Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kayla “Kay” Jamine “KJ” West (a.k.a. The Windrush)

“You know only what I allow. Nothing more nor less.”

-Dark Skin,
-Black Hair,
-Brown Eyes,
-Loyal and Dangerous Personality. Basically, “Fuck around and find out” demeanour.

Barry Allen (a.k.a. The Flash)

“That wasn’t an intervention! That was a massacre!”

-White Skin,
-Brown Hair,
-Blue Eyes,
-Loving, Caring and Nerdy Personality. Loves Kayla.

Joe West

“I care! I will always care! You’re my daughter and you’ll do your best to remember that!”

-Dark Skin,
-Almost Bald, but black hair,
-Brown Eyes,
-Wise and Cautious Personality. Still Cares For Kayla, Always Will.

Iris West

“So… you, my sister? I should get you two a couple drinks and a fancy restaurant, maybe a hotel room. Although, I don’t know if I’m quite ready for a niece or nephew yet.”

-Dark Skin,
-Black Hair,
-Brown Eyes,
-Spoiled and Bitchy, but still kind, Personality. Total “Karry” Shipper.

And The Rest Of The Cast As Themselves…

Disclaimer: I only own my OC(s), all other characters from The Flash TV Show belong to the CW. I do not make any form of money from this work. This work is made purely as a hobby, and it aims only to entertain both the readers and myself whilst I write it.

Chapter Text

Kayla was used to loneliness, but she still didn’t like it. She had been held up in Barry’s lab for at least an hour, and she had gotten bored quickly. You see, Kayla had only returned to Central City yesterday, and only because Barry had convinced her to.

Barry was a forensic scientist for the CCPD, and he had recently ventured down to Starling City to secretly investigate an odd case, one of those impossible cases that always fascinated him. He made some new friends, which just so happened to be Kayla’s friends. These friends were vigilantes, as Barry found out, and so was Kayla, but he didn’t know that. All he knew, is that he had learned who the Arrow was, Oliver Queen, and that said-Oliver was friends with Kayla.

Kayla had moved to Starling the moment she turned 18, and it was all a ploy to escape her family. The West family was great, and they had even fostered Barry, but Kayla had wanted out since their mother died. Kayla moved to Starling, and quickly found herself struggling to survive. Luckily, whilst she spent her time struggling, she encountered some thugs that had… less-than-ideal intentions with her, but she was saved before anything could happen. Her saviour was a woman, Sara Lance, who had reluctantly took Kayla in and started training her. For the next couple years, Sara taught Kayla and when Oliver found out that his old friend, Sara, was alive, both women had joined up with Team Arrow.

Kayla found her place in Team Arrow, and she found that she could blow off some steam whilst saving people. As odds go, that’s a damn lucky draw. She became The Windrush, and she had gained the name after several reports had told of a whooshing sound, like the rushing wind, right before she attacked. It was usually the noise of her knives slicing through the air, before eventually landing in the backs of the enemy. She had taken a particular liking to knives, in fact.

However, time passed and things happened, and fate ended up placing Barry and Kayla back together during his trip to Starling. He knew nothing of what she spent her nights doing, or her days even, but he extended an olive branch. He invited her back home. To reconnect.

She had been hesitant, but even after all she’d done, Barry had gotten her with the puppy-dog eyes. She agreed and said her farewells, taking only what she needed with her (including her vigilante suit and many weapons) before taking a train with Barry back to Central City.

That had lead her up to this moment, as she sits now, listening to the pounding of rain as she waits for Barry to return from the launch of the S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator which had interested him so much. Kayla would have gone with him, but she didn’t, because he had to,d her that her sister, Iris, was going with him. She just wasn’t ready to just pop back into their lives. Not yet.

Kayla had been getting the urge to throw a knife or two, a frequent pass-time of hers, but she was in Barry’s lab, and there were chemicals all around the room. She would be stupid to start breaking things. So she just started bouncing a ball off of a nearby wall, catching it with ease each time it rebounded.

