I think the mardon brothers are hiding on a farm. The decal matter I found on the street was cow manure. Which contained traces of oxytetracycline” he reported looking back at Joe and Iris who just looked at him as if he had gone insane 

“It’s an antibiotic. And there are only four farms in the area that still use it in their feed”

Pulling out a fax paper, Barry handed it to Joe leaving it to be the one thing he understood this evening coming from Barry

“Bet you find a really sweet shelby parked at one of them”

Seeing the satisfaction that ran along Joe’s face granted too most it wouldn’t look like that. Iris had gotten out of her seat

“Dad, seeing as Barry seemed to solve your poop problem, how about letting him go to S.T.A.R. labs ?” 

Barry himself had optimistic thinking, hoping Joe would cave. And by the way his frowned turned upside down Barry knew he was in the clear

“Fine, go”

Immediately both Barry and Iris jumped up in joy. Looking like two children that were told they were going out for fast food. Quite frankly it reminded him of an older simpler time….something never do change

Giving her father a kiss on the cheek as Barry got his coat both Barry and Iris had left the lab leaving Joe to shake his head and smile

At the end of the day they were still his kids

…

“So, Barry, how was your trip” Iris holding one another arm in arm

“Did you find proof of the impossible in Starling city or did you just make my dad mad for no reason”

Sharing a laugh with her as they continued to walk Barry admittedly reminisced on his previous endeavor and adventure in Starling city. Meeting Oliver, Felicity, Diggle…The Arrow. It gave him a whole new perspective on life admittedly. Gave him a lot to think about

“Actually while I was away I had a chance to think about…you know relationships” Barry admitted

His throat immediately started to go dry and his lips getting cold, talking…..relationships with the one girl he’s ever been in love with since he was child was probably the hardest and bravest thing he’s ever had to do…..and he works for the police

“Well I’m not in one…and…well…you’re not in one, either. And you’re my best friend, Iris”

“You’re mind to” Iris said with a smile

“Why else would I be here ?”

Looking around them seeing the multitude of protesting signs that covered the area of the laboratory. Barry sighed

“That’s not what I meant…what I meant was-”

“I know what you’re gonna say Barry” Iris interrupted him as they came to a stop in front of the lab’s speaking platform finally giving them room to truly have their conversation

“I’m not truly sure you do”

“Even though we pretty much grew up in the same house together, and we’re kind of like brother and sister….becasue we’re not brother and sister….it can get really weird and awkward to talk to me about girls. But I just want you to know that it shouldn’t be awkward” 

Nodding his head, Barry’s once confident smile dropped and faded and while Iris thought she was helping turns out she was more so hurting him inside 

“There is nothing that I want more than for you to meet the right person that totally loves and adores you for the amazing guy that you are. I’m telling you bro, you need someone who gets you on a different level, a girl who shares the same passions and hobbies as you. Someone who doesn't mind you talking your butt off when it comes to sciency, smarty…words and stuff !”

Letting out a laugh that Barry awkwardly followed, the brunette had simply nodded his head

“Took the words right out of my mouth”

“Aww, aren't you glad I know you so well”

Giving Barry a side hug, Barry had accepted the gesture, just barely holding in his mixed and harbored emotions 

Luckily for him Harrison Wells made his appearance, walking onto the stage

Barry’s face immediately lit up at the sight of the man. Joining the clappter with everyone else in the crowd while Iris had just smiled seeing Barry so happy

“Thank you, my name is Harrison Wells. Tonight, the future begins. The work my team and I will do here, will change our understanding of physics. We’ll bring about advancements of power, advancements in medicine, and trust me, that future. Will be here faster than you think”

Clapping his hands once again Barry couldn’t contain his smile leaving Iris once again to clap with him, but the enjoyment didn't last too long as someone had bumped between them, snatching her laptop and Immediately Iris noticed while her heart dropped

“HEY ! MY LAPTOP !” she said getting Barry’s attention

“IT’S GOT MY DISSERTATION !”

Not wasting a single second, Barry immediately ran. Chasing after the running theft through the hoarded crowd and many amount of people halting Wells’s speech 

Seeing the theft leap over a railing and some bushes, Barry grasped an older man, giving him a quick “I’m sorry” and keeping him stable before continuing his chase leading himself into an alleyway

Huffing his breath quickly running out of air within his lungs, Barry had pushed through. Knowing how much Iris needed that laptop. He wouldn’t let it be lost forever and

WACK

Slamming the cased device directly into Barry’s face dropping him harshly to the ground, Barry groaned. Huffing his breath before getting up to his feet seeing that the theft was no one more than just a young man like him

“Alright…hey kid, you don’t have to do this all right ?” Barry said reassuringly while the young man was still pretty concerned 

“Just give me back my friend’s bag and we’ll call it even. This never happened”

Licking his lips hesitantly, Barry slowly walked forward, his hands out carefully trying to teach for the bag and right when he thought he’d listen that’s when he received a bag slam to the gut launching him back to a nearby wall

“BARRY !” Iris shouted arriving to the scene literally 3 seconds to late as the young man had already took off 

“Are you ok ?”

“Yeah….yeah…but your bag…”

Hopping over the fence the young man had barely reached the line of escape before suddenly a flashing light was shined upon him

“FREEZE ! POLICE !” someone yelled behind the light, soon enough revealing to be a cop with blonde hair and a gun being held up to his face

“Or do you want to find out the hard way you’re not faster than a bullet ?”

Putting his hands up in the air showing his defeat the cop just smirked in satisfaction knowing he got the purp 

….

With a tissue up his nose soaking up the blood from the blow he took, Barry transitioned from that to an ice pack. Not knowing if he should relieve his pain or…..sit with it ?

Even in nights like this were Thunder was heard in the sky and it was raining hard the police station was still full of cops

Crime truly does never sleep   

“Who is that guy, and what is he so proud of ? so what he caught a mugger” Iris said bringing back another icepack for him

“He’s a transfer from Keystone. Started a few weeks ago. Eddie Thawne”

Getting a good look at the man seeing the complements he gained from the other cops Iris’s mood quickly changed

“Oh, so that’s detective pretty boy”

Immediately raising an eyebrow at Iris’s not only choice of words but choice of exaggeration she quickly caught herself. Looking back at Barry

“That’s what my dad calls him at least, says he actually keeps score when it comes to arrests”

Looking back at Eddie Iris bit her lip

“He is pretty though”

Letting out an eyeroll Barry groaned before plopping the ice pack upon his face

…

The heavy rain only poured more upon the city of Central City while Joe and his partner continued to search the locations on Barry’s list

“This is the last farm on Barry’s list”

Looking outside at the area around them the detective simply shook his head already have his doubts about this place

“Look I know the kids smart, but you said it yourself sometimes he’s chasing flying pigs”

“Well let’s check it out anyway” Joe said making the man groan before they both got out the car

Elsewhere within the city, Barry kept his tissue up to his nose, containing the bleeding as he opened the metal framed door to his lab already seeing the heavy rain pour upon the ceilings window leaking onto the ground below him

Not paying any attention to it, Barry turned on his laptop playing the live feed of the newest TV report about S.T.A.R. Labs whilst taking off his coat

“I’m Linda Park and we’re live outside S.T.A.R. Labs despite the inclement weather, which is only going to get worse”

Looking at the heavy raining window, Barry scoffed. Throwing his jacket on the nearby table so that he could lean closer to the monitor 

“The torrential downpour has in no way affected the particle accelerator. Which is up and running smoothly according to S.T.A.R. Labs CEO Harrison Wells..”

The report continued to trail off but Barry had stopped listening, only grabbed a paper and walked over to his map of the city where he pulled down the string revealing his little pet project he’s been working on

His Mothers Murder

And his Father’s arrest

Walking into the nearby barnhouse, Joe and the detective found Barry’s suspicion to be right. A cover that faked to be covering a trailer revealed to be covering the Shelby GT500 that Barry reported on at the scene of the crime 

Looking up at his partner Joe growled

“Mardon”

Before anymore investigating could be done gunshots were fired at the cops causing them to immediately duck for cover 

Looking across and above them, someone within the shadows continued to open fire upon them and after firing a couple of shots back the man pushed past the hay barrels dropping himself to the ground before getting back up to fire a couple of more shots

“I got a plane to catch !” Mardon yelled, running out the barn leaving the detective to follow right after him

The heavy rain caused his vision of one of the brothers to be heavily blurry, added with the sight of a crop duster plane entering the scene distorting him to not see a bullet fired towards him hitting him directly in the neck making him drop to the ground below

Joe had finally made the scene but all he saw was Mardon getting in the plane and after firing a couple of shots, it did no good as it already took off leaving him to groan before looking down at his partner 

“Chyre, Hang in there Man” he said but it was loss cause seeing the man drop his hand and stop breathing 

Looking back at the plane being taken off, Joe let out another angered groan seeing that they’d lost the brothers forever

“Wait, we’re now being told to evacuate the facility”

Hearing the alarm going off and the sudden panic being taken place on the screen, Barry looked even closer at the monitor in curiosity of what was happening

“The storm may have caused a malfunction to the primary cooling system. Officials are now trying to shut down the particle accelerator but so far, have been unable to regain control of the system-”

Immediately the TV shut off making Barry’s eyebrow raise but the rumbling sensation that he felt caused him to look up from the screen only to see a cataclysmic explosion that came from the center of the city but more specifically S.T.A.R. Labs

Seeing the plane make its leave out the city, the eruption that came from S.T.A.R. Labs immediately caused the plane to explode making Joe’s eyes go wide at the sudden change of events

Walking over to the chain that allowed him to open up the Labs sun roof. The once shaking and tingling sensation Barry felt watching the news report returned except this time it felt even closer 

But more importantly all the vials, liquids and…things around his lab started to fly out of their cases and bottles but at a completely slow rate while he himself…stayed at the normal rate of speed ?

Hearing the Thunderclap up at the sky, Barry himself watched as the rain only intensified more before soon enough a harsh hail of orange lighting came down at him, striking him so hard he was launched into a plethora of chemicals knocking him out completely leaving a surge of lighting to wash across his body

… 

9 months later

“What are you doing ?”

“He likes this song !”

“How could you possibly know that”

“I checked his facebook page haha !...I mean he can hear everything right ?” 

“well…Abatory functions. Sensory faculties to degenerate”

Hearing the faint sounds of poker face being played Barry could barely make out what was happening, only faint looks of faces. Brief sounds of voices and….what seemed to be someone singing Lady Gaga ? 

Letting out and immediate and heavy gasp, sudden sensors all around him started to go haywire

“OH MY GOD !” a long haired young man suddenly said across from him. Needing the usage of a round desk behind him to keep him stable

Quickly grabbing a microphone Barry heard something blast through the room but that was the least of his concerns as he started to take off all the wires and cords clinging to his body

“Dr Wells ! get down to the cortex, like RIGHT NOW !”

Pulling the last cord stuck to him, Barry suddenly found a light flashing into his face leaving him stunned and honestly confused on how this was even supposed to be helping him ?

“Pulse 120, pupils equally reactive to light”

Finally pushing everything away forcing himself out of bed, the long haired young man had quickly grasped at him with a smile getting his attention 

“Hey, hey hey man woah relax everything’s ok man” he began, trying to calm him down even if there was a young woman in his eyes and ears sticking metal into him and chanting things at him

“You’re at S.T.A.R. Labs ” Cisco stated making Barry grumble finally keeping him still enough so that the young woman could finally check his ear

“S.T.A.R. Labs ?” Barry repeated 

“Who…who are you ?”

I’m Cisco Ramon. And she’s Caitlin…Dr Snow”

Looking over at Caitlin she immediately brought up a plastic cup

“I need you to urinate in this” 

Immediately snatching the cup Cisco groaned

“Not this second”

Feeling suddenly pressured and overly confused, Barry shook his head. Pushing past both Cisco and Caitlin so that he could get some air

“Wa…wait…WHAT IS HAPPENING ! what is going on ?”

“You were struck by lightning dude !” Cisco said with an exaggerated smile, one that Caitlin didn’t seem to share but Barry was the most confused

“What ?”

Turning around immediately spotting the monitor that was watching him for the past 9 months, Barry had immediately seen the six pack on his torso confusing him more than anything he just learned 

“Lighting gave me abs ?....”

“Your muscles should be atrophied, but instead their in a chronic and unexplained state of cellular regeneration” Caitlin suddenly said touching all over Barry making his eyes go wide

Immediately blanking out getting his first real look at the doctor Barry just blurred out one thing instinctively

“You’re really pretty…..” 

Caitlin had only squinted her eyes at him and the once serious expression upon her face returned leaving him to believe he did something wrong

“Come here. Have a seat” Cisco said sitting him down so that he could look at him

“You were in a coma”

With a wide eyed expression Barry didn’t even know where to begin

“For how long ???”

“Nine months” someone said getting the trio’s attention 

Each of them turned their heads but Barry was the only one whose eyes went wide seeing who spoke

“Welcome back, Mr Allen. We have a lot to discuss” Harrison Wells said, being in a wheelchair. leaving him beyond speechless 

….

“It’s truly hard to believe I'm here” Barry said as he and Wells walked through the hallway

Well….he walked, Harrison Wells….he rolled….which is something he still needed to get used to

“I have always wanted to meet you face to face” Barry admitted with a smile, beyond excited that he was meeting his idol 

“Yeah ? well you certainly went to great lengths to do it. You see S.T.A.R. Labs has not been operational since FEMA categorized us as a class four hazardous location. 17 people died that night, many more…injured myself amongst them” Wells explained as they continued to walk down the Hallway, passing by a cage that was labeled GRODD

Approaching a nearby ledge, Wells showed Barry a deep crevice created by the accelerator breaking and exposing the floor plans where the floor would be

“Jesus…” Barry mumbled before looking at Wells

“What happened ?”

Licking the inside of his lips Wells spoke

“Nine months ago the particle accelerator went online exactly as planned, and for 45 minutes I had achieved my life’s dream. And then….then there was an anomaly”

Barry’s face grew more confused and concerned but Wells continued to explain

“The electron bolts became unmeasurable, the ring under us popped. Energy from that detonation was thrown into the sky and that in turn seeded a storm cloud that-”

“Created a lighting bolt…” Barry finished for him piecing together the puzzle

“That struck me….”

“That’s right” Wells confirmed leaving Barry to look at himself

“I was….recoving myself. When I heard about you”

Looking down at the man Barry did in fact notice the wheelchair he was in. Something he wasn’t in 9 months ago

“The hospital was undergoing unexplainable power outages, every time you were going into cardiac arrest, Which was actually a misdiagnosis because you see you weren't flatlining, Barry. Your heartbeat was moving too fast for the EKG to register it”

With a press to a nearby button, Barry and Wells approached a sliding door allowing them to continue venturing the lab returning back to where Barry was kept for the past 9 months

“Now I’m not the most popular person in town these days, but detective West and his daughter gave me permission to bring you here, where we were able to stabilize you”

“Iris..” Barry repeated 

“Iris, yes….she came to see you quite often actually”

“She talks a lot” Caitlin said as she and Cisco came into the room where she handed a water bottle to Wells

“Also, she’s hot” Cisco added with his own grin

Suddenly Barry’s world came all at him, 9 months of life he’s missed out on ?!?! Iris…Joe….his JOB !

“I need to go” Barry suddenly said heading for the door making Caitlin’s eyes go wide

“What ? no you can’t”

“No, no no, Caitlin’s right. Now that you’re awake, we need to do more tests. You’re still going through changes. There’s so much that we don’t know”

“I’m fine” Barry said with his own registered smile

“Really, I feel normal. But thank you for saving my life” Barry said before popping out of the room leaving them feeling…confused

“Really ? spend 9 months watching him and he’s gone just like that” Caitlin said before Barry had Immediately popped back in again

“Can I keep the sweatshirt ?” 

Looking at one another, Wells let out his own sigh before rolling his eyes

“Yes you can keep the sweatshirt”

“Yay” Barry exclaimed before fully leaving, keeping the team of scientists themselves conflicted at Barry’s sudden leave 

…

Filling up the customers coffee cups, Iris continued to walk around the coffee shop continuing to work

Within the midst of giving a customer a refill, Iris had looked up at the shops entrance and immediately their heart had dropped

Walking through the door, Barry held a smile on his face as he opened the door for someone before walking in himself quickly making eye contact with Iris 

“Oh, my god….” Iris mumbled seeing Barry

Placing the coffee jug down, Iris had covered her mouth instinctively before fully running to him. Leaving Barry’s smile to grow even wider 

Hastily catching her within his arms and picking her up, Iris and Barry held each other closely. The warm hug feeling being something they desperately needed 

Reeling back from one another, Iris looked Barry up in down, a lost for words at the fact that he was standing here…right before her

“You’re awake…..” she began, gripping his arms in a gasp making him laugh while she was struggling to get the words out

“why didn’t S.T.A.R. Labs call us ?”

“I just wake up” Barry grinned

“Should…should you even be on your feet ?” Iris said immediately starting to ramble about his safety and recovery but Barry just shook his head

“Iris, I…I’m ok”  he reassured confidently

Still unsure of what she was seeing Iris sighed

“I watched you die, Barry…you kept dying…your heart, it kept stopping”

Seeing the fear on her face. Barry couldn’t even imagine what she went through when he was in a coma. The fear he must’ve put in her while he was asleep

Grabbing her hand that was stationed on his arm, Barry had made the decision to place it on his heart, letting Iris feel his very much and alive heartbeat leaving them both to grow smiles as they looked at one another

“It’s still beating”

“It feels really fast”

Amidst their conversation Barry immediately noticed a barista spilling an entire tray of coffee 

In the same moment that happened a person had tossed their keys to someone else in a simultaneous action. 

And this wouldn’t be weird

If it wasn’t for the fact that Barry saw both events happen in slow motion ?

It only lasted for a second as in a flash the slow motion stopped and the trays spilled immediately making iris gasp and turn her head to see the damage

“Are you ok Tracy ?”

“Yeah I got it” she responded leaving Iris to simply nod her head while a strange sensation washed over Barry

Looking back at the young man, Iris failed to contain her smile

“My Dad’s gonna be so excited to see you” she said making Barry smile

“Let me get my stuff, ok ? be right back”

Nodding his head Iris simply made her leave but that still didn’t stop Barry from thinking back on the moments that transpired before the spill

What the hell was that ?

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Elsewhere in the city at one of the many Banks Central City held, a man wearing a hat covering his face had stepped up behind a finishing customer 

“Hi and how can I help you today” the Banker worker asked with a warm smile

Not responding with any words the man had simply passed her a blank check with writing on it growing her a confused look

One that only grew as she read the words

“This is a robbery ?”

Looking up at the man the woman tilted her head

“Is this supposed to be a joke ?”

Finally revealing his face, the man’s dirty blonde hair covered his eyes revealing his mean mugged expression

“You tell me” he growled before stepping back and bringing his arms up

Almost instantly a cloud of smoke and storm grew within the building causing people within the bank to start scattering in confusion but the threat turned out to be very much real when the glass painting above shattered leaving the worker’s mouth to drop

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Bringing in Barry for a tightly held Hug, Both Joe and Barry smiled at the much missed contact 

“Oh you scared the hell out of us, Kid” Joe said not wanting to let go

“Yeah, that was quite the nap you took there, Baby face” a passing joke teased as Barry and Joe had let go allowing Barry’s attention to be diverted

“And you still look 12”

Letting out a measly laugh, Joe placed his hand on Barry’s shoulder 

“You look ok, are you really ?”

