The Cloudless Sky I

 

When Barry woke, she felt groggy. For a moment, she was confused again, before a short collection of memories of her first awakening hit her. She was, while still confused, a little clearer on what was happening. At least there wasn’t anyone there, trying to force her to pee in a cup or something…

 

But oh! There had been Dr. Wells there. What was he doing there and why was he in a wheelchair? And dear God, what an impression she must’ve made! She probably looked half-crazed or something.

 

Suddenly, she heard a whirl and speak of the devil, Dr. Wells himself wheeled into the room. Seeing her awake, he slowly smiled widely and came closer. Actually, he started saying something too, but she couldn’t quite hear or focus, considering right then the image in her head was a far cry from reality.

 

In fact, she could hear Take My Breath Away playing in the background as Dr. Wells came closer, like a cliché 80’s love scene, or just like where the song came from in Top Gun and Dr. Wells was Tom Cruise and she was Kelly McGillis. Her perception of reality must’ve been further skewed by the fact she was seeing an invisible wind blowing his already untamable hair back, and the background was fading from a lab and into a romanticized sunset backdrop.

 

“Miss Allen, are you alright?” she finally heard as he came to a stop in front of her, looking puzzled but still smiling.

 

She opened her mouth, but she couldn’t say anything aside from “Guh?”

 

Barry turned red in embarrassment and wished she was back to being comatose and out of this ridiculous situation she’d gotten herself into. She gave an awkward smile and laughed nervously.

 

“Sorry, I was just…” ‘Picturing you in a Tom Cruise way? Yeah, I’m not going to say that.’ “Still just trying to gather myself. I’m still confused about everything.”

 

Oh God, she was being ridiculous and she could just hear Iris snort in the back of her head, taunting her about “Oh yeah, your ‘celebrity crush.’ Geez girl, it’s been way blown out of proportion, and you’ve got issues. He’s like Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, and Justin Bieber all rolled into one for you!”

 

She knew her face was probably flushed red and her thoughts weren’t helping her, but also…

 

Justin Bieber? Really, Iris?

 

Although, she did agree with the Iris voice in her head that her idol worship of the man was probably very, very weird and ridiculous. Like she was and kept being.

 

“Miss Allen, perhaps a glass of water would help?” he said firmly, handing her a glass.

 

She hid her wince. Ugh, she zoned out again.

 

Barry gave him a stiff smile and took many sips of water, feeling much better afterwards. She finally focused and centered her attention on Dr. Wells. The Berlin song also came to a screeching halt, especially as the unfamiliar people from before entered the room.

 

“Miss Allen, this is Dr. Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon,” Dr. Wells introduced them. “Caitlin will be checking your vitals right now. I should inform you that Cisco was able to contact your family and inform them of your awakening, so you don’t have to worry and that they will be coming over soon.”

 

Barry gave him a thankful smile, while allowing Dr. Snow to check her. Then the doctor held up the cup from before and gave an apologetic look.

 

“Sorry, but I really need a urine sample. I can show you where the bathrooms are?”

 

Barry sighed, but pulled herself off the bed, and both Dr. Snow and Cisco Ramon came to help.

 

“Thank you, Dr. Snow, Mr. Ramon,” she thanked, though she was beginning to suddenly feel energized.

 

“Oh! Just call me Caitlin,” the slightly older woman’s cheeks turned a little pink.

 

The young man grinned at her. “And call me Cisco! No one ever calls me Mr. Ramon, though it felt kind of cool…”

 

“Just call me Barry then,” she returned, and pushed herself off the bed. She grabbed the cup and Caitlin led the way, while she shyly snuck a glance at Dr. Wells. He had a faint smile on his face, watching her walk passed.

 

Her hands clenched around the urine cup.

 

Inside the bathroom, just as she was about to head into a stall, she saw the mirror and gaped at herself. She hadn’t noticed her current attire, or really lack of. Being stuck in a red lacy bra and gray short-shorts was bad enough, but to remember she’d been wearing this around everyone earlier –around Dr. Wells! –caused her to make a strangled noise in the back of her throat. Why couldn’t she stop embarrassing herself?!