Kayla had just starts the stage of second-guessing her position when the sliding door to Barry’s CSI lab rattled open as Barry walked through.

Kayla has always liked Barry Allen, he was always kind and charming, despite his own tragic past where his mother was murdered when he was 11, that was 14 years ago. His father had been blamed for the murder and sent to prison, which meant that Barry was taken in by Kayla’s dad, Joe West. Barry had breathed fresh air into the miserable family, and even Kayla liked him. Of course, Barry had a massive crush on Kayla, but she didn’t need to know about that. She’d only just came back into his life, and she’d never shown any interest in him. Kayla always thought of Barry as a friend, nothing more or less.

“Your ceiling is leaking…” are the first words that leave Kayla’s mouth.

Barry finishes dabbing his nose with a tissue, “Thanks, Kay. I hadn’t noticed.” He responds sarcastically as he walks past the forming puddle on the floor. Barry walks to his computer, taking off his jacket as he turns on his computer.

“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. The torrential downpour has in no way affected the particle accelerator which is up and running smoothly according to STAR Labs CEO Harrison Wells.”. The news reporter explains through the computer. It continues faintly in the background as Barry keeps moving.

Barry moves to an evidence, pulling up a page to reveal another beneath it, a hidden one. He quickly tags another piece of evidence to the very full board, all of which is investigating his mother’s death.

Kayla sees it and past-her wouldn’t mention it, but present-her pushes him about it, “I thought your mother was killed by your dad, or have I got memory loss?” She asks as she stands up to stand beside him.

Barry sighs, “It wasn’t him. I know it wasn’t him, Kay. It was that nan. The man in yellow. The one in the lightening.” He insists, “My dad is innocent. I know it.”

Kayla had a soft spot for Barry, “I’m glad you trust your dad, but maybe… this might be getting unhealthy, Barr.” She uses a nickname for Barry.

“I can handle myself, Kay. I’m fine.”

She doesn’t respond, just sighing and putting her head on his shoulder and wrapping his waist with her arms whilst he stares at the evidence board. Kayla’s eyes scan over a couple articles on the board.

‘Nora Allen murdered by Husband.’

‘Doctor Accused of Murder.’

‘Allen Family Destroyed.’

They were all headlines of different newspaper articles that had covered the same story. Kayla couldn’t read them all, there were more newspaper companies documented here than she knew existed. Barry had clearly been busy since Kayla left.

Thunder and lightening crash together in the distance…

“Wait.” The news reporter has a panicked tone as an alarm blares through the screen, “We are now being told to evacuate the facility. 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…” The screen shuts off.

“For fuck’s sake…” Kayla mutters to herself.

They both look up from the computer screen which had previously regained their attention. In the distance, the STAR Labs facility is visible through the windows. There’s a loud Boom! and crashing as a large wave of energy pulses from the facility.

The pulse acts like an EMP, knocking out all electronic equipment in its radius and likely causing damage to other things too. Barry quickly moves over the chain that controls the overhead windows, aiming to close them.

“Give me hand here, please, KJ?” Barry asks, tugging on the chains.

“Sure.” Kayla walks over, grabbing the chain and starting to pull before stopping.

Her body runs cold and warm simultaneously. Goosebumps run along her skin and everything feels weird, as if her body was sensing something. It reminded her of that tingling feeling she got when someone was trying to sneak up on her. She heard crackling in the sky above…

Kayla glanced at Barry, who was feeling the same thing, except he was focused on the chemicals around his lab, which were now floating outside of their beakers.

“Just like that night…” Barry mutters.

Before Kayla can question him, a feeling of electricity runs through her as the glass shatters above them. Lightening strikes through the former overhead glass, hitting both of them in the blink of an eye. They get flung backwards, each into different shelves of the same chemicals. They land unconscious as their bodies go limp.

