Does the Light Beckon?

 

The loud boom of lightning resounded through the police station. The air felt heavy and saturated with something that made them feel suffocated. Almost all at once, calls were rapidly coming into the station, while those inside were already panicked and scrambling around to get themselves organized.

 

“Are you okay?” Eddie asked Iris, who looked shaken.

 

“I’m good,” she coughed slightly, looking around in fear. “But what’s going on?”

 

“I don’t know. Something happened,” Eddie frowned.

 

“I’m going to check on Barry,” Iris suddenly said, her voice turning frantic. “Dad went out. We should stick together and wait for him.”

 

“He’ll be fine,” Eddie tried to reassure her. “I’ll come with you.”

 

Together, they hurried up the stairs, and rushed to the lab. Iris couldn’t help letting out a scream as she saw the state of the place. But her face turned deathly pale when her scanning eyes found Barry lying limp on top of some broken metal shelves. She stumbled towards her.

 

“Barry? Barry!”

 

Eddie felt his breath catch and he felt the shock first before he acknowledged it. He took a dazed step towards them, before shaking his head and running out of the lab and down the stairs.

 

“Medic! I need a medic!” he yelled. His arm was caught by a frazzled Singh.

 

“Thawne, what the hell is up with you?”

 

“She’s not breathing,” he rushed out to say. “I mean, I don’t know if she is –I didn’t check! But she’s so still and silent and she won’t wake up –”

 

“Thawne, are you talking about Allen?” Singh squeezed his arm painfully, and Eddie focused on the pain to center himself. At his nod, Singh cursed. “I need a few EMTs with me! We’re picking up Allen and heading to the hospital!”

 

That caused a round of concerted whispers and shouts, but Singh glared around the room and roared “Get back to work!”

 

Singh, with Eddie, led the way up the stairs, to where Iris was still hovering and crying over Barry. Eddie gently took her and moved her aside, allowing the EMTs to put Barry on a gurney. They were rushing back out, when Singh held him behind.

 

“I need to stay here and keep things in order,” Singh looked at him firmly. “You go with Iris and stick with Allen.”

 

Eddie nodded frantically, glad that he would be able to come along and keep watch over her. Taking the distraught Iris in hand, he went to catch up with the EMTs, who were piling into an ambulance. The two of them had to ride in front, while Barry lay in the back and had the medics working on trying to keep her stable. But Eddie couldn’t help turning in his seat and watching the back, while Iris sobbed into her hands.

 

Everything seemed to be in slow motion for him, and he felt the air sort of…weigh on him. Something was in the air and it made it hard to breathe. But he also knew that he was having trouble breathing and focusing because of Barry’s situation too. He could remember her lying so still, and it almost looked as if she was dea –

 

He shivered and put the palms of his hands against his eyes, pressing harshly. This was not the time to be losing himself. He needed to be calm and make sure Barry got taken care of, and find out what’s wrong and if she was okay.

 

Lucky enough for him, his time to think was cut short as they reached the hospital quickly. From there, Barry was rushed in. He and Iris tried to go in after her into the emergency room, but they weren’t allowed in.

 

“I’m family!” Iris screamed hysterically, but she was still shut out.

 

Numbly, he grabbed hold of her and pulled back. To his surprise, she turned and threw herself at him, crying as she and he watched Barry in the room, surrounded by people trying to stabilize her.

 

“She’s going into cardiac arrest!”

 

“Ready the defibrillators! On three!”

 

Eddie had just met her…Was she really going to be ripped away from him so quickly?

 

It wasn’t fair.

 

“I’m sorry, but it’s best if you two waited in the waiting room.”

 

Eddie let himself be pushed to the waiting room, consequently dragging Iris with him, who was muttering prayers for her best friend. He carefully sat Iris down and sank into a seat beside her, staring at off-white tiles that had the lights from above glaring off of them. He scuffed his shoe against the bland floor, watching the slight mark that was made.

 

“Excuse me? If it’s alright, can you fill out the patient’s information?” the nurse on duty at the ER desk came over and gestured to the clipboard in her hands.

 

“I-I’m not family,” Eddie hesitated. “I don’t know if I can really do anything.”

 

She smiled apologetically at him. “We need to have a record of her, so if you can at least do the basic details until a family member comes in to fill in the more important parts, like her insurance. At the moment, if she has a medical record in this hospital, just her name will be enough to bring it up. We can see what medicines she may or may not be allergic to, anything that we might need to know now in order to help her.”