 

She didn’t have huge breasts, but she had moderate C-cups that were enough to obviously jut out from her chest. And her shorts contoured way too clingy to her bum. And…

 

“Why do I have abs?” she gaped unashamedly.

 

She wasn’t the laziest person in the world, but she’d never had abs!

 

 “This is too strange,” she decided, going for a stall and wanting to get this over with.

 

She managed to pee quickly, getting it all in the cup and not making a mess, and then exited the stall to wash her hands. She met back up with Caitlin outside of the bathroom, and was led back to the main lab with the others.

 

Barry sat back on the bed, watching as everyone got to work. Dr. Wells wheeled himself closer.

 

“So, um, can I ask what happened?” She was much more coherent now, so she’d probably digest the information better.

 

“You were in a coma for nine months,” Dr. Wells started out, and Barry winced. That long? “You are currently in STAR Labs, in what we call the Cortex. To be honest, STAR Labs hasn’t been operational since FEMA categorized us as a Class Four hazardous location. Seventeen people died the night of the particle accelerator explosion, with many more injured,” Dr. Wells gave her a wry smile and gestured to himself. “With myself amongst them.”

 

Barry fidgeted slightly, while Caitlin and Cisco averted their eyes and began to work on something.

 

“Why don’t you follow me, Miss Allen?” Dr. Wells said and began to wheel away, out of the Cortex.

 

Barry jumped off the bed and headed after him, and after an uncomfortable silence, he’d led her down to where she saw a damaged hall and overlooked a glass border to the ruins at the ground.

 

“Oh,” she gasped silently.

 

“Nine months ago, the particle accelerator went online exactly as planned. And for forty five minutes, I had achieved my life’s dream,” Dr. Wells’ voice tinged bitter at the end. He sighed and gave her a rueful smile. “And then there was an anomaly.”

 

He explained what happened and she listened attentively. And as he talked about how the storm cloud was seeded and created, she knew what happened to her then.

 

“And that was what created the lightning bolt that hit me,” she said softly.

 

He nodded reluctantly. “Correct,” he murmured. “I was recovering myself when I heard about you. The hospital kept having unexplainable power outages every time you were going into cardiac arrest, but that was a misdiagnosis. I realized your heart was actually beating too fast for the EKG to register it.”

 

“Oh…so I ended up here?” she asked, figuring it out.

 

“Yes, though it was by no means easy,” Dr. Wells confessed. “As you can guess, I’ve become quite the pariah. As much as I could manage to convince your foster father, I also had the help of Captain Singh to convince him that the best option for you was to transfer you into my care and bring you to STAR Labs.”

 

“Singh?” her eyebrows flew up. She smiled slightly. “I knew that guy liked me,” she joked slightly.

 

“Are you cold, Miss –Barry?” he corrected himself immediately at her look.

 

She looked at him in confusion, before noticing she still wasn’t fully clothed. She turned red, just as he took something he’d tucked between the side of his wheelchair and his leg.

 

“I managed to snag this on the way out of the Cortex, though I apologize for forgetting to give it to you straight away. I’d gotten sidetracked.”

 

So did she, damn it! Walking around in her skivvies, and all this way in front of Dr. Wells while she was at it! How indecent!

 

Barry blushingly accepted the sweatshirt and pulled it on. It was long enough to cover her torso entirely, but also covered her shorts. However, plenty of her legs was left to show. She decided she was just going to ignore it and pretend she was a lot more covered than she was.

 

“We should head back and let Caitlin take care of you. Like I said, your family should be here later on, after their work, so don’t worry about them and please don’t rush off.”

 

She agreed reluctantly and the two of them went back, to where she allowed Caitlin to do a blood draw, before she was put back onto the bed to rest.

 

“Sooo…you work for the police,” Cisco said, grinning curiously at her.

 

She grinned back, liking him already. He was funny, kind, and rambunctious.

 

“Yeah. If Singh still has me in the division, I work as a CSI forensic assistant. I usually go out onto crime scenes and work with the CSI technicians, who gather and note the evidence, while I analyze the evidence and the crime scene. I do the lab testing too, and I also go onto the crime scene to gather evidence, usually to do on-scene observation and analyzation,” Barry rambled. “Also, I’m a practicing crime scene reconstructionist, which means I also just not gather and test evidence and figure out the pieces individually, but I reconstruct the scene, the crime, and everything to put all the pieces together and figure out what happened. Like all the gathered evidence is put together to form a picture of a likely scenario.”