Thinking upon his words, Barry only doubled down on his smile. Nodding his head

“Yeah”

Sadly the reunion had to be cut short because crime never seems to sleep 

“Deteice West, We’ve got a 5.15 in progress at Gold City Bank, Two dead” the female cop stated grabbing everyone’s attention

“Storm’s really picking up on the south side, I’d grab your rain gear”

“Alright, Sorry Barry but I gotta run”

“Do you need my help ?”

Grabbing his trench coat Joe was quick to shake his head

“No, you take it easy. They’ll be petty for you to do once you settle in. LET’S GO PARTNER !”

Taking to his leave Barry had just nodded his head. Knowing that was probably gonna happen but what he didn’t expect was the person Joe had called revealing to be his newfound partner

“Hey Barry, glad to see your ok” Eddie Thawne had said being quite the surprise to Barry

Guess he did miss some stuff in 9 months

Noticing Iris right next to him Eddie grinned

“Hey Iris”

Simply folding her arms, Iris huffed her breathe 

“Detective, you should go my dad doesn't like to be kept waiting”

Letting out a small chuckle, Eddie nodded his head before tapping Barry on the shoulder making his leave 

“Glad your back man”

Barry had turned his head, watching Eddie leave but more so he found something else that caught his attention

A small memorial for fallen cops

And one of them happened to be Joe’s old partner

“The night of the explosion Clude Mardon shot and killed Chyre” Iris explained making Barry sigh

“Mardon and his brother died trying to escape. Their plane crashed”

“I missed so much” Barry sighed

“I mean….I’m glad to be ok but, still. 9 months of my life. Gone just like that”

Pursing his lips, Iris had reassuringly patted Barry on the back but the small moment was cut short when she needed to help out a needing cop leaving Barry to just look at the memorial some more

“Hey Barry” another one of the officers said getting his attention

“Good to see you”

Giving the man a smile, observing the scene that he and his partner were placing a street criminal under arrest, Barry had quickly seen the man attempting to reach for the cops gun

Immediately Barry’s eyes went wide, and Immediately he ran as fast as he could trying to stop the man

And right as he ran a large gust of wind passed within the precinct slamming the man back down on the table leaving the cops to Immediately grab him

“SCREW YOU PIGS !” the man shouted while the cops took him away and Barry had just stood there shook at what just happened while Iris had came back

“Hey Barry” she said making Barry quickly turn his head to her, his face scattered and eradicated like he had just seen a ghost 

“You ok ?’

Huffing his breath with his chest pumping up and down Barry Immediately nodded his head

“I-I…I’m fine….I….I just need some air….but I’ll call you tonight alright”

Before Iris could even say anything, Barry made his leave. Growing her more confused but still it didn’t stop Barry from leaving the building 

Walking outside into the Back Alleyway, Barry desperately clutched his hand 

He looked right and left to make sure the Alley was completely empty and when the coast was clear, Barry took a deep breath before bringing up his hand revealing the vibrating hand before him that made his eyes go wide

Barry didn’t even know what to say or where to begin. He was just left in complete confusion, shock, fear…no words able to describe what he was feeling

“What’s happening to me ?” he questioned to himself before Immediately running forward 

In the blink of an eye he traveled 10 feet in less than a second making him whip his head around left to right

“Holy shit” he mumbled before running again completely shattering the cop car’s back glass window 

Looking at the damage he caused Barry couldn’t believe what was happening. Even needing to back up from the car to release the possibility of what was happening 

Does he….have Superpowers ?

Thinking about the possibility before looking around at the damages he caused, the more Barry thought about. The more he started to grin at the thought, looking down the long alleyway with an idea in mind

Panting his breath Barry smiled and threw all caution to the wind and right there and then he took off creating a small boom behind him

Immediately starting to run Barry could barely control himself, the sudden change in speed making him scream loudly as he suddenly couldn’t stop either

Seeing a laundry truck ahead of him, Barry had simply braced for impact. Covering his face before ramming completely into the truck 

His vision had been blurry and all black but when the driver removed a bag of clothes from his face revealing the truck and the outside world to him again, Barry panted his breath with a smile on his face as only one word came out of his mouth

“Awesome….”

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“You don’t really believe he can run that fast do you” Caitlin said 

Stationed at an abandoned airway, the S.T.A.R Labs team set up right there and waiting 

“Well, I believe anything is possible and in a few minutes, you will too” Wells responded   

Rolling her eyes Caitlin far from believed that this was true but still mine as well find out

Cisco didn’t share her bleakness though, more eager than anyone to see if this was true 

“Hey man, how does it fit ?”

Coming out of the S.T.A.R Labs truck, Barry revealed himself wearing a tight red spandex outfit with a matching red helmet 

“It’s a little snug” Barry said

And very stupid he thought to himself

“At least you’ll be moving so fast no one will see you” Cisco said with an even eager smile ready to get this show on the road

“See you thought the world was slowing down. But it wasn’t, you were moving so fast. It only looked like everyone else was standing still” Cisco had explained, taking him to the block he had set up

“Dr Wells will be monitoring your energy output and Caitlin your vitals”

Hearing the list of jobs from everyone Barry raised an eyebrow

“So what do you do ?”

With his own smile Cisco laughed

“I make the toys, man !” he said making Barry himself laugh as well

“Check it, this is a two-way headset with a camera I modified. Typically designed to combat battlefield impulse noise, or in your case potential sonic booms which would be AWESOME !”

Taking off Barry’s helmet so he could get it fitted, Barry shook his head and laughed, taking off his goggles while Caitlin replaced Cisco with a Tablet in her hand occupying her attention 

Looking the brunette up and down Barry couldn’t help himself but from smiling at her even if she had a serious demeanor on her face

And she noticed it too

“What, care to comment on my physical features again”

Letting out an awkward laugh Barry bit his lip

“Yeah…sorry about that, first time seeing a girl in 9 months….and first time a girl’s touched me…at all in about 4 years”

Barry himself let out a little laugh but Caitlin didn’t take to it. Continuing to do a check on the monitor equipment while Barry examined her again

“You don’t smile much do you” he said finally gaining her eyes

“My once promising career in bioengineering is over”

“My boss is in a wheelchair for life” she added looking over at Dr Wells

“The explosion that put you in a coma, also killed my fiance” she admitted making Barry’s eyes soften along with his expression 

“So this blank expression feels like the way to go”

Oh…no wonder she doesn't smile much

Not knowing what to say, Barry tried to say something but no words came out. And just like that Caitlin left leaving Barry to simply lick his lips

Dead Fiance….wow

“Mr Allen” Dr Wells said getting Barry’s attention 

“While I am extremely eager to determine your feel range of abilities, I do caution restraint”

Nodding his head, Caisco handed Barry the helmet and soon enough Barry set up to the blocks, positioning himself in a get off stance before looking back at the team seeing Cisco holding a speedometer with an eager smile on his face

Getting into his readied position, Barry took a deep breath. Flexing his muscles preparing to test just how fast he could go 

And with a simple surge of lighting flashing across his eyes Barry took off, screaming a small boom that launched Cisco on his ass, made Wells chair slide back and completely knocked over all of the devices Caitlin had set up

The huge gust of wind blew all of them away both metaphorically and physically and Cisco Immediately brought up the speedometer seeing just how fast he was going

Seeing his speed first hand was nothing short of…. amazing Caitlin had to admit as this was the first time in 9 months she actually cracked…a smile

Letting out a “WOO-HOO !” Barry ran even faster making Cisco’s speedometer bleep 

“He just cracked 200 miles an hour !” Cisco exclaimed jumping up and down with pure excitement 

Looking at the red blur Barry created with her binoculars Caitlin was just left in complete disbelief of what she was seeing

“It’s not possible….”

Picking up the pace with his speed, Barry started to lose focus and sight of his path

His mind wandered back to the night of his mother’s death, the red and yellow blur and the man in yellow he’s spent his entire life trying to find

All of it brought caused him to lose focus and right there and then he didn’t see the plethora of water tanks placed at the end of the runway causing his eyes to Immediately go wide in complete shock 

Crashing into the jugs, Barry was soon found clutching his arm letting out a heavy groan 

Flipping himself side to side Barry tried to reside with the pain of his newly formed broken arm

Damn Superpowers…

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Back the precinct, The stationed had been filled with witnesses of all sorts and kinds, All talking to different officers of sorts and the sight only left Captain Singh the more confused walking into the room

“What is all this ?”

“Witness from the robbery at Gold City Bank” Joe stated

“Perp made off with 200 grand, more or less”

“Just Catch these guys please” the chief said before walking off leaving Joe to simply let out a sigh scratching the back of his head before listening in on of the witness testimonies 

“The windows blew in and it….it was like a hurricane” the woman said making Joe’s eyebrow raise while Eddie continued to interview the woman

“We’re going to have a sketch artist work with you, if you feel up to it”

With that Eddie traded places with the cop so that he could join up with Joe and Eddie was simply lost

“Third Robbery within a month where a freak storm precedes it. Sounds like one of those “wide world of weird” Cases Barry’s always obsessed with”

“He’s not obsessed” Joe defended but Eddie doubled down 

“Bet you haven’t red his blog”

“Just tell me about the security cameras at the bank”

Flipping through his notes Eddie showed Joe the writing 

“Apprenlty it all shorted out”

Turing to look at the witnesses on their phones Both Joe and Eddie gained an idea, looking at one another

“The sky went black and then BOOM ! outside was inside, man it was like there was a thunderstorm in the bank”

Looking over the security footage, Joe found that the witness was right. The camera footage was snowy and windy, like it was literally snowing outside. But still through the thick fog and snow Joe noticed the man walking to a car making his eyes go wide from seeing the vehicle 

“Vukuvich, suspect is driving a black mustang. Partial plate six-Kilo-Charlie-Three. Put out an APB”

“Copy that detective” the cop said before leaving

Biting his lip Joe look further at the camera just wondering what the hell was going on

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“It looks like you had a distal radius fracture” Caitlin stated showing Barry an xray of his arm. But the past tense simply left him confused

“I’m sorry, Had ?”

Swiping up on the tablet, Caitlin showed the most recent scan of Barry’s hand

“It’s healed, In three hours” she stated leaving Barry more confused

“How the hell is that even possible ?”

Looking Barry up and down Caitlin had no complete answer

“We don’t know….yet”

Walking past the two with a smirk Cisco chook his head, holding the helmet Barry was previously wearing within his hand

“You really need to learn how to stop” he said making Barry chuckle before looking down at his apparently newly healed hand

“What happened out there today ?” Dr Wells suddenly questioned rolling into the room

Barry’s fast immediately softened but that didn’t stop the man from continuing to talk

“You were moving pretty well, and then something caused you to lose focus”

Clutching his arm with his own heavy sigh, Barry knew he couldn’t keep this in forever, especially these people

“I started remembering something” Barry said 

Making a face of confusion Dr Wells wasn’t satisfied enough leaving Barry to sigh once more. Rubbing his hands together nervously before speaking 

“When I was 11 my mother was murdered" He admitted

Immediately everyone in the room stopped working, stopped performing their own personal task to take a second to look at Barry with a softened expression. 

Dr Wells himself even leaned on his chair while Barry continued to speak

“It was late….A sound woke me up and I….Came downstairs and I uh….Saw, what looked like a…Ball of lighting”

Taking off his glasses, Dr Wells continued to listen to Barry’s story

“And inside the lighting, there was….a man, he killed my mom. They arrested my dad, He’s still sitting in Iron Heights for her murder. And Everyone the cops, the shrinks, they’ve….”

Closing his eyes, Barry sighed. Wiping his mouth with his hands while everyone in the room continued to carefully listen to Barry

“They all told me what I saw was impossible….but….wha….”

Damn this was hard to grasp

“What is the man, who killed my mom was like me ?” Barry asked, not just the others but to himself

Thinking over Barry’s questioned Dr Wells grew his own….instrested smirk

“Well, I think I can say unequivocally. You are one of a kind”

Licking his lips Barry felt like that truly wasn’t what he wanted to hear but evermore…I guess it’s just what he heard

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Walking outside the Jitters building Iris let out a visible groan seeing Eddie

“Can I help you, Detective”

Playing with his fingers Eddie himself sighed

“You can stop acting like you can’t stand me when your Dad’s around” Eddie said Immediately making Iris smile

“Aww, but I like having a boyfriend who isn’t shot to death”

Eddie himself knew he couldn’t keep his angered glare on forever, caving the moment Iris cupped his face in her hands before leaning in to kiss him

It was a simple loving moment between the two but the moment Iris had pulled back she’d seen Barry standing there watching with a pained reaction

“Shit”

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“You can’t tell my Dad” Iris had begged as she and Barry continued to walk down the street

“He doesn't know about me and Eddie”

“Yeah well doesn't seem like anyone’s in on the secret”

“I was gonna tell you”

Looking up at the sky, groaning, Iris kept her hands in her jacket pockets. Trying to figure out a way to sum up the story

“When you were in the hospital, Eddie covered my father’s shifts so that we could both be with you. I thanked him with a cup of coffee, and things just…kinda happened” Iris admitted with a smile only paining Barry more even if he didn’t tell her

“And it’s good”

Pursing his lips, Barry knew he couldn’t let this middle school jealousy get to him. No matter how much he wanted it too

It was

“dating your partner’s daughter-isn’t that like….against department regulations ?”

Coming to a stop under a bridge their conversation continued and it couldn’t have been more clear they viewed this differently 

“Why are you so upset ?”

Cause I’m in love with you Barry wanted to shout as loud as he could

“I just don’t like having to lie to your dad, you know ?”

Before the conversation could go any further a series of cop cars came sketching under the bridge and one of the cars were about to hit him and Iris 

Immediately grabbing the girl dropping them to the ground and out of the way of the car leaving it to hit a nearby bench, everything had slowed down for Barry allowing him to see who the cops were chasing in a Black Mustang

The long dirty blonde hair, Immediately making Barry recognize who it was behind the wheel

“Mardon” he gasped before Immediately taking off leaving Iris to quickly look around in confusion on where Barry went

Running down the street, following Mardon. Barry had soon came side to side with the car Immediately ramming himself into the vehicle as soon enough he was in the same car and passenger seat as the once “Dead” Criminal 

I did not think this through Barry thought to himself as Immediately, Mardon reached for the gun in his pocket so throwing all caution to the wind, Barry had jerked the steering wheel hastily flipping the car

The car itself slid upon the ground crashing every which way and Barry had soon groaned, falling out of the car while Mardon himself was already out of the vehicle, stretching his hands as he started to walk down the street

Quickly pulling himself out the Carry Barry groaned, touching his feet to see the blood line

“HEY MARDON !” Barry had shouted getting his attention 

Flipping his head to look at Barry, the blonde man didn’t say anything. He just brought his hands up. And started to create a thick cloud of smoke and dust all around them making Barry’s eyes go wide

“What the hell”

Trying to find the man through the thick smog, Mardon disappeared as quick as he came and soon enough the only thing Barry heard was a loud car alarm behind him making him turn his head

With a wide eyed expression Barry quickly ran, moving out the way of the car explosion that happened, landing on the nearby grass 

Quickly turning his head, Barry had seen the car flipped upon itself engulfed in a fiery flame. Leaving his face to drop at the casualty that happened

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Firefighters and the ambulance had come but the damage was already done. One confirmed casualty that Barry and Iris saw get wheeled away 

‘That poor man” Iris said clutching herself 

“That fog just….came in, I have never seen anything like it”

“BARRY ! IRIS !” Joe shouted getting their attention 

“I’m alright Dad” Iris said but Joe was beyond livid

“What the hell were you thinking ! having her out here ?” Joe said looking at Barry

Iris shook her head

“No Dad No I-”

“And I told YOU !” the older man shouted looking at Iris, pointing his finger at her making her face scrunch 

“When you see danger, you run the other way, you're not a cop !”

“BECASUE YOU WOULDN’T LET ME !”

“YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT”

This was probably a much needed talk and conversation between a father and Daughter that needed to happen, but Barry had more pressing matters that needed to be attended to. So he walked away distancing himself from Iris

“Joe I need to talk to you”

“It can wait” Joe had sternly said not done chewing them out like they were kids all over again but Barry disagreed

“No right now, Come here”

Hearing the sternness and seriousness in Barry’s voice Joe figured it must’ve been important 

Approaching Barry, the young man rubbed his hands

“I know who did this”

Nodding his head Barry continued

“It’s Clyde Mardon” Barry said making Joe roll his eyes and put his hands to his hips the one reaction Barry didn’t want, making him think he was talking like a fucking conspiracy theorist 

“I know everybody thinks he died in a plane crash, After the S.T.A.R . Labs explosion, But he. Is. alive” 

Looking at Barry, Joe visibly looked like he didn’t believe him. But Barry continued

“Something happened to him that night. I….I think he can control the weather”

Pursing his lips Joe nodded his head

“The recent robberies, that all happened during freak meteorological events. And when I JUST confronted Mardon, the street was INSTANTLY enveloped in fog”

Looking at the expression upon Joe’s face, Barry’s once serious and mixed eager expression had changed to dread and gloom

“Of course you don’t believe me” he said with a groan before looking back at the man

“You never believe me”

“Ok” Joe said shutting down this blame game

“You want to do this now ? out here ? alright. Fine”

“Mardon is Dead” Joe said with all the seriousness in the world

“There is no controlling the weather, Barry. Just like there was no Lightning Storm in your house that night ! it was your brain helping a scared little boy accept what he saw”

Barry just shook his head

“My dad did not murder my mother-”

“ YES HE DID ! YOUR DAD KILLED YOUR MOTHER, BARRY ! Look, I am sorry, son !....but I knew it, the jury knew it, now he’s paying for what he did”

“DAD ENOUGH !” Iris said trying to join in the conversation but Joe carefully held her back

“No, Iris”

Again Looking at Barry the man held up his hand helping to express his words

“I have done my best to take care of you since that night, and I have never asked for anything in return. Not even a thank you. But what I do ask now is that for once in your life see things as they are”

Looking at Joe, Barry didn’t have any words to say, only pushing past his hand on his shoulder before walking away leaving Joe and Iris to see him leave the crime scene

Letting out her own quite disappointed groan. Iris too made her leave right when Eddie came in holding a paper in his hand

“You’re not going to believe this” Eddie said getting Joe’s attention as he started to show the paper

“We got the eyewitness sketch of the robber from the back job” he said showing the drawing to Joe and it looked exactly like Clyde Mardon

“And if I didn’t know better, I’d say that’s Clyde Mardon….but that’s impossible. He’s dead…right ?”

Looking at the drawing Joe felt like he didn’t even know what to believe anymore

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“I WASN’T THE ONLY ONE AFFECTED BY THE PARTICLE ACCELERATOR EXPLOSION THAT NIGHT WAS I !” 

Storming into the S.T.A.R Labs building, demanding answers Dr Wells, Caitlin and Cisco all looked at one another before Dr Wells had chosen to speak

“We don’t know for sure”

“You said the city was safe ! that there was no residual danger” Barry growled marching up to Wells

“But that’s not true, so what really happened that night ?!”

Again Wells turned to look at Caitlin and Cisco and this time when he spoke he spoke honestly

“Well. The accelerator went active” he began, tapping the pad on his wheelchair

“We all felt like heroes, and then….”

Showing a visual example of what happened on a screen nearby, Barry watched what really happened the night of the Particle Accelerator

“It all went wrong. The Dimensional barrier ruptured, unleashing unknown energies into our world. Antimatter, Dark energy, X-Elements-”

“Those are all theoretical” Barry cut him off but Wells just smirked

“And tell me, how theoretical are you ?”

Not having a comeback for what he said, Barry just looked at the man before turning to look at the screen seeing the mapped dispersion of where the energy had all been placed around the city 

“We mapped the dispersion throughout and around central city. Though we have no way of knowing what or….who was exposed. We’ve been searching for other…Meta-Humans. Like yourself” 

The name immediately caused Barry to look back at the man

“Meta-Humans ?”