 

He nodded and she handed him the clipboard, and as she left he glanced down and fretted about what to fill out. He did the easy parts, like her name and birthday (which he knew only because it was coming soon and the station had been planning on something for her), her age, hair, eyes…but he couldn’t fill in the weight or height or…But this should be enough. Her name and birthday were probably the most important things for them, minus the insurance, which Joe could cover along with the rest.

 

He glanced at Iris, who had curled up into a ball on her chair and knew he wouldn’t be able to get her to talk to him.

 

“Iris! Thawne!”

 

Eddie had never been so relieved to hear Joe’s voice, and he looked up to see the man rush over.

 

“Where’s Barry? Is she alright?” he asked in a panic, eyes showcasing his fear and anxiety.

 

Iris finally moved from her seat, throwing herself out of it and at her father, who caught her and held onto her tightly.

 

“Barry’s in there and they’re working on her but they won’t let me in to stay by her side –” Iris was babbling.

 

“Sh, sh,” Joe caressed his daughter’s hair. “Come on. Lead me there. Maybe I can do something.”

 

Iris pulled her father after her, and maybe the two of them would hold onto each other and watch Barry through the ER’s glass windows on the door, watch her go into cardiac arrest again, or watch her flat line…

 

Eddie shivered, glancing down at the form again. These were things he had hoped to find out from Barry herself, not from a piece of paper that he had to fill out and probably through Joe’s help.

 

It wasn’t fair.

 

~*~*~

 

“Sorry I wasn’t here sooner. I wanted to be. Sometimes being the…”

 

The blond closed his eyes, sighing. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

 

“You would’ve been better off in Starling, Barry,” he pressed his lips firmly closed.

 

He felt aggravation, sorrow, and worry mix inside of him. His hands clenched tightly, and he wished he could be patrolling the streets and find some nameless thug to take down, try to take his mind off this.

 

“You were safer there,” he ground out painfully. “You wouldn’t have gotten caught up in this.”

 

She would have been too far away. There would have been no lightning to have struck her, no particle accelerator to have charged up some super storm.

 

“Oliver?”

 

Oliver Queen could feel the tension drain out of him, and he felt so exhausted then. He turned halfway in his seat, watching his ever faithful friend peek her head into the hospital room. His fellow blonde look just as worried at him, though he knew that some of the worry was on his part as well. He gave a small smile at her.

 

“Give me a few, Felicity, and then she’s all yours.”

 

Felicity gave him a bright smile, before she looked at the comatose Barry and her smile dimmed. She left and then it was just him and Barry once more.

 

“Felicity’s been worried about you too,” Oliver gained a faint smile. “She’s been visiting for the past five weeks. She hasn’t stopped harassing me to visit you too, until I finally came with her today. Not that I didn’t want to visit you…But I find it hard to see the people I care about hurt and in pain, especially when I’m helpless to do anything for them.”

 

He stood up, leaning over her. He grabbed one of her hands and held it up to his lips, kissing it delicately.

 

“Wake up soon, Barry. Starling’s waiting for you,” Oliver whispered.

 

He watched her for a few more moments, before reluctantly straightening up and heading for the door. At the door, he turned slightly and had one more look at her, before he turned and left, knowing that he needed to go or else he’d be tempted to stay and never leave her bedside.

 

He passed by Felicity and they awkwardly stood beside each other.

 

“Guess it’s your turn now, huh?” Oliver shoved his hands into his pockets.

 

Felicity gave him a watery smile. “Yeah. See you in a bit.”

 

She continued on passed him, walking into the room and pausing right at the door as she caught sight of the too still Barry. She sniffled slightly, before she determinedly walked closer and took Oliver’s vacated seat. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. Instead, she reached forward and grabbed Barry’s hand, clutching it against her face as she cried against it.

 

“Please wake up, Barry. We all miss you and we’re waiting for you.”

 

~*~*~

 

She looked…fragile. He wasn’t accustomed to seeing her like this.

 

In the façade of Harrison Wells, he stood watch over the silent and still figure of his nemesis. Though ‘standing’ was currently just a metaphor, given he was now pretending to be wheelchair-bound. And…

 

Was she still his nemesis?

 

His memories were clouded and unclear, incomplete at times. There were flashes of the other timelines that crowded into his head, memories that collided together and made it hard to get things straight.

 

That was the trouble with time travel. Time can be such a harsh mistress. He knew there were “absolutes,” things that must happen. He also knew that there was temporal disorientation after traveling, and that it took time to completely remember things that he’d done in other timelines. The memories came to him in batches, sometimes just singular memories. And there were times where he was in perfect clarity, remembering every single bit for that moment and for whatever reason, before his thoughts and memories jumbled again and he forgot things and little details that had happened right then.