In Barry’s neck, a trail of orangey-yellow electricity runs up his nerves. In Kayla’s neck, a trail of purple lightening runs up her nerves…

Chapter Text

9 Months Later…

Kayla can hear something… wait, is that Poker Face by Lady Gaga? Yep. Yes it is. Kayla is definitely hearing that song. She can’t see anything, just hear stuff. Better listen in…

“What are you doing?” A female voice asks.

“He likes this song.” A male voice responds.

“How could you possibly know that? And what about her?” The female voice questions.

“I checked his Facebook page, and that’s girl must have no social life, I checked everywhere and she’s got nothing! Nothing!” The male explains, “Anyways, they can hear everything, right?”

“Auditory functions are the last sensory faculties to degenerate.” The woman answers.

The male starts singing along to the song…

Suddenly, a feeling of energy runs through Kayla’s body, and she wakes with a gasp, her vision blurry for a moment before clearing up. She looks beside her, spotting Barry on a medical bed, seeming to have just woken up like herself. She looks down and yep, she’s in a medical bed too.

Oh, and yeah, she’s topless. At least she’s wearing a sports bra. Her skin is scarred, mostly old cuts and such from training and/or missions. Luckily, lightening usually leaves some marks, so if Barry or anyone asks, that’s her excuse for now.

“Oh, my God!” The male, a man called Cisco Ramon, yelped.

“Where am I?” Barry glanced at Kayla, “Where are we?”

“They’re up!” The woman, called Caitlin Snow, declared.

Cisco grabs a radio, “Dr. Wells, get down to the Cortex, like, right now.”

Caitlin rushes over to Barry first, shining a light in his eyes as her own eyes dart between Barry, several monitors, and Kayla, “BP 170 over 110, pulse 120. Pupils equally reactive to light.” She moves over to Kayla.

Kayla grabs Caitlin’s wrist and firmly twists it, making Caitlin yelp in pain…

“Start answering questions or I’ll start breaking bones.” Kayla orders.

“Woah, hey, hey, hey, hey, relax!” Cisco holds his hands up, “Everything’s okay. You’re at STAR Labs.”

Kayla hesitates but lets Caitlin go, to which she gasps and clutches her wrist. Not broken, but she might have a bruise later.

“STAR Labs? Who are you?” Barry questioned groggily. He sits up and gets his legs off the side of his bed. Kayla does the same, but on her bed.

“I’m Cisco Ramon, she’s Caitlin- Dr. Snow.” Cisco corrects himself after receiving a glare from Caitlin.

Caitlin holds up two identical open plastic test cups, “I need you both to urinate in one of these.”

Cisco states the cups, “Not this second!” He whispers harshly.

Barry stands up, walking a short distance away as he rubs his face, “Wait. What is- what is happening? What is going on?”

Kayla gets up casually and walks up, standing beside Barry, “What he said.” She gestures loosely to Barry.

“You guys were struck by lightening!” Cisco claims ecstatically.

“What?” Barry questions, before turning around to see himself on a computer screen, “Lightening gave me abs?”

Kayla already had abs. Shit, are you saying all she had to do was get hit by lightening and she could get in tiptop shape? Damn, she put all that work in though!

Caitlin stands on the other side of Barry, testing his muscles by rubbing them, “Your muscles should be atrophied, but instead, they’re in a chronic and unexplained state of regeneration.” She turns to face Kayla, “And might I say, you had a brilliant physique on arrival.” She comments.

“She’s saying you’re hot in science terms, which you totally are.” Cisco’s eyes bulge at what he just said, “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“I know how to break each and every one of your ribs in a different and equally excruciating way.” Kayla responds coldly.

Cisco tries to move on, pulling up two chairs, “Right. Sit down, both of you.”

“And don’t break our bones.” Caitlin remarks as she somewhat forces Kayla to sit down, whilst Cisco does the same but with Barry. Kayla refrains from killing them on the spot, although she definitely could.