“That’s what we’re calling them” Caitlin said

“Yeah well I saw one today” Barry admitted making all their eyes go wide

“He’s a bank robber, and he can control the weather”

“This just keeps getting cooler” Cisco grinned

“THIS IS NOT COOL !” Barry had snapped making Cisco’s face drop

“A man DIED today, Mardon must have gotten his powers the same way I did, From the Storm cloud. HE’S STILL OUT THERE ! we have to stop him before he hurts anyone else !”

With that, Barry turned around heading out the door 

“Barry” Wells said making him halt

“That’s a job for the police”

“Yeah well I work for the police”

“As a forensic assistant” Wells said making Barry roll his eyes

“You’re responsible for this ! for HIM ! ” 

“WHAT’S IMPORTANT IS YOU !” Well stated making Barry squint his eyes

“Not me, I lost. Everything” Wells began, making Caitlin’s eyes sadden as she thought on everything she lost as well

“I lost my company. I lost my reputation. I lost my freedom. And then you broke your arm, and it healed in three hours. Inside your body could be a map. To a whole new world, genetic therapies, vaccines, medicines, treasures buried deep. Within your cells and we cannot risk losing everything because you want to go out and play hero ! ”

Looking down at himself in realisation of what he was, Barry’s once stern demeanor was broke due to Wells words

“Your not a hero, You are just a young man who was struck by lighting”

Hearing those words come from…the one man…..the one man who he thought would be on his side…..it hurt more than any broken bone ever could

And without saying anything, Barry just left the lab, running off in a dust and red blur

And he didn’t stop running 

He ran just like he did that night many years ago, Running until he finally stopped, braking so hard his jacket sparked into flames making him take off the clothing item and throw it to the ground before looking up at the city sign so that he could talk to the one person he knew would listen

Starling City 5 miles —>

Looking at the sign, Barry immediately ran 

“So that’s my story” Barry said finally catching up to the present 

“I spent my whole life….searching for the impossible, Never imagining that I would…. become the impossible”

Walking further on the Roof, Oliver had continued to stand straight, looking above the city. Still hearing all of his words

“So why come to me ?” Oliver questioned, turning back to look at Barry

“Something tells me you didn’t just run 600 miles to say “Hi” to a friend”

Pursing his lips, Barry spoke

“All my life, I’ve wanted to just….do more…Be more. And now…I am. And the first chance I get to help someone, I screw up”

Immediately rolling his eyes Oliver knew what to say but Barry didn’t stop talking

“What if Wells is right ? What if I'm not a hero, what if I'm just some guy who was struck by lightning ?”

“I don’t think that bolt of lighting stuck you Barry” Oliver said purposely talking over him

“I think it chose you”

Thinking over, Oliver’s words. Barry had sighed

“I’m just not sure I’m, like you, Oliver….. I don’t know if I can be some…. Vigilante ”

“You can be better” Oliver said genuinely surprising Barry…honeslty surprising himself

“Becasue you can inspire people. In a way that I never could. Watching over your city like a guardian angel. Making a difference…..Saving people…..in a Flash” he said with a small smile leaving Barry to think on his words

Putting on his mask that Barry gave him, just like that the Arrow returned, the voice changer showing the difference 

“Take your own advice” He said before smiling at Barry

“Wear a mask”

Not being able to do anything but smile back, Barry watched as Oliver leaped off the building, swinging away from an arrow and he swore on everything he loved that was the coolest thing he’s ever seen

“Cool…” Barry smiled before running away

Landing on the side of a building Oliver looked back to see the blur trail of Barry running away and he had to admit, that was the coolest thing he’s ever seen

“Cool” Oliver smirked before zipping upwards

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“I’ve been going over unsolved cases for the past nine months and there’s been a sharp increase in unexplained deaths and missing people” Barry said as he, Cisco and Caitlin all stood around a table with the map of the city and a box of cases he took from CCPD

“Your meta-humans have been busy”

Cisco and Caitlin had looked at one another in regret but Barry quickly spoke

“And look I’m not blaming you, I know you didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I know you all lost something”

Caitlin’s face dropped

“But I need your help catching Mardon and anyone else out there like him….but I can’t do it without you both”

Again the two scientists looked at one another, and Cisco was the first to grow a smile, nodding his head eagerly 

“If we’re gonna do this” He began, looking at Barry

“I have something that might help”

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Turning around the table, Cisco revealed a red spandex suit with a mask where a mouth would be

“Something I’ve been playing with 

“Designed to replace the turnouts firefighters traditionally wear, I thought if S.T.A.R Labs could do something for the community. Maybe people wouldn’t be so angry at Dr Wells anymore”

“How is it gonna help me ?” Barry suddenly asked walking up to the suit

“It’s made of reinforced Tri-Polymer. It’s heat and abrasive resistant, so it should withstand your moving at high-velocity speeds. And the aerodynamic design should help you maintain control plus ! it has built in sensors so we can track your vitals and stay in contact with you from here”

Nodding his head with a smile Barry had touched the suit

“Thanks..but how are we gonna find Mardon”

Tapping on her tablet device Caitlin had spoke

“I retasked S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to track meteorological abnormalities over central city and we just got a ping, Atmospheric pressure dropped 20 millibars. In a matter of seconds” she said showing the two boys the radar scan before Barry had walked up to the suit Cisco made

“I’ve tracked it to a farm just west of the city”

Well, here he goes, he was doing this

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“I’m not saying Mardon is alive” Joe said as he and Eddie got out the cop car arriving at the barn where Mardon was last scene

“But if he was, this is the last place him and his brother hid out”

A rustling had came from within the barn and Immediately Eddie and Joe brought out their guns, slowly walking into the Barn where they had seen, Clyde sitting on a singular stool in the middle of the barn

“Mardon, on your feet. Hands on your head” Joe said in a calming voice making the blonde criminal smirk

“Well, you got me” he darkly chuckled as Joe had pocketed his gun while Eddie kept his aimed

“The night of the storm, after S.T.A.R. Labs blew, after our plane went down. And I woke up on the ground alive, when I saw what I could do, I understood…..I am god”

“Shut the Hell up” Joe said pulling out his cuffs but Clyde had gotten out of his seat, his hands up 

“Turn around” Eddie said but Clyde just continued to smirk

A strong sense of wind started to appear around him confusing both Joe and Eddie and soon enough Clyde had whisked his hands launching both Joe and Eddie back into a plethora of hay barrels 

Eddie was Immediately knocked out but Joe had remained concussions looking around and heavy confusion on what he was seeing as wind started to pick up all around Clyde

“DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR GUNS CAN STOP GOD ?!

“WHY IN THE HELL WOULD GOD NEED TO ROB BANKS ?!” Joe shouted making Clyde nod his head

“You’re right…”

More and more wind started to pick up around him making the small things within the barn shake

“I’ve been thinking too small”

Expelling his hands, the picked up wind started to circle around him creating a tornado and Immediately Joe got up, picking up Eddie so that they could run outside Immediately falling to the ground hitting the car once Clyde had completely destroyed the barn showing the tornado he made that was moving 

Debris from all around started to fly and a part of the ceiling of the Barn was going to hit Joe, if it wasn’t for the red blur that came out of nowhere jumping in it’s way tacking it to the ground

Immediately covering his face, Joe curiously looked at what happened, seeing a man dressed in red spandex move the debris 

“Barry ! Barry ! this things getting closer” Cisco said from the comms as Barry had taken off the mask from the suit, throwing it aside

“This things getting closer, Wind speeds are 200 miles-per-hour and increasing, Barry can you hear me ?”

Immediately putting his hand to his ear Barry nodded his head

“Yeah ! yeah loud and clear”

“If this thing keeps rising it could become an F-5 Tornado” 

Seeing the tornado grow even stronger Barry grew more confused

“But it’s headed towards the city ? How do I stop it ?”

Hearing no response, Barry continued to huff his breathe 

“Guys ?!”

Again seeing the tornado start to grow even more, Barry shook his head growing his own idea

“What if I unravel it ?”

“How the hell are you gonna do that ?” Caitlin asked

“I’ll run around it in the opposite direction, cut off its legs !”

“He’d have to clock, 700-miles-per-hour to do that” Cisco told Caitlin leaving her to look at his vitals

“Your body may not be able to handle those speeds. You’ll die”

Thinking upon her words, Barry huffed his breathe, making up his mind

“I have to try…”

Turning to look at Joe, Barry swallowed the lump within his throat and grinned before Immediately running towards the tornado, Leaving Joe’s eyes to grow wide as he saw the red blur and trail of lighting run around the tornado 

“HAHAH ! the suit’s holding up” Cisco laughed

“But he’s not, his vitals are haywire” Caitlin stated

“He can do this I know he can”

Continuing to run around the Tornado, Clyde felt himself stopping and Immediately waved his hands, sending a lighting bolt at Barry knocking him out of his running and sending him flying on the ground below leaving him to groan

“Shit” Cisco said shaking his head

“He's too strong guy !” Barry yelled, before looking up to see the tornado growing even larger than before leaving him feeling hopeless 

“You can do this Barry” Barry heard Dr Wells voice said making his eyes raise

Within the lab, Caitlin and Cisco had turned to see Dr wells there at the mic speaking to Barry

“You were right, I am responsible for all of this. So many….people have been hurt, because of me, and when I looked at you, all I saw was another potential victim for my hubris. And yes, I created this madness, but you, Barry….you can stop it”

Gripping his fist tightly, Barry’s breath had started to calm

“You can do this, NOW RUN BARRY RUN !”

Not showing any hesitation, Barry ran

As fast as he could, running around the Mega tornado in a trail of red and yellow blur

Clyde had seen the trail around him, but that didn't stop Barry from running, continuing to trail around the tornado containing its radius and breaking it down

Seeing what he was seeing in front of him was….beyond indescribable for Joe as to him all he was seeing was a red and yellow trail continue to run around a tornado 

Taking off his glasses, Wells had seen on the monitor that Barry’s plan was working, he was breaking apart the tornado from bottom to top

Feeling the sensation from inside the tornado Clyde let out a yell before soon enough Joe had seen a complete dust explosion making him flinch and jaw drop

It had been the same on the end for the team of scientists as well as for them everything he gone dark and they just looked at one another before soon enough Caitlin hesitantly leaned into the mic

“Barry ?”

Amongst the smoke that the tornado had made, Barry let Immediately got up to his feet, huffing his breath at the feat he just did as he had ran so fast his mask burnt off

“HEY !” a voice said Immediately making Barry turn around to see Clyde Mardon holding a gun straight at him

“I didn’t think there was anyone else like me” the man grinned but Barry just shook his head

“I’m not like you, You’re a murder” he said making Clyde smirk

Hastily pointing up his gun at Barry, two shot had fired

But they weren’t from Clyde

Immediately dropping to the ground, Clyde had been shot, Dead right there and Barry had turned around to see Joe, sprinting towards him 

“BARRY !”

“It’s over” Barry confirmed making Cisco smile

“I’m ok”

Placing his glasses to his face, Wells himself turned to see Caitlin’s wide smile as well 

Feeling his body start to give, Barry gradually lowered to his knees along with drop who dropped down with him seeing Barry’s light chuckle and grin…seeing what he did

And safe to say….what just happened here tonight….was….the impossible 

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When the sun had risen and the Barn had become a crime scene, Joe and Barry watched all the cops, paramedics and construction workers try to piece together what happened while Joe and Barry had leaned against a cop car, already knowing the truth

It was hard to try and piece together what happened, to try and….make sense of it all, hell hours later Joe still had the lost for words expression on his face as he looked around at the scene before turning to look at Barry

“What you can do…” Joe began

“It was the lighting bolt ?”

Taking a deep breath on what he was going to say next. Barry spoke

“More or less….”

Shaking his head, Joe hugged his breathe 

“I’m sorry, Barry. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you”

Looking down at the ground, Barry kept his hands in his pockets while Joe continued

“And I called you crazy for chasing the impossible…..But you really did see something that night your mom died”

Nodding his head Barry was just glad Joe finally came through, that it took the Impossible to finally see his point of view 

“And that your Dad is innocent”

Immediately turning to look at Joe, Barry’s face softened while Joe got up from the car to come face to face with Barry

“I need you to promise me something”

Looking up at Joe the man spoke

“I don’t want you telling Iris, about anything you can do, any of it. I want her safe”

Trailing his eyes all around Joe had only doubled down

“Barry promise me”

Sucking in his gut Barry had just nodded his head, knowing deep down Joe was right

Iris was more safe away from…. all of this

“Yeah”

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BLEEP

Looking up from his seat, Barry had seen his Father finally take a seat right in front of him. Making Barry smile as they both had grabbed the phone

“Hey Slugger” Henry said making Barry chuckle with tears in his eyes

“You’ve been calling me that since I was 11”

Henry chuckled

“Funny thing is, I finally got into a fight today”

“You just got out of a coma, I’m not sure you should be picking fights”

With a smile on his face, Henry saw how confident his son was. And it made him smile as well

“hey…Did you win ?”

Growing his smile more, Barry simply nodded his head

“Yeah….I did” he admitted making Henry chuckle

Getting past the much needed laughter, Barry looked at his father, seeing the predicament he was in, wearing a jumpsuit he shouldn’t be wearing 

“You didn’t kill mom” Barry sternly said

“You know I know that, right ?”

Softening his face Henry spoke

“You believing me, is all I need”

Pursing his lips, Barry tried to keep his tears in

“You’re not gonna be in here much longer. Whoever killed mom…..whatever killed her….I think I finally have a way to find them. To stop them”

“Barry” Henry began

“We’ve talked about this….It’s time to let it go, you have got to stop worrying about me, and live your life”

Immediately growing a smile, Barry thought back on the last 72 hours he spent ever since he woke up from that coma 

“For the first time, I….I feel like I finally can” Barry admitted

“The truth is, ever since the night mom died, I’ve been stuck in one place. Missed out on a lot of things”

Laying a kiss on Eddie’s lips the couple had parted ways while Iris’s attention was diverged to the TV, confusingly seeing the damage Clyde caused on the news

“But I’m different now. I’ve made some new friends….they’re helping me find my way….to finally move forward"

Adding the newest fixes to Barry’s new suit, Cisco made it even better than before, even adding the final touches of a red circle with a lighting bolt to complement the suit much to Caitlin’s confusion

“Why is it shaped like a lighting bolt ?”

“So it’s not boring” Cisco said with a smile

“You remember when you wanted me to change my name so I wouldn’t have to deal with people knowing you’re my dad ?”

Henry nodded his head emotionally 

“I’m glad they know” Barry admitted with tears in his eyes

“I’m so proud….to be your son”

With his own tears streaming from his face, Henry couldn’t contain his smile, so proud for the man his son had became

“I love you, son” Henry said making Barry cry

“I love you too Dad”

Putting his hand up to the glass, Henry smiled before putting his hand up as well, and even though they couldn’t physically touch. This was better than nothing

“My name is Barry Allen, and I am the fastest man alive”

Running through the street in a blur of lighting Barry continued to run as fast as he could

“A friend recently gave me an idea for a new name”

Among the city, a man had been hit off his bike by a Taxi and flung into the air

But right then and there, The red blur had caught him, safely placing him on the ground and running off leaving the Bicyclist and the Taxi driver confused on what happened

“And something tells me. It’s gonna catch on”

THE FLASH

Chapter Text

“Ok so this is the part where I’m supposed to do the whole intro thingy. Barry Allen, Fastest Man Alive, But you know that already”

“All right, let’s get to the good stuff”

“You see that smoke”

Within the City a building was burning, light on fire on all 4 stories 

“On western and 3rd in downtown central city. And that blur you keep reading about, yep. That’s me, on my way to it”

Racing through the city passing cars and buildings at an insane amount of Speed the Flash continued to run….well in a flash

“I’m going 352 miles an hour, and it’s a slow day”

Passing the two firetrucks and going up a bridge Barry’s comms started to ring

“Barry” 

Looking on his tablet, Cisco’s eyes went wide seeing just how far Barry was running

“Jesus Barry !”

Coming to an immediate halt within the street, Barry’s hand went to his mic

“What ? What's wrong, did I miss it ?”

“Dude You overshot by about six blocks” Cisco said making Barry groan

“My bad”

Backing tracking on his feet Barry turned around before Flashing off down the street

Hearing a woman scream and cry for her child, Barry had Immediately arrived to the scene, running into the burning building, 

“You there yet” Cisco said looking at the monitor as he continued to suck on his lollipop

“What are you doing” a voice said Immediately making him jump

Hastily turning off the screens to the Lab setup, Cisco turned around to see Caitlin standing right there

Aw shit…

“Nothing…” 

“Who were you talking to” 

“No one” Cisco was even quicker to say but Caitlin hadn’t bought it

“Are you talking to Barry ?”

“Who ?”

“Barry Allen ? was struck by lightning ? was in a coma for nine months woke up being able to run faster than the speed of sound. Ring any bells”

Again Cisco shook his head

“No….haven’t talked to him”

“CISCO THERE’S FIRE EVERYWHERE !.....CISCO ARE YOU STILL THERE !”

Looking at the mic, Caitlin had suddenly glared at Cisco while he himself just let out a chuckle 

On the scene of the fire, a little girl had come out of a burning room crying for her mom

Looking around at the atmosphere of the burning building, Barry had made a quick estimate within his head before running

In almost a blink of an eye, the little girl who was once in a building on fire was found outside immediately hugged and embraced by her mother. 

She wasn’t the only one as one by one more and more people were brought outside right when the firefighters arrived to the scene giving Barry the chance he needed to escape

Running 3 blocks away Barry had slowed down into an Alleyway, where he took off his mask and pressed on his com link

“Everybody’s out” Barry smirked confidently at his “Fast” work 

“What else you got for me, Cisco ?”

“Barry it’s Caitlin”

Immediately Barry’s face froze

Aw shit

“Heyyyyyy, Caitlin” Barry said in a playful tone trying to keep himself calm, though his facial expressions said something else

 “How’s your day”

“Get back to S.T.A.R Labs now !”

“On my way”

Immediately taking to run, a heavy pain of nausea had washed over Barry making him close his eyes and groan, It’s been happening every now and then ever since he started doing this but he hadn’t thought much of it

Simply Shaking his head, Barry let the pain roll aside before running off again 

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“Have you two lost your minds, who do you think you are” Caitlin began, continuing to give Barry and Cisco her one of many Caitlin lectures that they’ve sadly gotten used to

“Well I’m the eyes and ears and he’s well…the feet” Cisco stated ending with a chuckle but Caitlin failed to see the humor 

“This isn’t funny, you could have gotten yourself killed” Caitlin pointed at Barry 

“You can’t be running around the city like some supersonic fireman”

“I actually stopped 3 muggings this week” Barry smirked only making Caitlin growl at him much to his teasing delight 

Letting out a chuckle Barry shook his head 

“Come on Cait why not ? this is what we talked about, me using my speed to do good”

“First of all don’t call me that” Caitlin bit making Barry chuckle again

“And second of all, we talked about you helping us contain other people who might’ve been affected by the particle accelerator explosion, “meta humans” she said before looking at him and Cisco

“And aside from Clyde Mardon, we haven’t found any”

Lightly rolling his eyes, Barry just didn’t seem to understand her point of view, not on this

“People in this city still need help” Barry said making Caitlin groan and sigh….it was actually a cute mix of both

“We can help them” Cisco added

Letting out another loosely annoyed sigh, Caitlin had seen her backup coming right on time

“Will you please say something” 

“I think what Caitlin is saying” Dr Wells said, rolling into the room getting the trio's attention 

“In her own spectacularly angry way, is that we are just beginning to understand what your body is capable of. And not to sound like a broke record Mr Allen, but I do caution restraint”

Looking back at Caitlin the girl just gave Barry a huge “I told you so look” Before sticking her tongue out at him leaving Barry to groan

“Come on Dr Wells, I doubt “Restraint” Barry air quoted

“Is how you got to become the man you are today”

“In a wheelchair and a pariah, lack of restraint is what made me these things” He said before turning around

“Know your limits”

With that He left and Caitlin replaced his spot looking directly up at him

“Don’t expect me to patch you up every time you break something, BAR ” she said making Barry just scrunch his face at her

Ohh he did not like the way she said that

Coming to place a hand on Barry’s shoulder getting his attention, Barry didn’t immediately look Cisco way as his attention lingered on Caitlin walking away

“Hey uh, Anything happen out there today, the sensors in the suit were kicking back some weird telemetry, like your vitals spiked for a few seconds”

Simply shaking his head and smiling Barry responded

“Never felt better”

BUZZ BUZZ

Pulling out Barry’s phone, Cisco handed it to Barry seeing it was from Joe

“Hey Joe, everything alright”

Currently surrounded in a crime scene, at a gun store Joe let out a heavy sigh before talking

“Great, I got a fresh crime scene, A dead body, detectives interviewing witnesses” 

Bringing his head up to look at the ceiling Barry cringed, remembering that he in fact had a day job as well to get too

“Miles of that yellow tape stretched over everything. I'm only missing one thing. Can you guess what that is ?”