 

“I hear you callin and it's needles and pins (and pins)

I wanna hurt you just to hear you screaming my name

Don't wanna touch you, but you're under my skin (deep in)

I wanna kiss you, but your lips are venomous poison ~”

 

His lips curled into a self-deprecating smirk, glancing out the slightly ajar door, where the janitor hummed to the Alice Cooper song he was blasting through his earbuds.

 

“‘I don’t wanna break these chains,’” he murmured along, before he narrowed his eyes at the young woman lying on the bed. “You have always kept me chained to you. But I haven’t really wanted to break free from them either.”

 

He also knew as fact, no matter what, that he was in love with her. No matter what timeline he went to (even as convoluted as his memories were) and no matter whatever version of him existed, he was and would always be in love with Barry Allen.

 

It was simply impossible for him to tear away from her, and he knew that he had loved her longer than he’d hated her.

 

“Home,” he muttered. That was his goal. To return to his home and time. He had to focus on that.

 

She was gone. How? Why? Why did she use the Speed Force like that? Now she’d phased out of –

 

“Home,” he said again firmly. “I need to return home.”

 

He needed to go back. He had to stop this stupidity –

 

“Damn memories,” he clenched his hands. He couldn’t even make sense of them or even remember the entire events. He wasn’t even sure what exactly he was remembering.

 

Harrison looked away from her, eyes alighting on the single rose by her bedside, standing out among the multitude of other flowers and gifts. He furrowed his eyebrows.

 

That rose came from, surprisingly, a man named Eddie Thawne…his ancestor. He didn’t understand the sudden interest from him, given that of what he could remember, Eddie had never caught the interest of The Flash, nor were there any mentions of him being close to her anywhere. And of what he remembered, Eddie had married some unknown woman and the line passed down, eventually creating Harrison. And of what he was sure was the most recent timeline he’d gone to, and of which the memories were mostly complete in his head, Eddie had been interested in Iris West –not Barry Allen.

 

These new turn of events made something in his stomach clench, and he glared at the rose. He had the urge to grab it and tear it into pieces, burn it into cinders and throw the remains into the trash, and pretend it never existed.

 

If there was something he needed to do in this timeline, he would damn make sure that his ancestor would never be with her. That was never going to happen.

 

Ever.

 

He scoffed to himself, both at his own thoughts and mockingly towards his ancestor. He didn’t know what had changed in the current timeline he was stuck in. Then again, a quick review of his memories of that timeline showed too many tiny details that showed Eddie might have been a little interested in Barry even then. It was fruitless however.

 

What was also fact and something he did remember, Barry Allen had never ended up with anyone. Rumors of Hal Jordan, Leonard Snart, and even The Batman on occasion, were nothing and always amounted to nothing. She had lived her life without anyone attached to her romantically, even if there were close companions. To be honest, he had never known or understood why. It was one of the few things he hadn’t known about her…

 

Reaching, he took her hand and rubbed his thumb against her wrist. The beat of her pulse throbbed through to his skin, and he remembered the almost electric connection that had resulted on that night, when she stared up at him on the stage, gazing with wide, adoring eyes. Right now, he could feel the power thrumming in her veins, but that night her power and the Speed Force didn’t factor in when they connected eyes.

 

No, none of that was needed when it came to the two of them. Their connection transcended time after all, and the Speed Force just makes it stronger.

 

His fingers ran across her hospital bracelet and he idly tugged at it.

 

“Berenice,” he murmured. Meaning ‘bringing victory/to bring victory.’ “Barry, bring me my victory.”

 

He would be the victor this time. Maybe then he’d free himself from the chains binding him to her.

 

~*~*~

 

Eddie sighed, bored with work. It was a slow day and it was made longer by the fact that he’d taken on Joe’s shift. Actually, he was doing his best to take as many of the man’s shifts as he could, so that Joe would be able to spend as much time by Barry’s bedside as was possible. The poor guy lost his partner, and then his foster daughter was struck by lightning and was in a coma…

 

On that thought, he wished he could visit her more often. When time permitted and the visiting hours weren’t over, he’d come by and talk to her, tell her about his day. In fact, Eddie was hoping he’d have time to visit her after work today. Maybe he could tell how the day went by way too slowly, and he had to preoccupy himself by gorging himself on the carrot cake he’d gotten on his lunch break.

 

“It was a very good carrot cake, Barry,” he muttered. “You have to understand. It was so delicious, I had to let myself go.”