 

Caitlin’s eyebrows were raised. “That sounds like a lot of work. Aren’t there more CSI workers to help you out to do those kinds of things?”

 

Barry shrugged, giving a sheepish smile. “The CCPD is underfunded as is, but the CSI department more so. There are around twelve technicians, and they just usually gather the evidence and document everything, or help around wherever they can and are allowed to. There are three other actual CSI workers that can help with testing and analyzing, and one forensic scientist who is the Head of the department. Then there’s me, the only forensic assistant.”

 

Cisco whistled. “Wow. Sounds crazy and busy, especially for you.”

 

“Haha, yeah!” Barry beamed at him. “But it’s satisfying work. Anyway, is there any way I can go take a shower? I would like one, especially considering the fact I’ve been in a coma for nine months.”

 

“Of course. I’ll get you some sweatpants to wear with that, along with a shirt. But you shouldn’t worry about your hygiene –I’ve made sure to give you a sponge bath every day,” Caitlin said, matter of fact.

 

Somehow, that really didn’t make Barry feel any better. She did do her best to not blush.

 

After Caitlin retrieved the aforementioned clothing, and told Barry that the showers were where the bathroom was at, she’d left the three there.

 

“With all that work, why hasn’t she been promoted?” was Cisco’s incredulous question.

 

“Because she’s overqualified,” Dr. Wells said, causing the other two to look at him. “I believe, in your research into her, you know about her Masters in chemistry and physics, yes? As well as her undergraduate degree in criminal justice. With her degrees and list of skills, she’s overqualified to be hired at all. She can’t be a full forensic scientist given that it would lessen her broad range of usefulness, which would be a disaster for an underfunded, overworked, and underemployed CSI division.”

 

Caitlin nodded. “If she’s promoted to a full forensic scientist, there’s no one able to fill in for her. There are the technicians who gather everything, the three CSI workers who focus in the lab –even if they can be called out, and the Head –the forensic scientist –who probably stays behind, directs when needed, and usually deals with paperwork, etc. She’s the go-between with them all, and has a more full-deck of duties to do. If she gets promoted, then there’s things that only she’s able to do but can’t, since she’d be stuck behind and probably working with the Head.”

 

“Which means no real analyzation on crime scenes, and especially reconstruction, which is her personal nifty skill,” Cisco added on. “And usually, when you’re overqualified, you’re never hired at all.”

 

“But the CCPD, other than probably being desperate to hire someone like her, also probably knew her aspirations to be hired by them for a long time, considering her long time association with them, with her foster father and being a personal visitor herself. So, overqualified or not, they were going to end up hiring her either way. But since she was overqualified, they had to give her a useful but still lower level of a position that also wouldn’t compromise with her new hire status, young age, and lack of experience,” Dr. Wells concluded for them.

 

“I wonder why she worked so hard to work there and to know all these things for that position,” Caitlin muttered.

 

Dr. Wells was unexpectedly quiet.

 

~*~*~

 

Barry breathed in deeply, inhaling the steam. The hot water felt good against her skin, relaxing her muscles and clearing her head. She felt cleaner and she allowed herself to think over everything that had happened.

 

Nine months. Nine months where her entire life had been put on hold. Everyone else’s lives had gone on, while hers had been put on pause. And the grief she must’ve put on her family…how had Joe and Iris been this entire time?

 

She closed her eyes, trying to see where and how she would be able to fit herself back into the scheme of things and back into everyone else’s lives. There was so much…so much…

 

When she opened her eyes, trying to get a hold of herself, she didn’t expect the sight of the water almost freezing in motion around her. Her eyes widened and she backed away, and the water resumed its normal rush.

 

What…what was that?

 

She was undoubtedly freaked out and thought she’d probably been in the shower too long and that the hot water was probably getting to her. She moved to go turn off the shower, when suddenly she’d moved so fast that she almost rammed into the wall. Getting further freaked out by the second, Barry held up her hand and noticed it was vibrating.