“I’ll be right there”

Immediately hanging up the phone, Barry mentally cursed at himself for forgetting about his job

“My day job beckons” he said before running out of the Cortex blowing a heavy gust of wind past everyone while Caitlin had to flip her hair out her face

“When do you think he’ll realize he didn’t take his clothes ?” Dr Wells said

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Arriving to the crime scene Barry was about to step forward but soon had noticed that he was in fact wearing his Flash Suit making him go ‘oh shit’ stepping back into the alleyway

Noticing a clothing store right there next to the gunstore, Barry gained an idea before running into the store 

Within the Gun store Joe and Captain Singh continued to identify the crime scene

“Perp made off with a bunch of handguns, at least 6 glock nineteens, fitted with extra ammunition mags, somebody’s looking to do a whole lot of bad”

Joining in on the detective work, Barry let his presence be known

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late”

Hastily looking Barry up and down, Joe was quick to noticed the price tag on Barry’s coat

“Doing a little fall shopping, Mr Allen ?” Captain Singh said while Joe had plucked the tag from his coat before Barry could even do it making him quietly gasp

“Ohh I uhh HA ! I was going so fast this morning I didn’t even notice”

Replacing the tag with a pair of gloves Barry was quick to take them from Joe’s hand and drop to the floor getting up and personal with the crime scene 

“I downloaded the surveillance footage off the video Camera” Eddie said showing it to the two older men

The video showed a killing of a man dressed in all black killing the store owner before shooting out the camera

“Looks like only one perp”

Stepping around the scene, trying to observe everything closely. Joe, Eddie and Captain Singh all looked at Barry weirdly but Barry had pieced some things together excusing his behavior

“Footage may only show one, but it was Six guys” he getting down in a squat to explain

“Look Six sets of footprints, Six guns stolen, we should be looking for a crew”

Looking again at the footprints Barry’s eyebrow raised once he noticed something unusual 

“Huh…weird, the shoes…it looks like they're all the same sizes. Men’s 10 If I had to guess. Just like you Captain” Barry grinned at him before Immediately closing his motu realizing what he said 

“I mean…Not that you’re a suspect sir ! I mean cause-”

Before Barry could even finish, Both him and Eddie left leaving Joe to make a face towards him and now Barry felt more embarrassed than he probably should’ve

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“Your ability to multitask is….truly remarkable, the way you can embarrass me, the captain and yourself all at the same time-”

“Joe I’m sorry” Barry sighed 

“You know I’m starting to think Joe I’m sorry is my actual name conserving how often you say it to me”

Licking his lips Barry didn’t even know how to respond with that

“I’m…I’m dealing with a lot…right now”

“Look I know you are. Believe me I’m dealing with it too, I’ve always had a very simple set of beliefs. Gravity makes things fall, water makes things wet and up until a week ago I believed the fastest man could run a mile in four minutes. Not Four seconds ”

“I can do it in three” Barry smirked making Joe just give him a glare which knocked Barry off his high horse

“Not relevant, sorry”

“You haven’t said anything to Iris about any of this have you”

“No” Barry shook his head

“I made you a promise, I keep my promises”

“Keep lying just like that you’re liable to get struck by lighting again, now get up to the lab and start processing the evidence from the gun store”

Immediately taking off Barry started going up the stairs at a “Human Speed” but still it made him  shake his head

“What am I gonna do with that boy”

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Grabbing the result of today’s crime scene Barry placed it a machine that would’ve tested the sample

Except there was one problem….

It wasn’t working

Tapping and slapping the box every which way to try and turn it on nothing bugged and Barry knew he couldn’t afford to slack off on work anymore

But how was he gonna get the vial active if the machine wasn’t gonna work ?

Giving his problem a quick thought an idea popped in his head and quite honestly he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it earlier 

Taking a quick look to see if anyone was around, Barry grabbed the vial out of the machine and held it in his hand, and within seconds he aggressively shook the vial turning the orange liquid into a dark brown making him smile

God he loved having superpowers

Placing the vial in its compartment, Barry got up but immediately his nausea had returned again, making him fall onto the nearby table, needing a couple of seconds to regain himself footsteps were heard walking into the room

“This is all your fault" Iris said making Barry look at her

“I could have taken European Folklore, to cover my sociology requirement but no, you said “Take Journalism, Iris, reporters have all of the fun” Well guess what Barry, Reporters have none of the fun. Journalism is boring, I’m bored. I blame you”

Choosing not to respond, Barry was at a lost for words seeing Iris in her dress, and by his looky looky facial expression, Iris could tell he wanted to say something

“What ? why are you staring at me like that ?”

“You look….really nice” He said before moving right past her trying to contain his blush

“Thankkks….why don’t you look nice ?” she said making Barry’s eyebrow raise 

“This Afternoon ? suit and tie, the university is giving Simon Stagg-”

“Shit Simon Stagg” Barry groaned

“Some big award and you agreed-”

“To explain the science stuff for your article it’s all coming back to me now” Barry finished for her immediately clicking in his head

scrunching his face in a guilty manner, the look didn't work on Iris as she had only crossed her arms

“How fast can you get home and change”

He…faster than you could even imagine

“Pretty fast” 

“Hey Barry” Eddie said walking into the lab gaining Barry and Iris eyes

“Joe asked me to see where you’re at on the evidence from the gun store shooting”

Quickly noticing Iris right next to Barry Eddie just nodded his head

“Hey Iris”

“Detective”

Looking back and forth between the two, Barry felt kinda insulted

They did know he knew they were a thing ?.....right ? they didn’t have to act awkward 

“Guys, please just kiss already, I already know remember” 

Quickly walking away so that he didn’t have to see them let down their act and smile at one another before kissing, Barry didn’t need to try hard at all to look at his computer so that he didn’t need to see them actually “act” like a couple

“Thanks for being so cool about this Barry” Eddie said as his arm was around Iris

“I know it’s not easy keeping a big secret”

Seeing them embrace one another, Barry couldn’t handle it anymore and just walked away deeper into the lab

“You get used to it”

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Standing with the crowd of people at Stagg Enterprises, Barry and Iris wore their nice clothing as they had seen Simon Stagg standing on the podium holding his Award in front of everyone while the crowd had applauded 

“I find it quite remarkable having once been a timid freshman at Central City University, to be Standing before you now for regents choice, man of the year” Simon Stagg began while Barry and Iris looked at him continuing his speech 

“While I very much appreciate the award, the real honor for me is knowing that my work for organ transference helps give people a second chance at life. Thank you all very much for coming !” holding up the award, the round of applause had returned ending the ceremony and thank god cause they just about heard enough

“Ok first things first, Simon Stagg’s work in cellular cloning has led to huge advancements in the future of organ replacement”

Iris had Immediately gotten excited seeing a tray of drinks come by, taking two off the rack

“Are journalists allowed to drink on the job ?”

“Ok” Barry said taking the glasses from her hand making her pout

“If you are bored already, just wait until we get to the science behind cellular regeneration” 

Letting out a chucking laugh Iris hooked her arm around his as they continued to walk within the building 

“I have missed this Barry, I feel like we haven't spent any quality time together since you woke up from the Coma”

Coming to a stop Iris took a couple of steps in front of him as she started to play with her nails

“Yeah well I’ve had a crazy couple of weeks as well”

Being a Superhero and all

“Yeah well…..I thought maybe you’d been avoiding me because of Eddie” Iris admitted making Barry’s eyes go wide

“I know you think it’s wrong, me dating my Dad’s partner, and I just…”

“No, No that is not it” Barry said shaking his head

“Like…at all. I just ummm…I”

Putting a finger up placing Barry on pause Iris had quickly lit up seeing Simon Stagg 

“Oh ! Oh ! Mr Stagg I was just wondering if I could get a quote from you from my article”

“No sorry, not right now ma’am” the security guard had said shutting Iris down completely as she and Barry were forced to watch the man walk away up a nearby staircase

“Huh…well it’ll just make something up” she said before turning to look at Barry

“So what were you going to tell me you looked like you were about to say something”

Opening his mouth Barry had tried to get the words he wanted to say out but nothing was working and worse timing took place when a series of gun shot went off making everyone in the building gasp and drop to their knees

In a matter of seconds the building had been overrun but masked men with guns and after one of them knocked down a man had yelled out getting everyone’s attention 

“QUIET DOWN ! ALL OF YOU !”

Gasping a quiet “oh my god” Iris had quickly clutched Barry as they both dropped to the ground leaving Barry to quickly sport a serious glare assessing the situation 

“Well how considerate ! you're all wearing your finest jewelry ! almost like you knew ! we were coming to rob you !” he shouted only making Barry’s glare turn into and angered growl 

Soon enough everyone in the building had frightenedly lined up in rays of two, getting their jewelry and such taken and stuffed in bags that the 6 man group had taken

Iris was the last one to place her bracelet in the bag and right when the man walked off, Barry stepped out of line as lighting flashed within his eyes ready to make a move but Iris had quickly stopped him

“Don’t…Don’t” she said looking at him trying to calm him down

“FREEZE !”

Turning their heads a single guard entered the room, pointing a gun at the group of masked men

Instinctively all at the same time, all 6 men turned around and pointed their guns at the Guard who immediately started to shake where he stood

“D-D-D-Drop your weapons !”

Right then and there the men fired and in a blink of an eye, Barry ran. Grabbing the guard and taking him out back to safety 

Returning to the room, The man had escaped all trafficking into a SUV outside before pulling off and Barry was about to chase them but Immediately stopped, bracing himself near a generator as a huge wash and pain of nausea washed over him once again making him groan

“Come on…” he said, tightly shutting his eyes

“Not now…”

Trying to fight against the man, Barry had opened his eyes and saw the car peel away fast and no matter how much he tried to run after him his body physically wouldn’t let him as soon enough Barry had collapsed to the ground below knocking out instantly 

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“Barry…”

“Barry”

“BARRY !”

Letting out a gasp Barry had woken up to see Iris looking down at him on her knees finding him outside

“I turned around and you were gone, what happened you ok”

Letting out a heavy sigh before pinching his nose, Barry tried to fight the harsh headache that was washing over him pounding his head

“Yeah…yeah..” he mustered out nodding his head

“I’m fine I uhh….tried to get their license plates” he said making Iris gasp

“And I uhh….fainted” 

It was a bullshit excuse, probably one she didn’t believe but it was better than nothing

Hopefully….

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Approaching Joe and Eddie who were covering up the crime scene, Eddie didn’t fail to give a relieved smile once he had seen Barry and Iris. But Joe was more so thoughtful than anything

“Where were you ?” he was quick to ask Barry leaving Iris to place a hand in front of him

“Dad, go easy. I found him outside he fainted”

“Do you need me to get you a parametric Allen ?” Eddie asked but Barry just shook his head

“No, I’m fine. Thank you Eddie”

Within the midst of their conversation, the ground overheard the Security Guard being interviewed 

“I thought I was dead, I saw the gun go off, and then BOOM ! suddenly I’m outside, I have no idea how I got there”

Listening closely to his words, Joe looked over at Barry who was already looking guilty but that wasn’t enough for him

“Let me talk to you for a second” Joe said waving his pointer and middle finger at him and already Barry let out a groan before following him away from Eddie and Iris knowing he was in trouble

Catching up to Joe the older man held a sour look on his face before speaking

“You chased those gun men didn’t you” he asked not even sparing him a look as they kept walking

“Yeah ! they must be the same guys that knocked over the gun shop today”

“And what were you going to do when you caught them ?” Joe suddenly asked making Barry go speechless

“Ask them nicely to pull over ? because you’re not bulletproof”

Coming to a halt where they were walking Joe thought on what he said

“Wait…are you-”

“No” Barry confirmed with a headshake 

“Ok…but my point still stands no more heroics. Chasing bad guys is not your job. It’s mine. You’re not a cop”

Nodding his head showing he understood, Deep down Barry was disappointed that Joe said this to him. For the past couple of weeks he’s been testing the field with his powers doing little things here and there but still it wasn’t enough to convince Joe….granted he didn’t know

“Promise me” Joe said seeing Barry look everywhich 

“Promise”

Letting out a semi annoyed sigh, Barry had caved nodding his head before speaking

“Promise” he said with his fingers crossed but his back faster than Joe could see. But luckily his words alone were enough to satisfy him

“And you know Iris is not stupid, start making better excuses than “I fainted”   

“I….”

Not being able to finish his words Barry simply sighed as Joe walked away 

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“You lied to us” Caitlin said as Barry sat on the med bed while Cisco had checked over his heartbeat with Dr Wells overlooking him

“How could you NOT tell us you're experiencing dizzy spells, we're your doctors ! GOD knows what’s going on inside your body ! your cells are in a constant state of flux”

Walking around the bed to come face to face with Barry Caitlin had only continued to rant

“You could be experiencing cardiopulmonary failure or a transient ischemic attack !”

Looking at Caitlin in complete Confusion Barry didn’t even know how to come back from that because well…..he didn’t even know what she said ?

“Jesus, is this what it’s like talking to me ?” He mumbled before looking over at Dr Wells

“Mini Stroke…probably not”

“You of all people should know that in science, we share we do NOT ! keep secrets”

“Awww, you know it almost sounds like you care for me Caitlin” Barry snarkly responded back only making her more mad as she let out a heavily angered groan before walking away leaving Barry to hear her mumble things about him….most of them not good, he heard “Idiot” a lot

Seeing the brunette walk, Barry had shook his head and sighed himself while Cisco finally let out his breath that he was holding in within her rant

“wow….I haven’t seen anyone make her that angry since Ronnie”

Taking a second to think, Barry had looked at Dr Wells

“Ronnie was…Caitlin’s fiance ?....the one that died the night of the accelerator explosion ?”

“Yeah” Wells was quick to respond

“He is…. Missed ”

Barry didn’t really know what to think on that…. situation . Caitlin herself was a…..intresting case. One even he himself didn’t really know how to feel about

“Now” Wells said bringing the attention back on Barry himself

“Let’s figure out what this is happening to you”

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With boxes set up behind a treadmill Cisco sported his common eager grin while Dr Wells and Caitlin sat behind a control panel

“We’re all set !” Cisco smiled, leaning on the wall of boxes which Barry still was hesitant about

“A little padding” he explained

“You know just in case”

“Yeah…thanks”

With that Barry took to the treadmill while Cisco himself joined Dr Wells and Caitlin

“You sure about this, Cisco ? I don’t want to break your toy”

“Ohhh you challenge me dear friend, most home treadmills have a maximum of about 12 miles, but this one has been Cisco’ed. Trust me it can handle your speed”

Turing on the machine, Barry took to trusting his friend as soon enough he started jogging

And that Jog turned into a run

And that run started increasing to a superhuman rate 

“Heart rate, blood pressure, nerve conduction all normal” Caitlin stated reading off his vitals

“For Barry” 

Continuing to monitor Barry’s run the team tried to figure out the root of his dizzy spells

“Brainwaive function within standard limits” She said making Cisco laugh

“Oh I told you the treadmill could take it !”

Looking at Barry’s form and pace of running, Immediately the problem hit Dr Wells like a truck as he suddenly learned what was wrong and couldn’t believe he didn’t think of it sooner

“Caitlin” the man said getting her attention

“Look at the glucose levels”

Immediately reading the vitals Caitlin herself let out an annoyed groan not being able to believe she didn't catch it either

“Oh my god, of course”

“Right”

“It was so obvious”

“BARRY ! We think we know why you keep-”

Before Dr Wells could even finish, Barry’s vitals had crashed and he himself literally crashed into the wall of boxes Cisco set up as he was knocked out instantly making the Caitlin cringe 

“Passing out….”

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Opening the steel door to his Lab, Joe had called for Barry only to see that no one was there

Going over to approach, his map of of the city Joe had noticed the paper was crumbled and after grabbing the latch the paper went up revealing his “Secret Project” of his mother’s murder 

The sight only made him think back on the early years of when Barry joined their family

Looking back at his nearby chair, Joe had seen the S.T.A.R. Labs sweater on the chair indicating where he could find the young man

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Letting out a groan, Barry had waken up from his little “Nap” while Caitlin and Cisco helped him get up

“I passed out again”

“Total metabolic failure brought on by acute hypoglycemia” she said and this time Barry understood what she was saying

“I’m not eating enough ?...so haven an I.V bag and I’m good to go”

Letting out nothing more but a laugh, Cisco showed Barry the 40 drained bags they already used to keep him stable

“Try 40” Dr Wells said with a smirk making Barry look at him

“Guess you were thirsty”

“We’re gonna have to fashion you a new diet based on your metabolic changes” Caitlin stated

“I’ve down a few calculations and you need to consume an estimate amount of roughly of 850 tacos”

“Well I do like Tacos” Barry grinned making Cisco smile as he tapped him on his shoulder

“Unless….We’re talking cheese and guac, than that changes the whole equation-”

“For Mexican I recommend Tito’s” Joe said making Barry’s eyes go wide while he had gained the whole Lab’s attention 

“On Bruckner Avenue ? Best Burrito in the city”

He’s really getting used to saying Aw shit

“Dective West” Dr Wells said with a small hint of a smirk seeing Joe before them 

‘What Brings you to S.T.A.R. Labs ?”

Already knowing the answer, Barry had looked up at Joe who pointed directly at him

“When I couldn’t find you at YOUR Lab, I started doing a little research and turns out…..there’s been reports of a red streak around the city” He said only making Caitlin do a “I told you so” face towards him while Joe continued

“Stopping muggers, rescuing people from burning buildings”

“You….didn’t tell him we were working together ?” Well said turning to look at Barry and quickly Barry was at a lost for wards trying to now piece together TWO answers maybe Three if Caitlin tried to be a smartass again

“Joe, I can explain” Barry tried but Joe spoke for him

“You already have a job in law enforcement, Barry. I suggest you get back to it”

“Mm-hm” Caitlin said making Joe look at her

“Don’t look at me, I’m on your side”

Here she goes, being a smartass again

“Detective” Dr Wells said aiding to Barry

“We all want what’s best for Barry”

“If you wanted what was best for Barry, you’d try to talk him OUT of his lunacy instead of encouraging him going out there RISKING his life !”