 

He shook his head, and let his eyes drift to the paperwork on his desk. Not urgent. He might as well finish it though. There wasn’t anything else to do.

 

After that, though, he still had nothing to do. He still had a few hours on the clock and he was finding something to take his attention. He then remembered Barry’s blog, and decided to take another look at it. The first time, he had just overheard others talking about it and had gotten curious. So he’d taken a peek and was surprised by the content, since the blog had been all about weird cases and definitely opposite Barry’s calling in the science field. This time, he decided to take a more in depth look, and actually read some of the articles Barry had written.

 

Time had passed after that, and Eddie found himself engrossed. Barry was a good writer. She had a way with words and was witty and funny while she talked about all the weird cases she found, and even went into the science aspect of each of them, making them all sound rather plausible. He admitted he was starting to become a believer on many of them.

 

“Are you reading Allen’s blog?” Singh practically snuck up on him.

 

Eddie jumped in his seat, trying not to look guilty in front of his boss. “Um…no?”

 

The Captain rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m not blind.”

 

Eddie coughed and shrugged, not bothering to deny it anymore.

 

“I don’t believe any of it,” Singh said bluntly. “But Allen’s a good writer. It’s entertaining at least. If you want to read it, no one’s stopping you…even if you are on the clock. I do recommend her CSI book though.”

 

Eddie perked up. “CSI book?”

 

“It’s not a fictional crime book,” Singh said with his usual dry tone. “She’s good at what she does, and you’ve seen her. One day, she decided to write a textbook on proper CSI work. It just so happens her usual quirkiness bleeds onto the pages.”

 

“It’s still selling?” the blond asked hopefully.

 

“Sure is, but she’s got a copy in her shelves. Her lab’s been cleaned up and put back to order, so you can probably go up and see for yourself.”

 

Eddie nodded and waited for the Captain to leave him, before he decided to head up. Her lab looked as if nothing had happened, and it was kind of eerie. He ignored the feeling, and searched out her bookshelf, where he found the book easily. Taking a quick read of a part in the first chapter, Eddie laughed lightly. Singh was right –the book was screaming Barry’s personality all the way, and her quirks and humor was present, even from the tiny bit he’d read.

 

Closing the book fondly, he was just about to head out when he saw her copy of The Hobbit. He grabbed it, promising to tell Barry that he was going to borrow it when he came to see her after work.

 

~*~*~

 

Singh took a bite of his donut, enjoying the softness of the bread and the sugariness of the frosting. He moaned aloud.

 

“This is so good,” he pointed at his donut. “You are so missing out.”

 

Unfortunately, Barry was still out and not responding. He scoffed.

 

“Just you wait. I’ll bring in a blueberry donut next, and you’ll snap out of that stupid coma.” He took another bite. “But damn this is good. My boyfriend’s on this weird health kick right now, and I can’t eat anything good in the house. I have to splurge at work and here. You better keep it mum, Allen!”

 

He finished up the donut, before glaring at her.

 

“I know about you in Starling. I know,” his glare worsened. Then he pouted slightly, though he would refuse to admit it to anyone. “Damn Quentin. I know that jerk was trying to steal you from me. Well, Starling City can find their own genius CSI! You’re staying in Central City, even if I have to lock you in your lab. Or, you know. Have the guys race over to Starling and beg you to stay with us. ‘Cause you know they will. Joe would probably be busy having an aneurism. And that’s nothing on Thawne. Poor kid’s smitten. He’s totally obvious that he’s sweet on you.”

 

Ugh. Remembering that made his blood boil again. Stupid Officer Demoted Quentin Lance was working on a case, and Barry just had to be on the scene. Consequently, they needed CSI there and they were still on the way, so she had to volunteer her services. And she also just had to end up impressing Officer Lance, who just about was working like a dog to recruit her (while working behind the scenes to get her transferred on the sly). Singh completely put his foot down and put a stop to that shit.

 

Quentin Lance can go find his own quirky genius.

 

“You know, if you wanted a transfer…Nah, I still wouldn’t grant it,” he grinned at her unconscious figure. “Face it, you’re stuck with us Central City dorks.”

 

He reached down and rummaged in his bag for the bottle of soda he brought along. He opened it and took a gulp.

 

“So much better than aloe water,” he sighed. “You should taste that. It’s got a weird aftertaste. Look into that for your next weird case, eh?”