 

She screamed loudly, with her scream echoing through the bathroom and probably even outside of it.

 

Without thinking, she ran out of the shower stall, but again she moved too fast somehow and had crashed into the wall opposite the shower stall she was in. Sobbing and wondering what was happening to her, she ran again, heading further into the shower room, still somehow speeding. She crashed into the back wall, before pausing and shaking it off and then stumbling into the empty and off shower stall in front of her. She collapsed onto the ground and curled into a ball, sobbing.

 

She didn’t notice as the door opened, and the click of heels entering.

“Barry?” she heard Caitlin call out. “Are you okay? We…we heard you scream from all the way in the Cortex. Is something wrong?”

 

“Everything’s wrong! I’ve been in a coma, everyone’s probably moved on, and now my body’s vibrating! What is going on with me?” Barry was beyond hysterical at this point. Too much had happened in a short amount of time, and she’d just awoken. Hell, she’d awoke to this and she was feeling like a freak of nature.

 

The click of heels sounded faster until Caitlin had made it all the way to the end of the line of stalls, finding Barry all curled up.

 

“L-let’s get you dried up and into some clothes, and we’ll head back out, alright?” Caitlin tried to be reassuring. “Dr. Wells will be much better explaining than I would.”

 

She disappeared for a sec, coming back with a towel and Barry’s clothes. Sniffling, Barry hurriedly toweled down and then took her clothes from the other woman, dressing just as quickly. Then she was led the way back, to where Cisco and Dr. Wells waited anxiously. After Barry explained what happened (after a bit of prompting from Caitlin), Dr. Wells had a thoughtful look on his face.

 

“I don’t think the world was slowing down,” Cisco spoke up. “I think you were moving too fast that it only looked like the world was slowing down.”

 

Dr. Wells nodded. “I believe Cisco is correct. And if your description of your hand vibrating is any indication, I think your body is capable of extreme feats of speed. Do you think you can replicate your hand vibrating for us?”

 

Barry was unsure, but said she’d try. She held up her hand and concentrated, and sure enough, it started vibrating again.

 

“Cool,” Cisco breathed out.

 

“Perhaps a test of speed would be necessary, to see how fast you can go,” Dr. Wells said calmly, though he was eying her hand intently. “If you don’t mind, Barry? We can take the STAR Labs RV and head to the Ferris Air Testing Facility. It’s no longer in use and quite far away, so it would be a perfect place to test your abilities.”

 

Barry hesitantly agreed, and soon enough they were packing to get into the RV. Cisco rode shotgun, while Caitlin drove, and both she and Dr. Wells were in the trailer. She was still in awe of the guy, so it was pretty awkward for her. She was also still pretty freaked out with what was happening to her.

 

“What’s wrong with me?” she asked him quietly. “What happened? How did I…become like this?”

 

Dr. Wells took off his glasses and looked straight at her, and she couldn’t help noticing (again) that his eyes were really blue.

 

“When the particle accelerator went active, we celebrated and felt like heroes. And then something happened, the dimensional barrier broke, and unknown energies were released into the world,” he tapped something onto his tablet and gestured for her to come closer. She got up from her seat and stood next to his chair, bending down to have a closer look. Although, the movement caused her to stick close to him, and she could smell him up close. She refrained from blushing, but it was a close thing.

 

However, she focused in as he showed her a video of the particle accelerator’s eruption.

 

“Would others have been affected?” she suddenly asked.

 

He looked over at her. “Why would you ask that?”

 

“Before I was struck by lightning, I saw the particle accelerator erupt and then a wave of energy lash out from it and to around the area,” she told him. “And if you say what was released into the world happened, then it would make sense that there were others who were affected by the different energies. It’s all not so theoretical now, is it?”

 

He shook his head. “No, I doubt so. Especially considering you.”

 

“We’re here!” Cisco said in excitement, interrupting them.

 

“Time, I guess,” Barry twitched.

 

“They’re called metahumans,” Dr. Wells said suddenly, and she gave him a surprised look. “At least that’s what we’ve taken to calling them. We don’t know how many were affected, where they are, or just exactly who and what were affected. But they’re out there and it feels damn lucky for us to have found you.”