“You saw a MAN ” Barry said asserting Joe’s attention from Wells

“Control the weather !....what are the police gonna do against someone like that ?!” Barry said leaving Joe speechless

“Since the accelerator explosion, We suspect there may be more like him”

Immediately folding his arms Joe looked at Barry with all the confusion in the world

“And you’re gonna do what ?.....Catch them ?!” he asked leaving Barry to just think

“ARE YOU INSANE ! you think because you can run real fast. That you're invincible, well you're NOT . You’re just a kid. My kid” 

Barry’s face had Immediately scrunched at Joe’s words and suddenly he let his emotions choose his words

“I’m NOT your Kid, Joe” he sternly said making everyone’s eyes go wide while Joe himself even had a visible reaction of what he said

“And you’re not my father ” he doubled down paining Joe even more as he got up from his leaned position 

“My father’s sitting in Iron Heights, wrongfully convicted. You were wrong about him. And you’re wrong about this ! And I may not be able to help him, but if I can Save someone from a  burning building or stop some armed thieves, I’m gonna do it. And you CAN’T stop me……So Don’t try”

Trying to hide the obvious emotion that came from him, Joe bit his lip and slightly nodded his head

“You think you’re so smart…..all of you…..” he said looking around at the team of scientists 

“But you don’t know, what you don’t know. And I hope” he pointed at Wells 

“That you're clever enough to figure that out before someone gets killed” he pointed back at Barry making him scrounge his face

Joe’s words left everyone in the room thinking while he walked out the room, Barry the most leaving him to return back to leaning against the bed wondering if….if Joe was right in some way

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Within his lab Barry continued to work and keep his mind away from the obvious things in his life, Writing some lab stuff down on a notepad, pushing away the 3, dozen boxes of donuts he chewed through that would put any Professional world eater to shame

Joe had soon entered the lab and Barry rolled his eyes and groaned 

“Come to yell at me again”

Handing Barry some skin cells his facial features had quickly changed

“Simon Stagg’s head of security was murdered last night” Joe reported

“The coroner took some skin samples. Hopefully they belong to the Killer, see if you can find a match”

“It can’t be a coincidence that Stagg’s benefit was attacked last night”

“I’m going to interview Stagg now”

Placing down the Bag Barry perched up

“I’ll come with you”

“Your job is in here” Joe said shutting him down

“Stay in here and do it”

With that Joe made his leave right when Iris had came in

“Hey Dad”

“Hey Baby” 

Giving his daughter a quick kiss to the head Joe left while Iris came in and Immediately she could feel something was wrong

“Why is my Dad mad at you” Iris questioned as Barry continued to work on the Skin samples”

“It’s just work stuff” Barry shoved aside using it as an excuse but when he looked back at Iris seeing her stern look Barry grew his own confused expression

“Why are you mad at me ?”

“You were supposed to meet me at Jitters and give me some scientific background for my article” she said immediately making Barry sigh caused just like that he remembered what she was talking about

“And I didn’t show up….”

“And now I have to come up with a new article topic in the next 24 hours or I fail the assignment” Iris explained while Barry took off his gloves and turned to her

“Iris, I’m-”

“Don’t say that your sorry” she interrupted him only making him sigh again and start to lean forward on the table

“Cause I know that you are, what I don’t get is what’s going on with you”

Tearing off the sugar packet she started to pour it into her coffee. While Barry himself started to get antsy wanting to spill his guts

“We grew up one bedroom down from each other do you honestly think that I don't know when you're happy or sad or depressed or lost….I'm going to ask you one last time you better be honest with me what the-”

Immediately slowing down time around him, Barry ran to her side

“You want to know what’s happening” Barry admitted even though she couldn’t even comprehend to hear him at the speed he was going

Blitzing to her right Barry brought up his hands in exaggeration 

“I’m fast now !....like….really really fast”

Moving again back to her left Barry shook his head

“God I want to do nothing more but tell. Tell you how I feel, How you make me feel, Ever since we were kids….”

Running back to the original position where she was looking at him as she raised him from her Coffee looked back at Barry 

“Hell is going on with you ?”

BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP

Coming from his computer, Barry turned back to look at the skin test but Iris was quick to join his side

“We are not done talking about this”

“That’s impossible….” Barry mumbled to himself confusing Iris as she tried to look over his shoulder

“What is ?”

“There was a murder last night, these skin cells belong to the murder…but these cells are naive, stem cells that can replicate and become any cells that the body needs ? they only come from babies”

“So what our killer is a newborn ?” Iris questioned only making Barry think 

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“You honestly think that someone wants to kill me” Simon Stagg laughed while he, Joe and Eddie continued to walk within the warehouse

“Well, we’re not sure Mr Stagg but the event you were at was robbed at gunpoint” Eddie stated

“And your head of security was found murdered this morning” Joe added

“I am a scientist and a philanthropist I’m not usually a target for assassinations"

“What about lawsuits” Joe asked sticking up the form papers but Stagg didn’t even bat an Eye

“It is a sad fact of life, detective, that when you earn a lot of money, people that haven’t think they can take yours”

Coming to a halt in front of the man, Joe pulled out a picture holding it up to Stagg’s face

“People like this guy, for example ? Danton Black ?”

Grabbing the picture Stagg examined it

“Danton Black ?” he repeated

“You fired him. Now he’s suing you”

Looking at the picture of the man, Stagg scratched the corner of his chin before speaking handing the picture back to Joe

“Unfortunately our working relationship wasn’t successful, but I can assure you both of one thing, Danton Black is not a Killer. He’s a clinical researcher not a criminal mastermind”

With that Stagg had walked past them both, turning back to look at them

“Now, if I can help you in any way please let me know. I want these people caught just as bad as you”

“THEN HERE WE ARE !”

Turning their heads to look at 3 masked men holding up guns, Joe’s eyes went wide before he immediately grabbed Simon Stagg

Firing shots at the three men, Joe and Eddie had ducked behind a group of Metal barrels while bullets started to fire 

Within the CCPD, Barry had come down from his office to see the department going crazy, everyone gearing up with Gear and vests confusing the hell out of him

“Captain what’s going on ?” Barry asked as he came into the main office seeing Captain Singh gearing up as well

“Not not Barry, armed gunmen are shooting up Stagg Industries" was all he told him before making his leave Immediately leaving Barry’s eyebrows to furrow in heavy thought

“Joe’s there”

Immediately running up to his lab a determined look was sported on his face upon opening his locker

Zipping open his bag revealing his Suit, Barry glared at the red costume knowing this is what he needed to do

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Within the Warehouse, Joe, Eddie and Stagg continued to duck behind the barrels trying to avoid the gunfire

Looking between Eddie and Stagg Joe took a deep breathe 

“Get him out of here. I’ll cover you” he said pulling out his gun while Eddie nodded his head

“Ready ?”

Taking a hold of Stagg, Joe pulled back the barrel of his gun

“GO !”

Immediately bouncing up and firing back at the men, Eddie took off with Stagg

Quickly shooting one of the masked men making him drop his gun, Danton had seen the act forcing him to take off his mask seeing he was a man down

From ducking down to avoid the gunfire, Joe had peeked over a little not wanting to show his face but that only allowed him to see Danton shaking and trembling as he got up and soon enough another version of him sported from his body making Joe’s eyes go wide

“What the fuck” Joe had mumbled as the clone grabbed the gun from the ground replacing the past dead one

Almost in a robotic order the three men started walking in unison shooting at the Joe leaving the older man to sweat bullets under the firepower questioning what he was gonna do

The closer they got the more his heart started to pound out of his chest but that had caused him not to see the blur and gust of wind that came into the warehouse taking away the guns from the men

He had only seen Barry drop the guns before him. Leaving Joe too look him up and down not knowing what to feel right now

“Go !” Barry told him but Joe just shook his head

“No”

Before he could mouth off anymore, in a quick blur Joe found himself outside away from the fight and even when he tried to get back inside the door was locked from the other side

Returning back to Danton Barry observed the three men

“Whoever you are, give yourself up”

“I’m sorry” Danton said shaking his head

“We’re not going anywhere”

“Until Simon Stagg is dead” they had all said in unison making Barry purse his lips

Immediately rushing at them he caused the two men on the left and right to crash into a much of boxes and crates only leaving one standing but just like that two more clones popped out of Danton making Barry’s eyes go wide

Quickly punching one of the clones before kicking the other, Barry was suddenly starting to get surrounded by hordes of clones, Punching Danton in the chest popping out 2 more from his back jaw dropping him in a confused reaction

Receiving a punch in the back making him groan, Barry gave the clone an elbow to the face forcing him back but more and more had kept coming overwhelming him

Trying to punch and kick all he could, More and More clones started to beat on him, punching him in the back, ribs, sides, all over before soon enough he received a punch to the face dropping him to the warehouse ground

Receiving all types of punches and kicks from everywhere and every way Barry was soon dragged up to his feet so that he could get thrown into a plethora of barrels 

Huffing his breath as he was beat and bloodied all over, 3 of the clones had grabbed the fallen guns and pointed them at him making his eyes go wide and the moment they pulled the trigger, Barry ran, retreating out of the building while the clones shot out the barrels until they couldn’t anymore  

Running so fast when he came to a stop he had to brace himself on the nearby fence, Barry’s mask had come off but that was the least of his worries

He just got the dogshit beat out of him leaving him to huff his breath against the fence trying to stabilize himself 

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Tapping the cotton ball on Barry’s cheek the speedster immediately winced 

“Sorry” Caitlin said before continuing to tend to his wounds moving to the other side of his face

“The abrasions are already rapidly healing” she stated continuing to wipe more of the blood off

“Yeah, I got my ass handed to me”

“You got blood on my suit” Cisco he stated getting Both Barry and Caitlin’s attention as even he himself paused from cleaning the uniform while Barry made a sour expression 

“I’m sure some of it is his….another not so friendly meta-human” he annoyingly responded but Caitlin quietly laughed 

“Not from my count”

Barry looked at her but still that didn’t break her laugh, just made her shrug her shoulders amusingly

“What ? just stating the facts” she smirked making Barry fake laugh

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha…..smartass AGH !”

Caitlin swapped his face again

Pulling up Danton’s face on the monitor Dr Wells had looked back at the class

“Danton Black. He's a biogenesis, specialized in therapeutic cloning. Growing new organs to replace failing ones"

“Apparenlty Stagg stole his research and fired him” Caitlin stated while Barry had got him from his chair

“I saw Black create duplicates from his own body ?”

Finishing up with the suit, Cisco raised an eyebrow

“That’s pretty ironic the guy specialized in cloning and now he can make xeroxes of himself”

“If he was….experimeting on himself when he was exposed to the dark matterwave released by the particle accelerator explosion- “

“Meet Captain Clone !” Cisco said but everyone in the room just looked at him in question and honestly…..dissapotment 

“Don’t worry, I’ll come up with something cooler”

Turning to look at Danton’s picture, Barry shook his head and sighed before deciding to walk out and head to the hallway

“Where you going ?” Caitlin questioned making Barry turn back to look at them all with a troubled face

“Joe was right….I’m in….way over my head. I may be fast but I’m no Warrior. I mean I could barely fight one Meta-Human, let alone six…..I….I’m sorry I got you guys involved in all this” he said before walking out only to get stopped again by Dr Well’s calling his name

“I understand today is a setback, but any grand enterprise has them. And we can never learn to fly before crashing a few times”

Looking around at the lab, Barry bit his lips and shook his head

“This wasn’t a grand enterprise, Dr Wells…… This was a mistake ”

With that Barry had left leaving the trio to hold sadden looks on their faces

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Coming to a screeching halt from his run, Barry’s shoes started to spark and Immediately he tapped on them calming the flames before looking up seeing the Jitters sign and Door

Walking inside the building, Barry saw Iris and Eddie seeing Eddie’s newest news report, making Barry purse his lips even more as Iris smiled up at him

Just one thing after another today wasn’t it

“Nice work Eddie” Barry suddenly said making the couple turn their heads to face him

Eddie just held a humbled smile

“Nah, just…right place, right time” he admitted while Iris had rubbed his arm

“No, you were a hero today” Barry said

“Well CCPD still has a killer on the loose, better get back to the precinct”

Giving Iris a goodbye Kiss, Eddie made his leave. Tapping Barry on the shoulder and walking out the door leaving Iris and Barry alone

“So did you come here for caffeine are you gonna tell me what’s going on with you ?” Iris asked making Barry look at her with nothing but contemplation within his eyes

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“Mr Stagg, I wish you would be consider our offer for protective custody, Danton Black has proven he is willing to kill and he's got…. friends and Trust me they’re all dangerous”

Continuing to walk through the empty precedent, Stagg just waved off Joe’s concerns continuing to approach the buildings elevator

“I’ve increased my security detective. I hope black comes looking for trouble cuz he'll find plenty”

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP 

Both men had immediately turned their heads to find Dr Wells standing mere feet away from them and once he got their attention he stopped clapping his hands, dropping to the control panel of his wheelchair

“Spoken like a true philosophist” Dr Wells began, moving forward

“Or is it ? Humanitarian ? ah, I’m sorry I can never really remember which one you're pretending to be Simon”

Approaching the two men closer, Simon Stagg had smirked seeing his rival in his current state

“Harrison” Stagg had said right when the Elevator door opened

“Please, Don’t get up”

“HA-HA !” he faked laugh while Simon made his leave, leaving Joe and Dr Wells alone

“Another fan of yours Doctor”

Brushing off their petty back and forth Dr Wells wanted to get to the main root 

“Can we talk, Detective”

With Joe walking and Dr Wells wheeling, the two men started to approach the police stations main Office

“So I guess you were right” Joe began

“Barry’s not the only one who’s special, this guy….he can-”

“Replicate spontaneously” Well said finishing his thought

“Yeah, we know”

Taking off his coat before throwing it on his desk, Joe ticked his head a little looking at Dr Wells

“Did you know about Barry ?”

The question left Dr Wells in complete thought while Joe sat on his desk

“When he was first in his coma….You came to the hospital and you asked me if you could take him to S.T.A.R. Labs”

Giving Dr Wells his own intimidating glare Joe doubled down

“Did you know what he could do”

Letting the silence pass between them. Dr Wells laughed making Joe giving his own short laugh

Bringing his hands up to the back of his head, Dr Wells gave Joe’s question some thought

“I….had my suspicions that he was….”

Looking around the office, searching for an answer Dr Wells found a conclusion  

“Affected”

“Mm-hmm” Joe grumbled while Wells dropped his hands

“Hey Joe, Listen. I was never looking to become the senior member of some. secret Crime fighting unit”

Dr Wells pointed at Joe

“But you and I both know, we are the only ones equipped to protect central city”

“Yeah well maybe I’m more interested in protecting Barry” Joe said seriously making Dr Wells smirk

“But of course he’s all set to fly within the fire right along with you”

“No he’s not” Wells shut Joe down softening his face

“He quit this afternoon”

A visible reaction of shock was put all along Joe’s face while Dr Wells continued with the details

“He didn’t tell you ?”

“I….I haven’t seen him”

“Yesh Well I’m sure it’s only temporary” the scientist said with his own grin

“Becasue what I know about Barry is, when he sets his mind to something…..no one’s gonna talk him out of it, but the next time he suits up”

“FWOOSH !” 

Exaggerating his point with his arm Wells figured Joe got the message

“He’s gonna fail, why ? because he doesn't think he’s capable. DOUBT . This is Real Enemy Joe, not whatever is lurking out there. And as long as you continue to doubt him. He’s gonna continue to doubt himself”

Simply thinking on Dr Well’s words heavily, the man started to turn around on his wheelchair but not leaving just yet

“By the way” he said making Joe look up at him

“I care about Barry too”

With that, Dr Wells made his leave and Joe was left to think on….a lot due to their talk

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Finishing his 13th muffin, Iris had smiled and chuckled seeing Barry scarf down the pastry

“Guess you were hungry” she said placing the cup of water down next to him

“Stress eating” Barry excused totally not cause now of his metabolism he has to eat more than a sumo wrestler 

Wiping his mouth of crumbs Barry looked up at Iris

“I came to say I’m sorry, and you’re right I have been distant”

“Correct”

“And I have been kind of a jerk”

“Wow you should apologize more often you are kinda sensational at it”

Giving Iris his own teasing grin, she continued to smile at him

“So, what is it you had to tell me the other day”

Rubbing his hands together, Barry thought hard on what he was about to say

“I Thought I had to do something, something I thought was important but it turns out that I'm…. not very good at it” 

Coming to terms that being a “Superhero” wasn’t for him, Barry knew where he stood, where his life’s focus should be

“But what I am good at is being your friend so if you need help, coming up with a new topic for your article-”

“I actually found it !” Iris eagerly said surprising Barry as she had simply got up from her chair

“Something that actually interests me. I know this is gonna sound crazy but it’s been all over the internet this week”

Getting up from his chair as well to follow her as she had gone to her laptop, Iris continued to excitingly ramble

“At a building fire….at a bank heist, even the other night when those robbers shot at the security guard, he said he was whoosed outside”

Immediately seeing what Iris was talking about, Barry’s eyes went wide as they could possibly go

THIS WAS NOT, THE DIRECTION HE WANTED HER ON

“I thought you were taking up journalism not science fiction writing” 

Looking back at Barry, Iris held a determined look on her face

“Ever since I’ve known you. You said you’ve believed in the impossible. So what if you were right, what if you were right about the night that your mom died ?”

Not knowing what to say or even….how to react. Barry was luckily saved by the Bell when his phone started to vibrate Seeing it was from Caitlin

Picking up the phone, Barry had immediately sighed

“I told you guys I was done”

“I know, but you seriously need to get to S.T.A.R. Labs right now” she said in a terrified voice

Hearing her in a scared tone immediately made his mind think something was wrong or that she was hurt and just like that in the blink of an eye Barry was in S.T.A.R. Labs suddenly standing in front of Dateon Black with a serious expression 

Immediately bringing away their scared facades Cisco and Caitlin had laughed seeing how serious Barry was

“Barry it’s ok” Caitlin said but the man just shook his head

“It is NOT ok, IT’S BLACK HE’S RIGHT HERE ! AND HE’S……”

Noticing the man wasn’t moving, Barry raised an eyebrow

“Not moving…this isn't him, is it ?”

Looking at the team, Cisco and Caitlin shook their heads while Wells spoke for them

“It’s one of his replicates” he confirmed leaving Barry to look at the Clone in honest wonder 

“How did you get it ?”

With an eager look on her face Caitlin smiled

“I grew him” 

Barry had only looked at her in heavy confusion but soon enough she explained it to him. Showing him the science behind it on the nearby monitor 

“I isolated a sample of Black’s blood from your suit to see if I could trigger the Vitro Cultivation process and learn how Black multiples, So I exposed the target cells to a protein gel, and they began replicating into….that !”

Waving his hand in front of Danton’s clone Barry was still confused

“Why isn’t he….It….doing anything ?”

“We did a brain Scan” Dr Wells answered, rolling up his sleeves 

“Invoulnatary motor functions are active, little else”

Again Barry was confused 

“We think it’s acting as a receiver” Cisco said translating for Barry again making him go “oh”

“The clones are an empty shell without Black, shut down the real Black and you might shut them all down”

“Well how do we know which one’s the real Danton Black ?” Barry asked

“That answer I actually got from the idea of you passing out, Black has limits just like you. Controlling all of those clones must require a tremendous amount of physical strength. Look for those signs, he’s the prime”

Barry again had thought on Caitlin’s words wondering if…he even had the strength to put the suit on

“It’s just a theory” Wells said

“But one you might want to put to the test, Mr Allen”

“Plus” Cisco added walking over to Barry holding a bar wrapped in styrofoam 

“I whipped up these high-calorie protein bars. For you to keep your metabolism up. No more passing out or having to explain why you keep eating so much” Cisco said making Barry smile and chuckle

Immediately the Clone had moved, turning to face Caitlin making her jump and scream before turning around facing the main desk and hallway. But before Barry could do anything, Joe had entered the room putting three bullet holes in his chest dropping it to the floor

“Any more of them ?” Joe asked but Caitlin quickly shook her head

“Nope” she was quick to say

“Why did that one move ?!”