“You guys were in comas.” Cisco states bluntly.

Barry goes wide-eyed, “For how long?”

“Nine Months.” A new, unfamiliar voice declares.

Everybody turns to face the doorway. They watch as Dr. Harrison Wells drives through as he sits on his motorised wheelchair.

“Welcome back, Mr. Allen, Ms. West.” Dr. Wells greets, “We have a lot to discuss.”

***

“It’s hard to believe I’m here…” Barry explains, “I’ve always wanted to meet you face-to-face.”

Barry and Kayla were following Dr. Wells through a corridor in STAR Labs and had also been given STAR Labs branded sweatshirts. He was driving along in his motorised wheelchair that he must need due to the accident. Barry was fascinated by everything around him, and had been talking Dr. Wells’ ear off constantly. Kaya remained silent, observant, untrusting. Sara had taught her to be careful who she trusted.

Anybody could be a threat…

“Yeah? Well, you certainly went to great lengths to do it.” Dr. Wells remarks, “STAR Labs has not been operational since FEMA categorised us as a Class 4 hazardous location.” He explains.

Kayla’s is taking note of everything. Every inch, every entrance and exit. She definitely spots a broken animal cage but doesn’t mention it. There’s something telling her to be alert. There’s something telling her that Dr. Wells is bad news.

Dr. Wells keeps talking as they enter a large room, “Seventeen people died that night, many more where injured. Myself amongst them.”

Barry and Kayla look over the balcony which Dr. Wells had stopped at. Below, the walls descended until they reached the floor, or what was left of it. The floor has been blown open, with charred black remains being the only thing around, leaving the inside of the dysfunctional particle accelerator exposed.

“Jeez… what a shit show.” Kayla comments.

“Yes… Ms. West, I think ‘shit show’ summarises it quite well.” Dr. Wells responds sarcastically.

“What happened?” Barry asks.

“Nine months ago, the particle accelerator went online exactly as planned. For 45 minutes, I had achieved my life’s dream, and then… then there was an anomaly. The electron volts became unmeasurable, the ring under us popped…” Dr. Wells throws his arm into the air as a gesture, “Energy from that detonation was thrown into the sky and that, in turn, seeded a storm cloud…”

“That created a lightening bolt that struck us.” Barry stares down into the exposed accelerator.

“That’s right.” Dr. Wells answers.

“So it all went boom and made a bunch of…” Kayla waves her hand arm above her head, “Lightening?”

“Yes, to simplify it, Ms. West.” Dr. Wells answers, then he looks down, “I was… recovering myself, when I heard about you two.” He looks back up at them, “The hospital was undergoing unexplainable power outages whenever either of you were going into cardiac arrest, which was actually a misdiagnosis, because, you see… neither of you were flatlining. Your heartbeats were moving too fast for the EKG to register them.”

***

Dr. Wells leads the way back into the Cortex, “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 stabilise you.” He glances at Kayla, “Both of you.”

Kayla groans loudly, “Not the way I wanted to say I’m back…” She mutters.

“Yes. Well… I’m sure you’ll have the same fruitful and frankly long conversation I had with them. They weren’t exactly… thrilled, so to speak.” Dr. Wells comments.

“Iris talks… a lot.” Caitlin adds, giving a hot coffee to Dr. Wells.

“Also, she’s hot.” Cisco casually remarks.

“So are the incinerators that they burn the dead in, would you like a test run?” Kayla asks, glaring at Cisco with enough intimidation to give nightmares. Her scariness often came from the fact that she could and absolutely would follow through in her threats, and you could see that in her eyes.

“We should… no, we need to go.” Barry looks at Kayla.

“No, you can’t!” Caitlin whines.

“Nope, nope. Caitlin’s right. Now that you’re awake, we need to do more tests.” Dr. Wells insists.

“Yeah, I agree with the cripple, we need test-thingys, we need to be- done- have more tests done. What if we randomly explode into millions of tiny little pieces?” Kayla blurts out.