 

Barry gave him a small smile, and then they were setting up outside while Barry got dressed in the snug one-piece Cisco had given her to put on. Scrunching up her nose at it, she dressed in it quickly before meeting with the others outside.

 

“How’s it fit?” Cisco grinned at her.

 

“Perfectly. Absolutely perfectly,” Barry told him dryly.

 

“Let’s get started then,” Dr. Wells interrupted, and had Barry go to the starting blocks to put her feet against. “Remember to use caution, Barry. Use restraint.”

 

She took a deep breath and then set off. It was going quite well actually. Barry was even starting to feel less freaked out and more amazed at what she was doing.

 

And then she flashed back to the night of her mother’s murder, and promptly tripped and crashed into a cluster of barrels, feeling something snap and then being in extreme pain.

 

~*~*~

 

The ride back was embarrassing. She lay in the trailer, cradling her wrist, while Cisco drove back as fast as he could. Caitlin was in the back this time, administering what little aid she could with the first aid kit on board the RV. Dr. Wells, surprisingly (and to her embarrassment), was soothingly caressing her head and murmuring things she couldn’t hear.

 

She tried to blank out as much as she could until they reached STAR Labs again, to which Caitlin fixed her up and was doing her best to help. After x-rays were taken and Barry had taken another shower to wash off the grime, dirt and dust that got on her from her tumble, Dr. Wells wheeled up to her once she’d been seated back on her bed.

 

“May I ask what happened? You were doing very well and then all of a sudden, you seemed to lose focus.”

 

Barry stared off into space, remembering again.

 

“I was remembering the night my mother was murdered,” she dazedly said, not noticing as the room and everyone in it stilled. “I was eleven, but I still remember everything perfectly. It was late…but I heard noises from downstairs. I was walking down and I remember seeing flashes of red and yellow. When I rushed down the last of the steps, I saw my mother was trapped inside a whirl of yellow and red lightning. There was a man in the lightning…a man in yellow. I’ve never forgotten it, and no matter what everyone says –whether it was the cops or the shrinks, I know what I saw.”

 

She felt a hand grip onto hers, and she was startled out of her thoughts as she went back to the present and saw Dr. Wells gently take the hand that had been gripping onto her injured one tightly.

 

“I believe you, Barry. If you say that is what you saw, then I believe you,” he solemnly said.

 

And Barry couldn’t help looking back at him in astonishment. No one had ever really believed her before, and for the first time, someone did. And it made her want to choke up and cry, because someone finally believed in her and what she’d said she saw.

 

“Looks like you had a distal radial fracture,” Caitlin said, breaking up the moment.

 

“Had?” Barry asked faintly, reluctantly pulling her gaze away from Dr. Wells.

 

“It’s healed already. In just three hours.”

 

She looked at her in shock. “What? How?”

 

“We don’t know…yet,” Caitlin looked at her tentatively.

 

“Well, that’s lucky for us, because I think your family has just arrived,” Cisco winced, looking at the monitors. “They brought that pretty boy detective too.”

 

“Eddie?” Barry gave him a strange look. She was caught off guard that the other was there as well. “Why is it I find it hilarious that people outside the station call him something like that as well?”

 

She missed the dark look that passed Dr. Wells’ face.

 

They were let in and as soon as they saw Barry, Joe and Iris rushed towards her and enveloped her into a tight hug. Eddie hung back, but as soon as the two finally let go (they still stuck close by though), Eddie stepped forward and held out his hand awkwardly.

 

“Welcome back, Barry,” he said warmly, as she grasped his hand. “Everyone at the station’s been clamoring to see you, after the news that you were awake again.”

 

Joe snorted. “Oh, you bet. The whole CSI division was planning on an en masse incursion over to here, before Singh put a stop to it and told them to ‘wait their asses.’”

 

Barry burst out into laughter. Sounded like the guys.

 

“So, I know I missed plenty…just tell me what I missed today,” Barry beamed at them. This felt good. She was awake, with her family, and things almost felt normal.

 

“Same old, same old,” Joe sighed. “There was a robbery at Gold City Bank. Eddie’s my partner now, so we went to check it out.”