Giving Barry’s question some thought Dr Wells quickly knew

“Prime. Black must be on the move and this one heard the summons to battle”

“And I know where he was summoned to” Joe said as he put his gun back in his holster

“Stagg Industries, report came in minutes ago”

Looking at Joe in concern Barry looked troubled 

“You should call it in” he said but Joe shook his head

“Police can’t fight this. What Black’s become….Like Mardon…..it’s beyond me” he said making Barry’s face scrunch in heavy thought

“Maybe way beyond them too” Joe had to admit

“The only person who it’s not Beyond is you”

Forming a small smile at Joe’s words the man continued

 “You got to do this, I get it now….So for once in your life do what I tell you to do go stop him”

Not needing to think on his words, not needing a second to hesitate, Barry looked around at his team who all confidently looked at him and walked away, approaching his suit with his own heroic grin 

Let’s do this

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“Just get me those figures by morning, ok ?” Black said within his office

The sound of gunshots firing was heard the second he hung up. And the man didn’t hesitate to get out of his chair and walk outside. Seeing his security detail dead on the ground and Danton Black with two other clones on either side of him

“Well Hello Danton”

“And Goodbye, Simon” Danton Black said, slowly raising a gun at him 

Before Black could pull the trigger, Simon Stagg was Immediately taken away, found in his office looking at Barry who placed him there

“Stay here” he said before running away leaving Simon at a loss of words on what just happened 

Returning back to Danton Black, Barry had seen the set up of over 30 clones prowling every inch of the building with guns trained everywhere

Licking his lips Barry didn’t know where to begin

“I know Stagg stole your research !” Barry said getting all the clones attention

“But that doesn't give you the right to murder” 

Immediately the clone closest to him opened fire and just as quick, Barry had dodged the bullet watching the shot slowly pass by him before he ran shoving the nearest clone and the clone on the stairway away pushing them to the ground

Seeing the many clones that still surrounded the building one of them had approached Barry making him turn around from the railing

“You think think this is about my job” the man said before Barry hastily ran pushing him against a beam making him drop the gun

“This is about Elizabeth”

“She was my wife” another clone explained before shooting at Barry leaving him to run away again dodging the gunfire so that he could tackle the clone

“She had a degenerative coronary disease” another clone explained as they had all moved in formation holding their guns

“She’d been on the transplant list for years, but…time was running out. So if I couldn’t get her a new heart”

“You were gonna grow her one” Barry said before running away again dodging the clones gunshots making the clones shoot each other

“I was so close !” the man said raising up his weaponry 

“Until Stagg stole my research, So he could reap the glory…and I had to bury my best friend" 

Hiding behind a beam, The clones continued to try and search for Barry

“Now….I’m alone” 

Rushing into the last clone with a gun, Barry turned his head to find Danton Black churning out more clones at his will making Barry groan

“Really more of them” he sighed before suddenly fighting a heavy multitude of clones all surrounding him 

In a matter of seconds, Barry was pinned down and getting punched in the face and all over. Having to put his hands up to try and block their punches and jabs until soon enough Barry pushed past them all and ran as fast as he could shoving through the hoard and running up an escalator to get to safety where he immediately dropped to one knee

“Remmeber Barry find the prime” Caitlin said while Barry huffed his breathe

“There’s too many of them to fight…”

“Barry, you need to isolate the prime” Dr Wells said this time

“I can’t…it’s impossible he’s too protected”

“Nothing’s impossible, Barry. You taught me that” Joe had said leaning near the mic within the lab

“You can do this”

Seeing the army of Clones heading towards him up the escalator and stairs, Barry had huffed his breath before letting out a heavy grunt as soon enough Barry ran as fast as he could, right straight into the Army, punching and pushing past each and everyone of the clones trying to find the real Danton Black

Continuing to pry himself through them all once he got to the back Barry had soon seen one of the Danton’s drip down with sweat on his face making his eyes go wide see it was the real one

Immediately pushing himself to his limits, Barry had grabbed the real Danton and ran him all the way to the end of the Level’s ground before slamming him completely into a metal beam knocking him out completely 

Huffing his breath with a grunt seeing Danton knocked out on the ground, Barry had looked over the railing and saw all the other clones were knocked out as well making him laugh 

“ Barry ”

“Barry, are you alright !” Barry heard Joe say through the comms making him raise a hand up to his ear

“Yeah, yeah I’m ok…it’s done” 

They heard Barry say making them all smile

Within the building Barry had thought it was all over, not seeing Danton get up behind him until the last minute Immediately moving out the way dodging Danton’s tackle

His missed attack had led him to jump out of the window where Barry Immediately ran to him grabbing his arm stopping him from falling

Letting out a grunt trying to hold on to him Barry groaned

“Ahgn hang on !”

Seeing the fall before him Danton groaned himself

“NO !” the man yelled before slowly growing his own hand out of his arm making Barry’s eyes go wide

“Don’t !” Barry gasped trying to hold on but it was no use

Using his other arm to force Barry off of him, Barry had dropped him and only watched in disappear as Danton fell to his death while Barry huffed his chest in pain of what he saw

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“Central City police officials are now confirming former employee Danton Black was the criminal….” 

Shaking his head at the report, Barry sighed

“I tried to save him” he admitted 

"Doesn't sound like he wanted to be saved” Wells stated

“Some people, when they break….they can’t be put back together again”

Turning to look at Wells, Barry pursed his lips

“Some people heal even stronger”

“Yeah well I hope so”

Cisco himself just looked down at Caitlin hoping their words meant the most to her while Barry had tapped Wells before attempting to make his leave

“Well, at least Multiplex won’t be able to hurt anyone else” he said leaving Barry and Caitlin to smile only adding on to his eagerness

“You know I may be the one in the suit doing all the running…” Barry began as he looked at Caitlin, Cisco and Dr Wells

“But when I'm out there helping people, making a difference….Your all out there with me” he admitted, sparking interest within all their faces

“I finally realized something….”

Seeing the gained interest from them all, Barry had smiled 

“We were all struck by the lighting”

A common look of heroism and…well a sense of purpose came from Cisco and Caitlin as the first time in 9 months this place finally felt….alive again, a place they felt proud to work in while Dr Wells just lingered on Barry’s choice of words

“See you guys around” Barry said before leaving the room allowing Caitlin and Cisco to get back to work while Dr Wells continued to do nothing more but think

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Continuing to sort through, his papers on his desk, Barry hadn’t heard Joe come up to his lab until he heard his voice

“Hungry ?” the man said leaving Barry to look up at his smile holding three boxes of pizza

“Pepporni, olives”

Placing the boxes at his desk Barry already grabbed the first one with a smile

“And jalapenos”

“Thank you so much” he said with eager in his voice while Joe approached his map looking at it

“You were wrong” he said Immediately making Barry confused 

“I have been wrong a lot this week you’re gonna have to be more specific”

Letting out a little chuckle, Joe shook his head before raising up his hand

“You said that one of the things driving you to run around out there was that you couldn’t help your dad” 

Barry’s face had dropped once he saw Joe raise up his map revealing his secret project

“You can help him” Joe admitted

“ We Can”

Suddenly at a loss for words not knowing what to say Joe spoke for him

“We’re gonna figure out, who or…what killed your mother that night. We're going to get your father out of prison” he said pointing at them both

“ Together ”  

Nodding his head, Barry’s lips quaked a small smile as he nodded his head suddenly thinking back on the choice of words he used towards Joe earlier today

“Joe what I said about you not being my father-”

“Barry I know”

Putting his hands up Joe understood where Barry stood

“I know I’m not your father”

Looking Joe up and down, Barry dropped his head

“You’re just….the man who kept me fed….” he began making Joe turn to look at him with Barry himself started to smile

“And in clothes, who sat beside my bed at night until I fell asleep because I was afraid of the dark….”

Starting to turn emotional, Barry continued 

“Helped me with my homework…you taught me how to drive and shave. You dropped me off of college…I….”

Shaking his head, Barry noe was full blown smiling look at his Father

“Sounds a lot like a Dad to me”

Pursing his lips and nodding his head, Joe fought the tears within his eyes and wiped his mouth not wanting to cry even thought it was hard as hell

So instead, Joe chose to sit down, and share the pizza with his son while they both enjoyed the shared father-son moment together 

“Every kid dreams are being a superhero having powers saving people but no kid thinks about what it's like when your hero and you're not saving people”

Running down the street in his suit, Barry held a smile on his face as a red blur continued to be spotted all around the city

“Truth is not much else changes, you still hurt, you still love. You still wish and hope and fear things. And you still need people to help you with all of it”

Placing down the coffee cup at a table, Iris had pulled out her phone feeling the buzzing to see another report of a red street spotted on Central street making her smile

“In some ways that’s the best part”

“Barry, armored car was just hijacked on Griffin Avenue” Caitlin reported as she and Cisco continued to monitor everything behind the screen

But truth be told she couldn’t contain her smile being apart of this a smile….she hasn’t had in a very long time

“Get your ass over ” she said not knowing Barry was smiling himself 

“On it” he grinned before turning down a street, Zig zagging within his run creating a lighting bolt from his trail before boosting off to the crime 

THE FLASH

Sitting at his desk, Simon Stagg had a creak forcing him to turn around and see Dr Wells sitting at the door way

“Wells….who the hell let you in here ?” he said while Well just smirked

“You’ve been having a party out there ?” obviously hinting towards the damage Danton caused

“Well I’m sure you’ve seen it on the news, Former employee tried to kill me” picking up his glass of scotch the man took his sip while Wells looking around the office

“Former employee with the ability to replicate. faced off against a man who could move at super speed”

Taking a heavy breathe Stagg shook his head

“So you’ve seen him too huh”

“Indeed I have” Wells Nodded

“Extraordinary”

Getting up to his feet with a full scale smile on his face Stagg started to approach Wells

“The power he possesses, it’s like the gods of old. It’s like Mercury on earth I mean….can you imagine, if you could control his power ? if you could….if you could harness it you could change what it is to be human !”

Finally approaching Wells, Simon Stagg held a grin on his face

“The man in the red mask is the key, and I’m gonna get him”

Taking off his glasses, Wells held his own admitted grin

“The man in the red mask” he began, setting down his glasses

“He’s called The Flash ” 

“Or at least…..he will be one day”

Suddenly rising out of his chair, Simon Stagg had a face of complete pussification seeing Harrison Wells in fact standing

“What the hell ?”  

Quickly stabbing Simon in the gut making the man grunt, Wells held the knife while Simon tried to take it out but that didn’t stop Wells from pushing him further to his desk digging the knife deeper in him

“Forgive me, Simon. I worry that you will think that this is personal, when I assure you it’s not it’s just….that the man in the red mask, the fastest man alive. He must be kept”

Pulling the knife out of Simon’s gut, Wells looked down at his dead body

“Safe”

Chapter Text

“On a regular movie scale that was a Seven or an eight, Zombie movie scale, it was like a, four, tops” Barry stated as he and Iris came out of the movie theater

“There’s a Zombie movie scale ?” Iris questioned, holding her small bucket of popcorn within her hand while Barry started to ramble 

“Did you know Zombies actually do exist in nature ? there’s a species of fungi that infects ants, causing the ants to attack planets that release spores ! which in turn affects new hosts !.....”

Before Barry could even continue, he had seen the grin on Iris’s face making him release he was running his mouth

“I’m going full nerd again am I” he said making her node her head

“Yep”

“Yeah…great” he mumbled tucking his hands in his jacket making Iris laugh

“It is ok thought cause you are still the cutest nerd that I know”

Hearing her say that did make him admittedly smile though he wasn’t gonna lie

“Anyway I’m a lot more interested in the “amazing” as of late”

“Why cause of the streak thing” Barry grumbled really wishing she’d stop trying to investigate Him…..well…the secret him….the hero him ?....ah whatever him

But still Iris had only eagerly nodded her head even more excited to talk about the “Streak”

“He’s out there people are talking about him” Iris confidently said

“How do you even know it is a “He ?” Maybe it’s a “She ?”

Rolling her eyes with a smile Iris shook her head

“It’s a man, ok ? you know I’m really intuitive about this kind of stuff”

So intuitive you can’t release the person your trying to find is right next to you

“Someone even posted a picture after being yanked from a car accident.” Iris said as they came to a halt mid walk and she pulled out her phone

“It’s a red blur, leaving the scene”

Quickly showing Barry her phone Iris held a confident smirk on her face

“Here what do you see”

She probably did have a good point with this, sadly but right now as she held a confident look on her face. Trying to show him a picture of himself, all Barry saw was Eddie’s face buzzing on her phone 

“I see your boyfriend’s calling” Barry admitted making her face ghost before turning the phone around

“Oh, I should take this. I’m crashing at his place tonight and he’s leaving me a key somewhere one second”

Yeah like he needed to know that info

“Hey Babe, what’s up ?....not much just hanging out with Barry, you off yet ?” 

Turning away from Barry, Iris started to walk away speaking into the phone only leaving Barry more uncomfortable than he needed to be truthfully 

Luckily his own phone rang within his pocket getting his attention, seeing it was Cisco

“Hello”

“Code 237 on Waid Boulevard” Cisco Immediately said making Barry raise a brow

“Public Indecency ?”

Realizing what he said, Cisco quickly shook his head

“Wait, I think I meant a 239…”

“Dog Leash Violation ? Cisco if you wanna start using these codes your gonna have to actually learn them”

Quickly approaching the set up, Caitlin pressed on the mic

“Bad man, with a gun, in a getaway card GO !” she said making Barry’s eyes go wide before he turned to Iris seeing she was still on the phone

“So you don’t have a mat…do you have a planter at least ?” she trailed off still on the phone with Eddie

Using her looking away as his advantage, Barry quickly run off 

Approaching the police chase, seeing a man shooting at the trailing Cop Car, Barry had transferred the criminal into the cop car and decreased the stolen car into a park before leaving the scene leaving the cops confused on what happened 

Hearing a soft thump in the back of the car, the cops had only turned around to find the once criminal they were chasing, in hands cuffs within the back of their car confusing the hell out of them

“What the hell….” one of the cops murmured while the cuffed criminal violently shook in his seat

Returning back to Iris right as she turned around, Barry stomped on his shoes trying to kill the sparks before looking up at her with a grin

“Eddie says hi” she said not knowing he even left only making Barry’s forcefully grin wider

“Aww nice of him, you wanna grab a bite I’m feeling a little….Famished” 

“After the mongolian barbecue we had before the movie ? and the extra large popcorn you had at the movie ?....”

Releasing he did have his own track record of increased food he’s taken on, Barry simply shrugged his shoulders while Iris looked him up and down

“How are you not fat ?”

Giving her question some quick thought, Barry spoke

“I’ve been…..jogging” he said with a teasing grin, making Iris laugh

“Ok, good cover”

With that the duo left, walking down the street, passing by a restaurant filled with suited men

Within the restaurant one of the men had walked up to another far within the corner of the restaurant distanced from everyone

“Why such a public meeting, uncle ?”

Looking his nephew up and down, the man spoke out intensely 

“We’re dining out to show our enemies we’re not afraid, so relax nephew”

Looking around the restaurant to see how open it was the man had to admit he had some fears

“We’ve replaced the windows with bulletproof glass”

Turning to look at the single waiter of the establishment wearing a white suit, the older man nodded his head

“Close it up”

With that the two families members left while the waiter went to the door to flip the sign from OPEN to CLOSED , but what they hadn’t seen was the waiter stick a golden key into the lock before turning it and breaking it within the lock before forming his own grin as he had turned around to look at the room of suited men

“Our own drivers are ripping us off” the Uncle said looking at the table of suited men

“And someone is paying them. To steal from us”

Unknown to the ground of men before them, thick green smoke snaked below their feet drawing under the table

“None of you will sleep until we find out who. And then those thieves will…”

COUGH 

The green smoke had risen above the grown, circling the table causing everyone to start coughing 

“Those thieves… COUGH COUGH ! will draw COUGH COUGH their last breath… ” 

Immediately dropping to the ground, the green smoke had covered the entire room now, causing everyone at the table to start clutching their throats and cough just as aggressively as the man was 

Sprouting out of his seat the young man looked around in confusion of what was happening 

“UNCLE !” he shouted, seeing everyone in the room start to drop to the ground just like his relative, the man had pulled out his gun and attempted to shoot the windows. But the bullets had only pierced the glass not shattering it before soon enough he too dropped to the ground as well

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With a simple ding from the elevator, Barry held a cup of coffee within his hand as he walked into the precedent and low and behold what was the first thing he heard

“So where’d you cut him off ?”

“We cut him off at eighth, I mean the perm was in the backseat of the cruiser before he even knew what happened !” the cop said making the other cops around him laugh while Joe approached the man giving him a handshake

“Congraultions, Pauslon, on that arrest last night. Hell of a job”

“Yeah, you come by later Joe, I’ll give you a driving lesson ok ?”

Immediately rolling his eyes, Barry took a sip of his coffee while he and Joe started to walk

“It wasn’t even him last night, it was me” he groaned while Joe nodded his head

“I figured, I just didn't even realize you were helping people for the glory”

Starting to go up the steps to his lab, Barry shrugged his shoulders 

“It’s not like I want a museum built in my name. But Keeping what I can do a secret, from Iris and everyone it’s just….harder than I thought”

“I know, but it is safer that way, besides, me and you got work to do”

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Dropping a heavy box off on Barry’s desk, the young man took in a deep breath knowing exactly what this was

“The evidence from my mom’s case” Barry sighed, while Joe knocked on the Box before nodding his head

“Yep, Had it brought up from storage”

Lightly scratching his chin, Barry shook his head before turning to look at Joe with an amused laugh

“I’ve been through this box 1,000 times” he said but Joe didn’t listen

“Before, your story about what really happened that night-”

“Yeah…”

“The lightning storm the man in the middle of it. I thought that was a kid trying to protect his father from prison. But now that I know it’s true, we’re gonna go through every scrap of evidence until we find something that helps us”

“Joe it took the Jury 52 minutes to come back with a verdict of guilty” Barry said but Joe turned around to look at Barry

“They moved too fast, which is why we gotta take out time” 

Shaking his head, Barry figured maybe one more time wouldn’t possibly hurt he guessed, especially with his newfound powers but sadly their time had been interrupted when Eddie came into Barry’s lab

“Barry, Joe we got multiple homicides” he said getting their attention

“Do you know the Darbinyan crime family ?”

Immediately Joe and Barry looked at each other with wide eyes

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With officers taking photos of the dead bodies, others covering their bodies with tarp, and just all around signs of dead people. Joe had found Barry taking off his gloves after covering another dead person

“Barry” he said getting his attention 

“You found anything ?” 

With a sigh Barry looked around the room

“Signs of Histoxic Hypoxia, the cells in their bodies were unable to utilize oxygen. It’s consistent with exposure to poison gas”

“What kinda poison ?” Joe questioned but Barry shook his head

“I’ll need to take a lung sample, see if I can narrow it down”

Starting to pack up his gear, Eddie approached the two

“The only other exit was bolted from the inside. They were trapped. I was originally thinking someone pumped gas from the outside but witnesses say the street was empty” 

Giving what Eddie saw a quick Think Joe ticked his head

“So it was from the inside ? which means there should be a canister or a container left behind”

Barry’s eyes had immediately went wide once he thought of another possibility 

Another Meta ?