Dr. Wells momentarily glares at Kayla, before focusing on Barry, “Both of you are still going through changes. There’s so much that we don’t know.” He sips his coffee.

“You’re stalling, for one.” Barry points at Kayla, “And two, I’m fine, really. I feel normal, and I doubt Kayla is doing bad either. Thank you for saving our lives.” Barry rushes out of the Cortex.

He wasn’t wrong, Kayla felt really good. Her whole body was almost electric, like she had just woken from the best nap ever and STILL had a day full of fun. Still, Barry was also right in saying she’s stalling, because she just didn’t want to see Iris and Joe, and that’s was inevitable if she followed Barry.

Barry rushes back into the Cortex, “Can I keep the sweatshirt?”

Dr. Wells sighs, “Yeah, keep the sweatshirt.”

“Ok.” Barry goes to leave, “Oh, and also…” He grabs Kayla by the sweatshirt and drags her along, out of the Cortex.

“Help! I’m being kidnapped!” is the last words the STAR Labs Team hear from Kayla before Barry drags her away fully.

***

“Barry, please! I don’t wanna do this!” Kayla complains. They’d been arguing ever since leaving STAR Labs, and they were currently heading towards where Iris, Kayla’s sister, works.

C.C. Jitters.

It was a coffee shop, in a chain of coffee shops that have locations across the country. Jitters was a favourite everywhere it went, and Central City was no different. Iris works as a barista at Jitters, a job which Kayla would could crazy in.

“They already know you’re back in Central City, so this is happening. Now.” Barry was using a firm tone, not serious, just firm. Kayla was pretty sure that Barry didn’t even have a serious tone, since she’d never heard it in her life. They had changed into normal clothes too, having made a brief stop at Barry’s apartment, where Kayla had also left her luggage 9 months prior.

Kayla lets out a disgruntled noise as Barry opens the doors for Jitters. The fresh scent of the coffee aroma fills their noses immediately, whilst the general chatter of customers and staff fill their ears. It’s busy, but there she is.

Iris, Kayla’s sister and Barry’s best friend.

Iris looks up from the table she’s serving and her eyes widen as her gaze finds the gleaming face of Barry and the usual annoyed face of Kayla. Some things never change…

Iris rushes forward and wraps Barry in a big hug. When she steps back, she hesitates before pulling Kayla into a hug too. Of course, Kayla whines about it.

“No, stop. Stop! I’m not a hugging person! I’m not a hugging person!” Kayla complains.

“I don’t care.” Iris almost sobs, “You’re getting a hug. Deal with it.” She steps back and looks between both of them, “You’re both… awake! Why didn’t STAR Labs call us?”

“We just woke up.” Barry says in a gleaming tone.

“Should either of you even be on your feet?” Iris asks in a condescending tone.

Kayla huffs, “Iris, we aren’t children. We’re fine.”

Iris can’t glare at Kayla, even if she wants to, “I watched you die, both of you.” She turns to Barry, “You kept dying. Your hearts kept stopping.”

Barry smiles, picking up Iris’ hand and putting it over his heart, “It’s still beating.” He grabs Iris’ other hand and presses it over Kayla’s heart, to which she only glares at him, “Both of them.” He finishes, smiling at Iris and ignoring Kayla’s glare.

“They feel really fast.” Iris comments, half-chuckling.

“Oops!” A female voice calls out as everything seems to move in slow-motion for Barry. He spots a barista that is half-falling over with her tray of goods falling with her, but she’s falling slowly.

Everything and everyone looks slower to him, like time has slowed down for everyone but him, and even Kayla seems slowed down for him. He gets the chance to look around briefly, getting distracted by the noise of keys behind him as someone catches some car keys.