 

Eddie cut in, grinning widely. “There were wacky reports from the witnesses, talking about how all of a sudden there was a huge storm appearing in the bank out of nowhere. It’s the third time that a sudden storm has appeared before a robbery. Maybe something to put on your blog? I’ve written down notes about it, if you want to take a look at them.”

 

Joe rolled his eyes, while Barry was surprised. “You’ve got a convert,” Joe deadpanned. “He’s been reading your blog.”

 

Barry laughed lightly, feeling extremely flattered. Usually those who read her blog roll their eyes, but to know someone like Eddie liked it and even believed in some of the stuff, she felt really good about it.

 

“Only other thing that had happened today was Anderson dealing with a detainee that got to his gun, before he and Gibbons managed to wrestle it away. No one was injured, but those two and the detainee are probably dealing with a bunch of bumps and bruises,” Eddie tacked on.

 

“Sounds pretty eventful to me,” Barry mused.

 

“How about you?” Iris asked. “Anything happened from the time you woke up?”

 

Barry glanced at the others, where Caitlin looked nervous and Cisco looked panicked. Dr. Wells was straight-faced, but he shook his head slightly.

 

“Not really,” Barry lied. “Just had to go through some tests. Caitlin made sure my vitals were okay, and did everything she could think of to make sure I was alright.”

 

Joe looked to Dr. Wells. “Does that mean that she’s okay to go home?”

 

Dr. Wells hesitated. “We would like to make sure she’s okay, so it’s preferable if she stays for overnight observation.”

 

The others looked reticent, while Barry was pretty torn. On one hand, she was still getting used to being…apparently super fast. But she really missed everyone and wanted to get out of there.

 

For a while, since the decision was final, they continued to talk into the night. Joe and Eddie had to leave early because they had work tomorrow, and Iris had school. Iris had tears in her eyes as she gripped onto Barry tightly, before reluctantly pulling away and kissing Barry’s temple.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Blue Barry,” Iris chuckled and brushed Barry’s hair back.

 

She left her side and Joe took her place. The man gave her a watery smile, eyes roving over her urgently, as if trying to reassure himself that Barry was alive and well, and truly in front of him.

 

“I’m here, Joe,” she smiled softly.

 

He sighed happily and leaned over to hug her. “You’ll be up and at ‘em, kid. Tomorrow, you’ve got practically a legion of overprotective dolts that wants to see you again.”

 

Joe took a step back and ruffled her hair, and then Eddie came forward. He shuffled forward awkwardly, wearing a shy smile. He was absolutely adorable and Barry had the strangest urge to coo and reach forward to just…pinch his cheeks? Cuddle him?

 

It was just that he was being supremely cute somehow, and Barry always did have a weakness for cute things. But she did keep herself contained, and only offered a sincere smile back.

 

But to her surprise, Eddie made the decision to hug her and she smelled the scent of blueberries for a second, before he pulled back and it was only a lingering smell.

 

“You smell like blueberries,” Barry blurted out.

 

Eddie’s face turned red, and he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “Ah, I do? Haha, funny that. Um, I’ll just go and start the car up.”

 

Eddie beat a hasty retreat.

 

Joe looked at his retreating back funny, though he did look slightly suspicious. Joe also bid farewell then, leaving Iris to say her goodbyes once more. Barry’s best friend giggled.

 

“He had blueberry scones earlier,” Iris revealed. “He had the urge to have a blueberry treat after hearing you were awake. Then again, so did the rest of the police station, and Singh had to go and buy a huge blueberry cobbler for everyone.”

 

Barry laughed hard at that, and Iris smirked.

 

~*~*~

 

It was quiet. At his insistence, Caitlin and Cisco returned to their homes for rest. He stayed most nights at STAR Labs, so he told them he didn’t mind staying behind and watching over Barry. She’d slept for a bit, but as he could see now, she was wide awake and contemplating something, if the look on her face said anything.

 

“Penny for your thoughts?” he asked in amusement, breaking her bubble of silence.