“The gas didn’t just come in by itself”

“Unless it had a mind of its own” Barry said making Eddie and Joe turn to look at him”

Immediately Joe gave him a look tell him to ‘not spoil about the metas’ and Barry picked up on it just as fast, giving a quick chuckle while Joe turned to Eddie

“Hey Eddie, would you mind canvassing again ? somebody had to have seen something suspicious”

Giving his partner a quick nod, Eddie made his leave. And after watching the blonde walk away, Joe turned to Barry just as fast

“Ok explain”

Looking at the crime scene before them Barry bit his lip before talking

“The boss collapsed by the table” Barry pointed at the man dead at the head of the table

“This guy made it 10 feet away” he continued pointing at the uncovered dead body

“And that guy had a chance to move off and fire three shots at the window trying to break the glass” a final point to the man dead with a gun next to him

Again taking a another glance at the crime scene Barry nodded confident he was right

“But they all started in the same spot, which means they should have all been affected by the gas at the same time but instead, it’s as if-”

“They were attacked one by one” Joe finished from him leaving Barry to nod his head

Starting to pick up on the drift Barry was laying down, he knew this wasn’t done by something a human could do

It wasn’t a suspicion

They knew

They had another meta on their hands

“My gut feeling….if we’re gonna solve this one, you and me are gonna need…”

Looking around them, to make sure no one over heard their conversation, Joe soon turned back to Barry

“Backup”

Well he knew what that meant

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Within S.T.A.R. Labs, Dr Wells stood at the main computer looking over the data Barry and Joe gave him

“Fascinating, a Meta-Human that can manipulate poison gas”

“Is it just poison gas or can he control all aerated substances ?” Cisco asked coming out of the second lab

“And how is he able to formulate the connection ? is physiological or psychological” Caitlin said as they all grouped around Dr Wells

Seeing the trio speak more and more on their newest situation, Joe had only looked at Barry who had his arms crossed and a grin on his face seeing Joe beyond confused

“So there’s three of you” he said making Barry chuckle

“Meet my team”

“This individual can create a mental nexus using gaseous substances” 

“You mean connect with gases on a molecular level !” Cisco piggybacked off Dr Wells while the man agreed with a “Yes” only making Cisco smile more

“That is so ridiculously cool !”

“They get really excited about this stuff by the way” Barry noted to Joe but the older man just shook his head

“The only thing I get excited about is putting criminals behind bars….except Iron heights isn’t exactly equipped to handle…meta-humans”

“Well then I guess it’s fortunate the ones you’ve encountered so far are no longer with us” Dr Wells said with a snarky comeback not even looking up from the computer 

“Well, unless we’re planning on executing every super criminal we stop” he said making Dr Wells and Cisco finally look up at him

“You geniuses are gonna have to come up with someplace else to hold them”

Immediately Cisco’s mind started to think and his smile only grew

“A meta-human prison…..sweet…..god I love this job”

Dr Wells himself even started to think of his own "substitution"

“Until we figured a way to remove their powers” he also added getting some looks from Barry and Joe but Cisco already thought ahead

“There is one place here that might hold them….”

Immediately Both Dr Wells and Caitlin looked at Cisco like he was crazy

“You can’t be serious” she said but Cisco incorrectly shrugged

“I mean, we haven’t been down there since-”

Quickly pausing herself, coming to a halt on what she was gonna say, Caitlin’s hands started to tremble

“It’s cornered off”

“Cisco is right” Dr Wells admitted softly

“It could be modified to act as a makeshift prison”

Noticing he was being left out of the team talk, Barry raised an eyebrow

“Guys What could ?”

Turning to look at Barry, Dr Wells licked his lips

“The Particle Accelerator”

Hearing the words come from his mouth, brought bad and dark memories for Caitlin, memories she tried to hide from…..

9 months ago

“Tonight, the future begins” Dr Wells said looking at the crowd before him

Standing besides, Dr Wells Caitlin held a proud smile on her face knowing all of her life's work will have paid off 

“The work my team and I will do here will change our understanding of physics, will bring about advancements in power, advancements in medicine. And trust me, that future will be here faster than you think”

Within the lab later within the night, Cisco held a nervous face, one that only amplified seeing Dr Wells as he chased him all throughout the lab

“Dr Wells, we just got the latest weather report. And uhh….a big thunderstorm is rolling in”

Coming to a halt to see the schematics all over the screens, Cisco still rambled on about his heavily concerned doubts

“We’re not launching a space shuttle” Dr Wells said with his own grin

“We’ll be fine”

Calming his nerves and deciding to trust the man, Cisco’s worries soon turned into a small smile as he simply nodded his head before walking away

Also within the lab, S.T.A.R. Labs favorited couple also had their own plans coming off the particle accelerator 

“Tahtti ? really ?”

“I know it’s a long flight Ronnie, but we can binge watch orange in the new black” Caitlin said with a smile making Ronnie chuckle

“Oh, ok but what about Italy ? pizza and wine….and more pizza !”

Getting out of her her seat with a chuckle Caitlin stepped up to her fiance

“Yes but Italy doesn't have Mai Tai’s and a honeymoon isn’t a honeymoon without Mai Tai’s”

“Dr Wells !” Cisco said getting the man's attention 

“The Accelerator is primed and ready for particle injection” Cisco eagerly grinned while Dr Wells turned to look at his group of scientist 

“Well I feel I should say something profound” Dr Wells began as everyone gathered around with smiles of accomplishments on their faces 

“Like “one small step for man”...but all I can think of to say is, I feel like I’ve waited for this day for centuries”

Turning to look at Caitlin’s nod of approval, Dr Wells pressed his hand on the control panel scanning his hand starting up the machine

“That’s it ?” Cisco said highly underwhelmed

“You’d think there’d be like a loud bang or something…”

“If there was a loud bang, we’d all be in big trouble” Ronnie said

“Take it from the man who helped built it” Caitlin stated looking ar Ronnie

“Ladies and gentleman. We did it” Dr Wells confirmed creating a round of applause from everyone as Caitlin and Ronnie had kissed

Pulling out a bottle of champagne, Dr Wells huffed his breath before popping the cork of the bottle but before he could get to pouring, the inside liquid from the bottle started to slowly shoot up making everyone but Dr Well eyes’ go wide in shock 

In a matter of a second the liquid fell flat again, plummeting to the ground and an alarm started to blare all throughout the lab

Feeling the building start to tremble and shake, Cisco had to brace himself while the lights went on and off

BOOM

Hearing the distant explosion be sounded, Cisco felt like he needed to kick himself in the back

“Was that….”

“A loud bang” Ronnie said while Cisco Immediately checked his computer

Seeing everything that was going on, Caitlin’s mind started to run off not hearing the distant calls of her name

“Caitlin”

“Caitlin”

“Caitlin”

Present day

“Caitlin” Dr Wells said finally getting her attention as he turned to look at the man

“Did you hear me ?”

No

“We’re going down to the accelerator ring” 

Seeing the look of complete terror on Caitlin’s face, it didn’t take a genius to guess that she had some sort of trauma from it. PTSD that dove way deeper than just the particle accelerator itself 

“Actulaly, Dr Wells I could use Caitlin’s help” Barry said making Caitlin look at him

“You know, identifying the poison Gas”

There was a swift calm silence within the room as the question was processed between Dr Wells and Barry, but evidently. Dr Wells allowed it, Giving a swift “ok”

Caitlin’s face had immediately softened leading Barry to look at her 

“If that’s ok with you ?”

Forming a small smile, Caitlin simply nodded her head 

“Let’s go” she said before getting out of her seat and joining Barry as they left the Lab

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Walking into the main CCPD office, Barry continued to introduce Caitlin to his everything

“Welcome to the CCPD” Barry grinned looking around at everything

“So this is your day job”

Barry just nodded his head leaving Caitlin speechless not able to Maintain her own grin, she had to admit seeing other functionally working buildings besides S.T.A.R. Labs which she has seen for the past 9 months was truly refreshing 

“It’s it’s pretty awesome”

“I’M GONNA RIP OUT YOUR HEARTS AND EAT ‘EM FOR LUNCH ! !” a passing criminal had said as two cops held him down while continuing to walk with him

“Well that’s delightful” Caitlin mumbled 

“Lab rat” a female detective said getting Barry’s attention 

“I need prints off this gun pronto” she said as she slapped the sealed gun into Barry’s chest making him catch it as he pursed his lips

“Ok sometimes not that awesome” Barry corrected making them both laugh

“ALLEN !” turning their heads to see Captain Singh, Barry immediately braced himself

It’s always something with the Captain, he was starting to think he hated him 

“Where the hell is the fiber analysis on the Orloff case ?”

“Upstairs” Barry quickly admitted even if it wasn’t that true

“It’s all finished I can quickly run upstairs and bring it down”

Not taking a second to let Dr Singh think about it, Barry took off out of his view heading up the stairs

“With you, that could be three days from now. I’ll go with you”

Joining the two cops, Caitlin walked with the Captain leading Singh to look Caitlin up and down in confusion

“Who are you ? his girlfriend ?”

Caitlin’s face visibly shook but that didn’t stop them from walking to the stairs

“Dr Caitlin Snow, I’m Barry’s……personal physician”

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Within Barry’s lab papers flew all across the room as Barry zipped from place to place everywhere within the lab until finally he found the singular sheet he needed in a mess of fallen papers everywhere 

Finally approaching the lab, Captain Singh and Caitlin had seen Barry standing there with an awkward grin on his face as he just handed the paper to the man

“The Fiber analysis for the orloff case, Like you asked for” he said as Signh took it

“Sir…” 

Glancing over at Caitlin, Barry gestured

‘Too much ?’

She made an ok with her hands making him chuckle before Captain Singh looked around the lab

“Clean up your lab, its a mess” was all he said before leaving, causing Caitlin to give him a funny look while Barry simply rolled his eyes

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“The lighting was in the house” Henry said, again for the he didn’t know how manyenth time

Continuing to look over the footage, Joe looked at the security footage on his laptop with a puzzle look on his face

“I told my son to run, he disappeared, and that’s when I saw the blood…”

Joe couldn’t believe it took him this long to start to understand….to truly trust the word of his once good friend, of his now adoptive son….he felt like an idiot 

“Your prints were on the murder weapon” the interviewing cop said making Henry’s face scrunch 

“I needed to stabilize the knife IMA DOCTOR ! I WAS TRYING TO SAVE HER !.... .I DIDN’T KILL MY WIFE ! JOE ! YOU TELL THEM, YOU KNOW ME ! OUR KIDS ARE FRIENDS ! JOE ! YOU TELL THEM, JOE !”

Hearing Iris come down the stairs, Joe Immediately shut closed the laptop leaving Iris to immediately raise an eyebrow as she started to search through some papers

“Do I even want to know what you were looking at ?”

Putting on a fake busy face, Joe started to sort through some loose papers

“It’s just work….some old cases weren’t filed properly. You know…..”

Before Iris could continue, a knock was heard at the door leaving her to go get it Immediately to find Eddie who held a wide smile

Trying to lean in to kiss her, Iris immediately held a hand out pushing him away confusing him

“DETECTIVE !” she said getting Joe’s attention making Eddie quickly realize why she pushed him away

“What are you doing here ?”

“Joe….I….thought you were at the morgue” Eddie said as he stepped inside the house right when Joe got up to approach the two with a curious face yet amused to find his partner

“I decided to bring some work home….why are you here ?”

With his hands on his hips, Eddie searched for an answer…one that was honestly hard to find

“Yes ! well I’ve….been looking for you I uhh…..thought we could go back to the crime scene, re-canvass, see if we missed anything. Always work the case right. That’s what you taught me”

Hoping it was a good enough excuse to pass, Joe had suddenly formed a smile and pointed at Eddie

“Ohh, you’ve been listening. Ok, let’s hit it. I’m gonna go grab my coat”

Seeing his older partner grab the piece of clothing, Eddie rubbed his hands and quickly thought to himself

“Do you mind if I use your bathroom ?” he asked right when Joe got back only to receive a headshake

“No, I don’t. It’s the first door on the right. I’ll be in the car”

Giving Iris a quick kiss to the forehead leaving them both to grin Joe made his leave right as Eddie did but once that door closed, Eddie had looped around returning to Iris making her laugh due to the past….whatever that was

“Ok this has GOT to stop” Eddie exhausted with his hands

“I came here to surprise my girlfriend, and now I’m going to a crime scene with her dad-”

“I know I know” Iris cut him off jumping up and down in place

“It’s just…right now is not the time to tell him”

Looking Iris up and down, Eddie ticked his head in thought

“When is, Iris ?”

Giving his question some thought, Iris scrunched her face

“I know my dad, He’ll kill us”

“And right now….you’re killing us” he said making Iris sigh, as Eddie left the house as well leaving Iris to just think on everything

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Within S.T.A.R Labs, the heavy metal door opened revealing, the abandoned particle accelerator

The sight gave Cisco goosebumps thinking he’d never see this place again but Dr Wells was quick to use his mind in how they could start locking up metas

“The copper in the tube is arranged to form cavities, and we can use those cavities as containment cells”

Walking and rolling into the Particle accelerator it’s to look at how it was built, the two scientist looked around the machine

“Of course, we’ll have to design them to counteract meta-human abilities but…it might just work” the man said as Cisco had crossed his arms

“First, we have to decouple the main injection system. On the gantry level, I’ll be right back”

Immediately starting to roll backwards out the Particle accelerator, Cisco had suddenly realized he would’ve been left alone within this thing making his eyes go wide

“why don’t I do that ?” he asked as Dr Wells continued to move backwards

“I need the exercise” he bluntly said  shutting Cisco down completely leaving him to look around the machine in nothing but thought of that one night…..

9 months ago

Hastily looking over all the machine readings trying to find the problem, Cisco whisked his head every which way 

“There’s an anomaly in the core chamber” he said

“There’s a ring structure in the chamber” Caitlin said as he looked at her monitor 

Look down at the third screen, Dr Wells looked at the problem as well

“It’s started a chain reaction, the system is collapsing we need to shut it down”

“We can’t ramp down the accelerator from here, we need to do it manually”

“Than do it” Dr Wells said leaving Cisco to start to race out the room

“I’ll come with” Ronnie said as he left as well but Caitlin stopped him

“Ronnie no !”

“I’m the lead engineer, I have to operate the shut down valve” he reassured leaving her mind to race everywhere

“It…it’s not safe” she said but Ronnie rubbed her arm

“Cait, I have to go” he said, quickly kissing her before running out the room following Cisco leaving Caitlin in a mess of emotions 

Running through the lab, both Cisco and Ronnie entered the Particle Accelerator's entrance, tapping on the screen that would open the gate before Ronnie looked back at Cisco

“Ok, you stay here. We’ve only got a few minutes before this thing blows and if I’m not back in time, you need to initiate lockdown” Ronnie stated Immediately making Cisco shake his head

“Nooo way, I am not closing this door, I won't be able to open it again !-”

“Cisco ! if you don’t seal off the blast, everyone in this building will die, including Caitlin” he said making Cisco lick his lips in heavy thought while Ronnie just stepped up to him

“Ok, now promise me…”

Again Cisco was hesitant to the commit, but Ronnie knew and trusted him

“Set your watch. Two minutes from now” he said and Immediately Cisco did leaving Ronnie to look at the Particle Accelerator

“You’re coming back” he stated before Ronnie ran off

Time had passed and every second continued to countdown, Cisco wasn’t worried cause he trusted Ronnie would come back as the timer struck 1:30 but as more and more time counted down more and more of Cisco was left with a pained feeling in his chest

The more and more he wanted and soon enough, the timer struck 0 and his watch started to bleep

Cisco even gave Ronnie and extra 5 seconds but still no sign of him came leaving his body and face to go pale and frozen

“if you don’t seal off the blast, everyone in this building will die, including Caitlin” he remembered Ronnie say as his body started to move without his mind

Pressing his fingers to the control panel, closing the gate. Cisco’s heart dropped knowing Ronnie didn’t return and he had essentially just killed his closest friend

PRESENT DAY

Standing in the same spot he stood all those days ago, Dr Wells continued to call Cisco’s name as he was totally blanked out thinking about the day the particle accelerator fell

“Cisco ! we’re ready to go” he said finally getting his attention as he turned back to get behind Dr Wells

“Must be hard, coming back down here”

Not having a response only an open mouth with no words coming out Dr Wells spoke for him

“A lot happened that night, If you feel the need to talk-”

“I was just thinking” Cisco suddenly said 

“We need to nail those voltage calculations, one fault and the…helium blowback could damage the mountings”

With that Cisco left, leaving Dr Wells to nod his head

“Smart….as always….”

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Looking at his screen’s scanner, Barry looked at the 83% turn to 84% while he occupied himself with a toy molecular display continuing to pick the pieces apart like a kid

Granted he wasn’t doing this cause he was bored, he had more than enough work he could speed through that could occupy his time, he did this to fight the awkward feeling within him seeing Caitlin distance herself within his lab as she was clearly deep in her thoughts 

Looking up and down at her, Barry pursed his lips before finally speaking knowing this was on his mind for the longest

“Can I ask you something ?” he said getting her attention 

“Something that you don’t have to answer ?”

“My least favorite kind of question” she said with a small grin before going back to typing on her laptop

“Shoot”

Placing down the display, again Barry’s lips pursed

Well here we go…

“Ronnie” he immediately said making her face go pale leaving Barry to know he was treading heavy waters

“What was he….like ?”

Looking up from her laptop, Barry shrugged

“He seemed important to you, and you….just never talk about him that much”

Licking her lips, Caitlin hesitated before finally speaking

“We met when we were working on the particle accelerator….he was the….Strucural Engineer”

Thinking back on her memories of Ronnie, Caitlin quickly grew a smile

“He liked to joke that he was basically a very high priced plumber” she said now making Barry smile and laugh while Caitlin continued

“We were very different, you might’ve noticed I can be a bit…. guarded ”

“Oh no I didn’t noticed at all” Barry sarcastically said making them both laugh, as Caitlin started to fiddle with one of the machines in the lab

“Ronnie knew how to make me laugh……he used to say we were like fire and ice …he wasn’t supposed to be there that night….he was just there for me” she admitted 

Continuing to look at Caitlin, Barry saw something in her….something….unexpliable, granted at first she seemed like the stuck up nurse of the team who hated him, this day he was spending with her made him realize she was….more. Caitlin Snow was something else and he didn’t even know it

Caitlin was going to open her mouth and talk again but the printer had printed the gas results ending the conversation and just like that Caitlin’s guard went back up leaving Barry to sit up straight in his chair and swallow the lump in his throat while Caitlin grabbed the paper

“This says that there was no residue of gas in the tissue” she said immediately making Barry’s face scrunch

“Posoinus or otherwise”

“It must have evaporated ?....we’ll need to get a fresh sample"

Reading over the paper, Caitlin herself grew confused

“Wait this can’t be right” she said as she walked over to him showing the results

“This says that there are two distinct strands of DNA. inside the tissue”

Looking up at the monitor, Barry was just as confused

“How did someone else’s DNA get inside the victim’s lungs ?” he said before they looked at one another in heavy confusion 

Crossing the tests and data they learned, Barry’s computer showed a huge NO MATCH FOUND sign making him throw his hands up with a groan

“There’s no DNA match in the database” he stated leaving Caitlin to start to think again

“I don’t understand, why would a chemical attack leave behind another person’s DNA inside the victim ?” Caitlin asked suddenly leaving Barry to think and his eyes going wide before looking up at her

“What if the Meta-Human we’re looking for doesn't control gas….what if he becomes it ?”