When Barry focuses, time seems to return to normal and everybody moves at normal speed. Kayla reacts fast to the falling barista beside her, and she quickly catches the barista by the collar whilst also grabbing the barista’s tray in mid-air and using it to collect all the falling goods without spilling even a drop of coffee. She pulls the barista up and returns her tray of goods.

“There you go.” Kayla offers the barista a smile and a wink.

“Oh, oh! Thank you. That would’ve been a mess to clean up.” The female barista collects herself, giving Kayla a shy smile before moving along to fulfil her orders.

Kayla smirks as she turns back to her sister and Barry, “What?”

“Smooth…” Iris comments sarcastically, “Also, since when have you gone for girls?”

“Since always?” Kayla says, “Guys? Girls? I don’t really mind…” She smirks again.

Iris rolls her eyes, turning back to Barry, “My dad is gonna be so happy to see you.”

Not Kayla though. Oh, she just knew she’d get some kind of lecture or something. She could sneak away? No, Barry would notice, he’s been watching her like a hawk. She’ll just have to deal with it.

“Let me get my stuff, okay? I’ll be right back.” Iris walks backwards, heading towards the counter, where the staff room was located.

Barry just smiled and nodded, he was still pretty shaken up by what just happened to him a moment ago…

***

Yep, this was torture. Absolute and utter torture to Kayla, perhaps even worse than a lecture whilst also somehow better. You see, Joe West, her dad, was a master of the cold shoulder and ignorance. He was smart and a good guy, but when he was angry with you, he’d just ignore you, and that’s was worse than a punishment. It felt demeaning.

So, yeah. Here they were. At CCPD, with Joe and his colleagues, who are also Barry’s colleagues, welcoming Barry back with open arms whilst ignoring Kayla completely, excluding a few odd looks towards her.

She hated cops. Kayla didn’t know why, but she had 2 good guesses. First, her dad was a cop and she didn’t like him, so she didn’t like cops. Second, maybe it was the annoying SCPD constantly interfering with the vigilante scene back in Starling, which had caused more difficulties than you’d expect. Either way, she hated cops, excluding Barry, although he’s technically only a CSI.

Joe hugs Barry, “You scared the hell out of us, kid.”

“Yep, that was quite the nap you took there, baby face.” An older officer jokes, “And you still look twelve.” He adds, and Barry chuckles.

“You look okay.” Joe separates from Barry, briefly glancing at Kayla before looking back to Barry, “Are you really?”

Barry nods, “Yeah.”

A female officer walks up, “Detective West, we’ve got a 550 in progress at Gold City Bank.” She states, “Two dead. Storm’s really picking up on the south side. I’d grab your rain gear.”

Kayla mentally shuffles through all the police codes. 550… that’s a robbery. So it’s a bank robbery. Fairly typical, standard law enforcement can handle it. Wait, why’s she even thinking about that? No. She’s done. She’s not doing the whole vigilante thing. Not here. Nope. Definitely not.

“I’m sorry, Barry, I gotta run.” Joe grabs his coat from his chair.

“Do you need my help?” Barry asks.

“No, you take it easy. There’ll be plenty for you to do once you settle in.” Joe points and Barry, before looking to his side, “Let’s go, partner!” He starts walking off, before stopping beside Kayla briefly, “We should talk soon.” He whispers to her before walking off completely.

“Hey, Allen.” Joe’s partner, Eddie Thawne, greets Barry, “Glad to see you.” He pulls on his jacket.

Barry gives him a smile, “Thanks, Eddie.”

“Hey, Iris.” Eddie smirks in a way that Kayla immediately notices.

‘Oh, they’re definitely fucking and from the look’s of it, Joe definitely doesn’t know.’ Kayla thinks to herself, smirking subconsciously.

“Hi, I… uh, I don’t think we’ve met?” Eddie holds his hand out to Kayla, “I’m Eddie. Eddie Thawne.”

Kayla doesn’t shake his hand, “You better go, Detective. Joe doesn’t like waiting and you’re already playing it dangerous with Iris.” She winks.