 

She turned around, startled. Harrison wheeled closer to her, and her startled expression broke out into a beautiful smile. He felt, as was usual these days, his hate instantly evaporate just being near her. And when she was directing that smile towards him of all people…

 

“Just thinking about what’s going to happen now, and what to do with myself. I…have these powers now. I can run fast and heal quickly. I want to help people. I don’t just want to have these powers and do nothing. I want to do something with them. I want to do good with them.”

 

He almost laughed. It was just like her. No matter how many times he came across her, she was always wanting to help someone. It was so ingrained in her nature, that it was engraved into her very soul.

 

She shifted on the bed and moved her legs over to the side to face him. She rubbed the back of her head.

 

“I’ve always wanted to help people,” she told him seriously. “I did what I could before, but now I can do so much more.”

 

Harrison was having a hard time trying to figure out what to say to her. His conflicted thoughts and feelings were making it difficult for him to be coherent, when one part of him wanted to wrap his hands around her neck and the other part of him –the one that grew larger with each passing second spent in her presence –wanted to hold onto her tightly.

 

And then, along with her smile, he watched as Barry bit her lip nervously and then got off the bed and leaned over him, tentatively wrapping her arms around him. His breath hitched, but only enough for him to notice and for her to not pay any attention to it.

 

“Thank you, Dr. Wells. I woke up to what seemed like a whole new world. I felt lost, confused, and alone. And you helped bring some clarity, kept me from completely drowning,” she pulled away from him, still smiling gratefully down at him.

 

“Don’t you want to be happy, Eobard? You have all this bottled up anger in you. Don’t you want to be happy?”

 

I did. I do. But then I found out and realized my destiny. To be the darkness to your light.

 

“Oh, Eobard.” Don’t look at me like that. Don’t touch my face. “All I wanted was for you to be happy.”

 

Blood. So much blood. You’re covered in it. I hate you. I hate you so much for doing this.

 

“If you want me to be so happy, then –”

 

“Don’t die,” Harrison choked out, finishing words from the past.

 

Barry was still smiling, but she also looked confused. But then she looked alarmed as he broke into gasping sobs, and he knew he would have to explain this all away as some odd reflection stemming from Tess Morgan’s death still affecting him. That his grief of her death still pained him to this day, as was expected and known by all.

 

But he…he truly never got over Barry’s death. All of her deaths.

 

As of this moment, Harrison counted and remembered two times Barry Allen had died in front of his eyes (three, because hadn’t she phased out of existence?). And he knew, without even remembering the other times, she’d probably had died even more than that.

 

Harrison felt, more than saw, Barry pull him back into her arms, trying to comfort him in an embrace. He closed his eyes and inhaled, and she –not his ancestor – really did smell of blueberries. He bit down on his cheek and ignored the swell of blood flowing into his mouth, the taste of copper becoming strong.

 

The skies were blood red and ominously hovering over all of them. The ruins of Metropolis were all around them, and he dazedly wondered where Superman had gone off to with Doomsday. He heard coughing and he looked down to watch Barry lying limp across his lap, bloodied and broken, and suit torn up.

 

She laughed painfully, but still had twinkling eyes as she gazed up at him.

 

“Why are you happy?” he asked dully.

 

“I choose to be happy,” she murmured. “So why won’t you? Are you done being my villain?”

 

“No.”

 

She gave him a sad smile. “I hope one day you’ll choose happiness.”

 

Barry looked up at the red skies and closed her eyes. “I hate these skies. I miss the night, with the stars all over and looking like diamonds.”

 

‘I would have hung diamonds all over you,’ he would have said, but the words never left his mouth.

 

“Eobard, go,” she said forcefully, all of a sudden. Her eyes snapped open and she looked at him with fire in her eyes, catching him off guard. “Go, Eobard, before It comes. It’s coming for me, not you. You have to run, Eobard.”

 

“Who?” he asked breathlessly.

 

“The Black Flash,” she gasped out. “Just go, Eobard! It comes for our kind when it’s time for us to die. And you…it’s not your time yet. So run!”

 

Eobard slipped away from her and did. He ran and ran, until he could feel himself running from there, from that time, from her.

 

It was almost painful, Harrison’s grip around Barry, he knew. But she was dying over and over in his head, and she kept making him leave, and he kept running away.

 

This time…this time couldn’t he choose to be happy?