 

His fingers tapped against his leg. “Workload for the CSI staff’s gotten heavy. You always did such a good job and got things organized and quickly finished, even though you’re just an assistant. You act more like you head the department. Even the seniors listen to you and follow your lead. That’s why I always want you on the crime scene and want you to be the one to look it over and tell me what happens, late or not. I trust your judgements and what you say. You are just a forensic assistant, remember? And yet you’re the one always called onto the scene and looked to find out what happened, and the one counted on to figure out everything. Hell, Allen…that big old semi-lab upstairs is your lab. Everyone calls it that and everyone knows it as that –the others get some other room to work in, while you work in your own space.”

 

Singh tossed his soda back into his bag, leaning back into his chair and looking at his –even though he enjoyed picking on her –favorite lab geek.

 

“You want a raise? A promotion? What the hell you want to get you to wake the damn hell up, Allen?” He gave a frustrated growl. “Dumb girl. We were going to give you a surprise birthday party and everything, and now you’re going to miss it. Well, we’re not going to cancel it, so you’re just going to have to settle for being at the station in spirit.”

 

Everyone really had been excited for it too. There had been a lot of planning involved, and her fellow CSI had been eagerly planning and devising some stuff. There’d been some suspicious noises coming from their own lab back in the birthday planning stages…

 

“Captain Singh, I wasn’t expecting to see you here. But since I’ve caught you, there’s some things I’d like to discuss with you.”

 

He turned and eyed the wheelchair-bound Dr. Wells, who quirked his lips a little up, though he still had a muted attitude that belied the man’s true tired feelings.

 

“What do you want?” he asked shortly. Wells wasn’t a popular man at the moment, given his role in what had happened to the particle accelerator and the subsequent explosion. Still, he wasn’t going to just blow the man off, especially if he ended up having something important to say.

 

Dr. Wells smiled grimly. “The hospital isn’t…equipped to deal with the likes of Barry Allen.”

 

Singh frowned and was about to refute that when Dr. Wells continued.

 

“You see, I know you’ve heard she’s been frequently going into ‘cardiac arrest.’ The truth is, I’ve realized that her heart is simply beating too fast to even register, which is causing everyone to believe she’s going into cardiac arrest.”

 

Singh tensed, not sure what to hear of that revelation. If that was true, then what the hell could be done to help her?

 

“Captain Singh, I need you to know this. To understand this.”

 

Uneasily, Singh felt the seriousness of the situation and wondered why it was so important for him to know all this.

 

~*~*~

 

Joe was exhausted. He was so emotionally drained, there were days he didn’t want to get up from his bed. Only Iris had managed to get him to get up and do something. His sweet daughter was strong for him, when he knew that she was also having trouble and trying to keep herself together too. After all, Barry was her best friend and practically a sister. Though sometimes, he got the feeling his daughter felt something else…

 

He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to let his headache get any worse than it already was. He really was stressed out. So much stress and not enough rest and sleep was taking its toll, and he was hoping that he wouldn’t end up getting sick. He could just picture Barry now. She would be lecturing him and being such a mother hen. Out of the three of them, Barry was the one who worried the most and always took care to make sure he and Iris took care of themselves.

 

Now he was standing outside her hospital room, and praying to God that she was being taken the best of care of there. He took a deep breath and entered the room, bracing himself for what he was going to see for the nth time. However, this time he was taken aback.

 

Dr. Wells was sitting in his wheelchair by Barry’s side, gazing at her in contemplation. But the moment the door opened, he looked up and locked eyes with Joe.

 

“Mr. West –”

 

“Detective West,” Joe corrected stiffly.

 

“Detective West,” Dr. Wells acknowledged. “I’m sorry to intrude, but I must ask you something very important.”

 

Joe shifted in agitation, but nodded quickly.

 

“Your foster daughter has been having frequent cardiopulmonary arrests, in which the doctors perceive her heart stops working at these times. However, I’ve deduced that what is really happening is that her heart is actually beating too fast to be registered by the hospital’s monitors.” He waited until he got Joe’s signal that he understood, though clearly Joe wasn’t understanding how or why this was happening. “I would request that you transfer her into my care, where I have the equipment to correctly and accurately monitor her vitals and help. She would also receive individual care, where she can be fully focused on.”

 

Joe’s immediate reaction was to refuse vehemently. But just then, the door behind him opened and of all people, Singh walked in. He stared at the Captain in surprise.

 

“Joe,” Singh greeted solemnly. “Look, before you refuse Dr. Wells, think about it closely. And think of what’s best for her.” And he gestured over to Barry’s comatose body, and Joe almost crumpled in on himself.

 

He looked at Singh, at Dr. Wells, and then at Barry, before reluctantly nodding.

 

Joe hoped like hell he was making the right decision and that Barry would be in better, capable hands.