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Within the Mall of central city, a red haired woman entered an elevator, mindlessly getting on her phone

The elevator was soon closing but suddenly stopped once a set pair of hands pried it open leaving the woman to grow a shocked reaction as a bald man walked in 

“Judge Howard” the man grinned as the doors closed behind him

“It’s nice to see you again”

Looking the man up and down as if she was seeing a ghost the judge was at a loss for words 

“Yo-You died ?...”

“You say that like it was an accident” the man said with a snickering grin 

“Do you remember the last thing you said to me in the courtroom ?” he asked as her fingers started to tremble in terror

“May God have mercy on your soul”

Before she could even react, the man dispersed into green gas, filling the entire elevator making the woman start to choke and cough as she turned around pound on the glass window trying to get people’s attention

“All available units, we have a report of a toxic gas attack at the central city mall” Barry’s police reporter said as Barry and Caitlin looked at each other, more so Barry’s suspension was right and Caitlin felt an all too similar feeling of dread fill within her chest

“Barry, Don’t” Caitlin said but Immediately Barry got out of his chair so that he could head to his locker and get his suit while Caitlin continued to voice her disapproval

Like always

“We don’t know enough about what we’re facing yet” she said as he grabbed the suit out of his duffle bag before attempting to leave only to have Caitlin pull him back to face her

“It’s not safe !”

This exact same position reminded her 9 months ago of the same moment that led to Ronnie’s death, the particle accelerator needed to be stabilized, Ronnie left and she warned him and now here she was 9 months later watching another person close to her run to their death

“Cait, I have to go” Ronnie said, quickly kissing her before running out the room 

“Caitlin, I have to go” Barry said before running out the room, making the nearby papers and her hair fly everywhere 

Huffing her breathe, she simply moved the hair out of her face and sighed before pursing her lips trying to escape the emotion that crept within her

“Please don’t die….”

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“I patched into the Mall’s security system, according to witnesses the gases attack was in the main elevator in the north wing” Cisco reported as he and Dr Wells stood on comms

“Which one is the north wing !”

“The one with the Big Belly Burger” Dr Wells stated making Cisco turn to look at him in a mix of emotions leaving Dr Wells to shrug his shoulders

“I eat”

Entering the scene of the mall, Barry had seen the crowd of people surrounding the elevator and the security guards setting a perimeter keeping everyone way

It created an open path allowing him to approach the woman fallen at the entrance of the machine while everyone looked frozen to him

Quickly pressing his gloved finger on her pulse, Barry had sighed, shaking his head to find that she was dead

Damn

Immediately looking around for any sign of green smoke or gas, Barry had seen a faint trail, escaping around a corner into a cracked doorway away making him growl

Running into the door, entering a hallway. Barry had seen the Gas turn into a man making his fist ball

“WHY DID YOU KILL THAT WOMAN ?!”

 Turning around to look at Barry, the man let out a wheezing noise before speaking

“She deserved to die” he answered only angering Barry more

“Now, go run away, I still have one more name on my list. Don’t make me add you to it”

Not listening anymore, Barry Quickly ran up to the man and threw a punch aimed at his face

A punch that went right through him turning him into smoke again shocking Barry

The man had returned into a solid state, Immediately punching Barry in the face before hitting him with a gut shot dropping him to one knee making him groan but that didn’t stop Barry from trying another punch trying to hit his gut only to see the man turn back into gas as Barry got up

Seeing the giant Green Gas Wall built in front of him. The Gas itself punched Barry in the face making him groan again before soon enough the Gas itself entered inside Barry making him start to gag and wheeze

Hearing straight silence over the comms in S.T.A. R Labs, Both Dr Wells and Cisco started to get antsy

“Barry….BARRY CAN YOU HEAR ME !”

“His vitals are weak, but he’s alive. Dr Wells” Cisco confirmed

“I’m sure he’s fine”

Right then and there, Barry flashed into the room slightly filing Cisco and Wells away with just how much air he created

The sudden, sight of Barry with his mask off, wheezing and coughing made Cisco’s eyes go wide in pure terror while Dr Wells grabbed hold of him to stabilize him

Letting out a series of wheezes, Barry slammed his fist on his chest trying to get the words he wanted to say out”

“i ca…can’t…brethe….ca… ca.nt ….brehte…..”

“He needs oxygen, get the crash cart !” Wells shouted before Cisco immediately took off while Barry slowly collapsed to the floor gasping for air

Starting to build up a sweat, Barry was dropped onto the med bed. Still aggressively gasping for air and coughing even harder as the front half of his suit was zipped down revealing his torso and chest

“Barry !” Caitlin cried seeing Barry in his current condition while Cisco scanned him

“cut me open….” Barry gasped before weakly turning to look at Wells

“The poison's still in me”

“He brought us a sample ! Caitlin, we need to do a pulmonary biopsy, extract an active portion of that gas !” 

Leaning over to Barry, Caitlin held a troubled look as he whisked his head back and forth choking on his lungs

“I can’t give you any anesthetic your metabolism will burn right through it !”

“i heal quick…remember…” Barry coughed 

Looking up at Caitlin, Dr Wells nodded his head

“Do it”

Looking over at Cisco, Caitlin cringed

“Cisco, give me the syringe” she said before looking back at Barry, placing her hand on his arm

“This is gonna hurt a lot”

Pulling out the syringe with a long needle sticking out, even Cisco was intimidated and he wasn’t the one getting punctured 

“It’s a small needle, you probably won’t even feel it”

Grabbing the Needle, Caitlin shook her head

“Your’re definitely going to feel it”

“i…trus….you….Caitlin…”Barry gasped out before closing his eyes, causing Caitlin to purse her lips before soon enough sticking the needle in the center of his chest causing Barry to shoot up and gasp

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With the sound of a steady monitor beep, Barry’s eyes started to flicker as multiple patches and wires were on his chest helping to stabilize him

Finally opening his eyes, looking up at Cisco, the man grinned

“The streak lives”

“You’d be dead if your lung cells didn’t regenerate so quickly” Caitlin noted

Letting out a groan, Barry took a deep breathe, glad to be able to

“My chest feels like that one time I had a cigarette” he stated causing Caitlin to tilt her head at him but it only made him laugh on the fond memory 

“Yeah, teen me lived for danger”

“Barry, this isn’t funny you could’ve-” Caitlin said but Barry interrupted her as he started to remove the wires

“I didn’t…you saved me”

The two shared a look, as Barry just saw this as a moment of his team saving his life, proving that he was glad he had them, Caitlin saw this as nothing more but someone else she cared in her life about to die and she…she didn’t know what she would’ve done if she lost….

Quickly whisking her head Away, Caitlin left leaving Barry to sigh while Dr Wells cut the tension

“Now that we have a sample, we’ll get to work analyzing it, figure out the makeup of the poison. Maybe get a clue as to his human identity”

Helping Barry up, Cisco dusted off his hands

“Or at least a way to stop him from turning into a mist, THE MIST !” he exclaimed while Barry and Dr Wells groaned

“Ok that’s his name, end of discussion”

Taking a mental break, Barry had soon gotten up from the bed

“I have to get back to the station”

“You should be resting” Dr Wells noted but Barry shrugged him off

“I have to talk to Joe” he replied back only making Wells look at him unsurely 

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Walking into his lab, seeing Joe perched on a table with files in his hand Barry sighed

“Joe I had him” he stated getting the man’s attention as sirens wailed outside the black night

“The Meta-Human, we were wrong he’s not controlling airborne toxins, He can literally transform himself into poison gas”

“Well that’s new” Joe flickered, getting up so that he could start to approach Barry

“The victim, was a judge. We’re going through some of her old cases to see if there’s a connection”

Hearing about the women he found dead earlier, Barry shook his head before dropping it

“It’s too late….“

Joe looked up at him

“I should have been faster” 

“Barry, focus on the job, don’t think about that right now” he said but Barry shook his head

“You don’t want to know what I’m thinking about”

Feeling something was wrong, Joe’s suspension only doubled down seeing Barry walk away, and lean against a plethora of boxes

“My Dad….has spent 14 years, 8 ft cell for a crime he didn’t commit…..I couldn't save my mom but I can save him”

Dropping his own head before turning to look at Barry, Joe shook his head

“Didn’t I promise you that we would get your father out of prison together ?”

Licking his lips, Barry turned back to face the man

“I don’t need your help Joe” Barry admitted sternly

“I could be in and out of there with him before anyone even sees me !”

Starting to realize the desperation Barry was getting to, Joe tapped the file within his hand

“Ok, you break him out of there ? then what ?” 

Wiping his mouth with his hand, Barry sighed while Joe continued 

“He’s on the run for the rest of his life. And something tells me he’s not as fast as you are”

“You don’t know what it’s like there” Barry said shaking his head

“You think I don’t understand what you’re feeling ?....I have been a cop, for almost as long as you have been alive” Joe stated with his own grin

“So you should know, putting on that suit does not make everybody safe. For every person you save there’s gonna be somebody you can’t. And the hardest thing you're gonna have to face, is not some monster out there with powers”

With a glum look, Barry continued to listen to Joe

“It’s gonna be that feeling of….uselessness, when you can’t do anything” he admitted making Barry swallow the lump within his throat and nod his head while Joe himself took a second to think on his own words

“Or….the guilt that weighs on you when you make a mistake”

Letting a pause settle between them, Joe got up so that he could look down on Barry

“Some things, Barry, you can’t fight. Some thing’s….you just have to live with”

With that, Joe left the lab, leaving Barry with his arms folded and a heavy mind thinking about all the things he couldn’t outrun

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With the new day, within CCPD, Iris walked into the main office with a smile seeing Eddie on the phone talking and occupied

A gitty feeling filled within her but her face had gone ghost once she overheard Eddie’s conversation

“Yes, I'm writing this down. Red streak, at the mall. During the gas attack….thank you for calling”

Not taking a second to hang up, Eddie sighed as he looked at Iris

“Never fails. Tip lines bring out the potheads and the crazies”

“Did they get a good look at the streak’s face ?” Iris asked suddenly making Eddie’s face drop

“Not you too” he suddenly said making her purse her lips as he got up

“What are you doing here anyway ?”

Bringing her hands to her sides there was a visible look on Iris

“We need to talk”

Walking out the office heading towards the elevators, Iris fumbled with her hands trying to get the words out

“I thought about what you said, and-”

“I know what your gonna say” Eddie interrupted her as they came to a stop in the middle of the building 

“I understand….I’m your dads partners and-”

“No no no no, you don’t understand…..I have…..never really had a serious boyfriend” Iris admitted truthfully 

“Between Dad and Barry and work, my life had been full and I really like youI really like you but I thought that if I told my dad about us and it would make this real and suddenly it's something that I could lose or screw up…”

Growing his own self sustained smirk Eddie shook his head

“I wanted it to be real” he said before suddenly walking away but that’s when Iris quickly grabbed his arm pulling him back

Not showing any hesitation Iris cuffed Eddie’s face and kissed him right there in the middle of the precinct 

It was a commitment, a promise and full on truth that she was invested in the relationship. That this was real to her just as much to him

Pulling back to look at one another, Eddie and Iris smiled. A feeling of relief washing over them both that they didn’t have to hide anymore. That their feelings could be free to share

It was something they could embrace together 

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When Barry entered S.T.A.R. Labs it felt uncharitably empty and he immediately knew why

Seeing, Caitlin sitting alone in the wing where his treadmill sat, looking through the windowed glass to see her fidgeting with her ring

Taking a deep breathe, Barry walked in the lab, going to sit next to her as right when he did a feeling of awkwardness washed upon him

Caitlin’s head went down even more making Barry purse his lips 

“I’m sorry” he suddenly said as she clutched her own hands

“I didn’t mean to scare you, leaving like that”

“It’s ok” she responded looking up at Barry with a forced smile

“I get it, you HAD to go….it’s just…..”

Taking a heavy breath while closing her eyes, Caitlin moved a strand of hair from her face

“That’s the last thing that Ronnie said to me that night”

Truly understanding the pressure, he put upon Caitlin. Barry took a moment to look up at the ceiling and sigh before he spoke again

Caitlin probably felt hopeless and helpless the day Ronnie died

And he never wanted her to feel that way again

“My mother died 14 years ago…” Barry said making Caitlin softly look at him before she looked away

“I used to think that….the further away I got from it, the less it would hurt….but….some days, the pain”

Barry turned to look at Caitlin

“It’s worse than the day that it happened” he stated making her node her head

“Some things you can’t fight”

Some things you have to face

Showing hesitation within her, Caitlin sighed

“For so long….I’ve been terrified of going into that hole” Caitlin admitted leaving Barry to grow his own idea that would help her move on

“What if I went with you ?” he asked leaving Caitlin to tick her head in immediate thought

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Standing simply measurements of feet before them stood the gate of the particle Accelerator, the hole and tunnel, that Caitlin didn’t have the strength to walk into for the past 9 months

Hell even now she didn’t want to be here, only having the strength to put one foot over the other due to Barry, being right behind her ready catch her if she fell

Step by step, Caitlin got closer to the gate and suddenly the memories returned making her hand shake

9 months ago

With the alarm blaring through the Labs, Caitlin ran down the hall entering the particle accelerator entrance immediately seeing, Cisco at the gate control pannel

“WHERE’S RONNIE ?!?” Caitlin hastily asked seeing Cisco with a disturbed look on her face

“CISCO WHERE IS HE !!” she shouted even louder as she approached the entrance of the gate as Cisco stepped in front of her  

“He’s still inside”

Immediately Caitlin’s eyes went wide in nothing more but shock and despair

“WHAT ! OPEN THE DOOR !”

“I can’t we’re in lockdown mode..”

“Cisco ! we have to get him out of there or he’ll die !”

“CISCO ! CAN YOU HEAR ME ?!” Ronnie suddenly said through the walkie talkie in Cisco’s hands

Before Cisco could even talk, Caitlin grabbed the device from his hands bringing up to speak into it

“RONNIE ! IT’S ME !”

With sparking flying within the particle accelerator, Ronnie let out a small gasp huffing his breathe

“Caitlin ?....” Ronnie mumbled, letting out another quiet groan wishing she was ANYWHERE but here 

“Is Cisco there ?”

Sporting a saddened look on her face, Caitlin was at a heavy loss of words, as nothing but pain ran through her but Cisco still spoke into the device

“Yeah, Ronnie ! I'm here. I’m listening !”

“I adjusted the magnets to redirect the beam, to try and vent the system so the blast goes up and not out” Ronnie said as sparks continued to fly within the machine leaving him to duck for cover 

“I’ll need to reset the particle parameters to compensate” Cisco said before running off handing Caitlin the device which she wasted no time talking

“Cisco’s doing it….but there has to be another way out of there you have to find it !”

Opening the panel system in a hurry, Cisco licked his lips with intimidation seeing all the wirings in front of him before getting to work

Hearing Caitlin’s words, Ronnie licked his own lips knowing the dark truth of what was going to happen…

“Cait….the Chain reaction, I can't reverse it” Caitlin heard from the device making her eyes go wide

“The doors need to stay shut to protect you….” Ronnie said before suddenly ducking to dodge a splurge of sparks again breaking Caitlin’s heart more

“....you still there” Ronnie said as tears started to stream down, Caitlin’s face forcing her to gather the strength within her to respond

“I’m here….”

A wave of Dark matter was approaching Ronnie down the tunnel leaving him not believing what he was seeing, but the sight only made him grip his walkie talkie tighter 

“Caitlin, whatever happens-”

The mic shorted out leaving Caitlin unable to hear Ronnie’s final words only making her cry more

“Ronnie…. RONNIE !”

Present day

Hearing about how Ronnie died left, Barry at a loss of words, to think that you could be in love with someone, prepared to spend the rest of your life with them only to have them taken away so suddenly…was….horrying for Barry to even think about

“Caitlin….I am so sorry you had to go through that” Barry said leaving Caitlin even more emotional as she looked at the gate

“He saved so many lives that day….and….no one will ever know what he did….”

Letting out a small sigh, Barry walked up to Caitlin’s side and shook his head

“I do” he suddenly said making Caitlin look at him

“He was a hero”

Right then and there tears started to fall from her face

“I didn’t want him to be a hero” Caitlin admitted truthfully

“I wanted him to be my husband”

Immediately pulling her in for a hug, Barry held her as close as he could allowing her to cry into his shoulders

It was a sensation she needed but was afraid to have, to be so close to someone and let them in after 9 months of isolation. It felt almost like a relief. To be with someone again after so long

“Barry, Caitlin” Cisco’s voice suddenly said through the comms breaking them apart

“You guys should come up here and see this”

Quickly wiping her face, while Barry coughed and fixed himself. The two knew they still had a job to do. And Barry simply allowed Caitlin to walk first, following her out the Particle Accelerator 

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Showing the monitor of a molecular cell, Cisco found Barry and Caitlin entering the Lab

“Hey, guys come check this out” he said as they approached him

“It’s a 3-D molecular model of the gas. We retrieved from your lungs” 

“We have identified the toxin” Dr Wells stated pressing on his personal pad while Cisco piggybacked off him but Barry cut him off with his own confused look seeing the cell

“Hydrogen Cyanide ?”

“What’s interesting is what’s mixed in with the cyanide a sedative" Dr Wells explained while Barry suddenly understood placing his hand to his forehead

“Of course…the night of the explosion find out if anyone was executed” he asked leaving Caitlin to walk behind the computer station much to Dr Wells interest

“Why ?”

“The sedative is given to criminals on death row before they go to the gas chamber and breathe in hydrogen cyanide”

“That’s right…”

Bringing up a person on the screen getting all their attention. Caitlin found something

“There was someone executed Kyle Nimbus”

Barry Immediately recognized the baled man  

“That’s him”

“He was a hit man for the Darbinyan Crime Family, they turned on him and testified. Judge Theresa Howard was the judge at his trial. She sentenced him to death” Caitlin stated leaving Barry to think about Kyle’s words spoken to him before their fight

“Now, go run away, I still have one more name on my list. Don’t make me add you to it”

“He must’ve been exposed by the explosion while he was being gassed” Dr Wells said

Continuing to read more of the screen Cisco noticed something else

“Records indicate the execution was completed”

“That’s why it wasn’t a match” Barry said looking back at Caitlin

“The DNA database only has records of the living…”

Looking at the arrest photo for Kyle, Barry licked his lips knowing Kyle had one more target

“He said there was one more person on his list, check the arrest record who caught him ?” Barry asked walking up to Caitlin who was already on it

“That could be his next attack”

Finding out who it was, Caitlin’s eyes immediately went wide as she looked up at Barry

“Barry…the lead detective is”

With wide eyes of his own, Barry already knew who she was gonna say before she even said it

“Joe…”

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Back at CCPD, Eddie’s phone suddenly rang leaving him to pick it up

“EDDIE !”

“Barry, hey what’s up man”

Walking within the lab, pacing back and forth, Barry started to silently panic

“Hey, do you know where Joe went ? he’s not picking up his cell”

Letting out a small cringe, Eddie spoke

“Nope sorry man no idea”

“Eddie please, this is BEYOND important I need to know where he went”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Eddie knew he’d get in trouble for this, but the way Barry spoke, he figured it was serious 

“He went to Iron heights…..to see your Dad”

Hearing his location. Barry’s face had dropped before he hung up, stepping out of Caitlin’s lab and into the man one ironically meeting her

“Barry” she said getting his attention 

“I reverse-Engineered an Antidote to the toxin” she stated showing him a syringe within a metal device

“I hope you won’t need it”

Nodding his head, Barry looked over at his suit with a serious demeanor

He hoped he didn’t either

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With a simple buzz, Henry walked into the visitors room Immediately to find Joe sitting where Barry usually sat

Immediately going to the phone, Henry’s eyebrows furrowed

“What are you doing here, is Barry alright ?!”

“He’s fine” Joe confirmed leaving a sense of relief within Henry