Eddie’s eyes widen a margin and Iris’ does the same, but neither say anything before Eddie walks off after Joe.

“I don’t understand? What’s dangerous?” Barry asks with confusion. Poor Barry had no clue as to the fact that Eddie and Iris were, in fact, Eddie and Iris.

“Nothing. Just something I picked up on.” Kayla smiles innocently at Barry, before turning and smirking at Iris, who sends the most pleading look ever at her sister.

Barry catches sight of a memorial and walks over to look at it…

Iris sighs in relief at Barry getting distracted, but then her face falls as she sees what Barry is looking at, “The night of the explosion, Clyde Mardon shot and killed Chyre. Mardon and his brother died trying to escape. Their plane crashed.”

“Iris? Got a minute?” The same older officer from earlier asks, calling out to her and distracting her.

“Hey, Barry. Good to see you.” Another male officer greets Barry from across the room, where he was currently taking a guy’s fingerprints with the air of another cop.

Barry watches as the criminal reaches for the gun on the other officer’s holster. Everything slows down like it did in Jitters but Barry acts on it this time. He rushes over and slams the criminal into the table before running back, all while time is slowed down for him.

What he didn’t know was, that this time, time had slowed for Kayla too and she saw everything he just did, but pretended to be as slow as everyone else. This was new and weird and Kayla wasn’ne. I- I just need some air.” Barry lies, “But I’ll call you tonight, all right?” He walks away, out of a side entrance to the CCPD building.

“I’ll follow him.” Kayla says casually, “Just to be safe.” She starts following Barry.

“Thanks!” Iris calls out after than interfering here, because Barry was the type of guy to hide this kind of stuff. She’ll interfere when it’s the right time.

Barry suddenly felt the need to move forwards, and he did. In seconds, he speeds across the entire alley’s width at an impossible speed before stumbling forwards, barely catching himself. He turns around and speeds back, crashing through the back of a police car and shattering its back window, whilst also setting off its alarm.

He steps back, looking at the car in shock, before looking behind him…

Barry suddenly shoots forward in a streak. He speeds forward at impossible speeds, rushing out of the alley and accidentally crashing into the back of an open van full of laundry.

“Awesome.” Barry pants.

“Not awesome.” Kayla reveals herself, having followed Barry at a much slower but still brisk and normal pace, “STAR Labs. Now.”

***

After visiting STAR Labs, Dr. Wells and his subordinates, Cisco and Caitlin, had taken Barry and Kayla to the Ferris Air Testing Facility, which was officially owned by STAR Labs. There was an old hangar, but it wasn’t in use. Instead, they had set up a STAR Labs trailer on the runway, along with all the equipment they needed. Beside the trailer, they had set up a little canopy/tent that held all the computers and such that would monitor Barry.

“You don’t really believe he can run that fast, do you?” Caitlin asks Dr. Wells.

“Well, I believe anything is possible and in a few minutes… maybe you will, too.” Dr. Wells responds.

Cisco walks up the the trailer door and knocks on it, “How’s it fit?”

Barry opens the door to the trailer and steps down the steps, “It’s a little snug.”

“And utterly mortifying to even look at.” Kayla adds cheekily.

It was true. Barry was wearing a red and black speedo-style outfit with a red and black helmet and a set of goggles, along with red and black running shoes and black kneepads/elbowpads. Whilst the red and black looks good, the suit looks like a body suit and is hilarious at best.

“At least you’ll be moving so fast that no-one will see you.” Cisco pats Barry on the back as they start walking beside each other, “See, you thought the world was slowing down. It wasn’t. You were moving so fast, it only looked like everybody else was standing still.” He leads Barry to the starting point, “Dr. Wells will be monitoring your energy output, and Caitlin, your vitals.”

“And I’ll be laughing when you inevitably crash! …Again!” Kayla yells to Barry as she sits down beside Dr. Wells.

“What do you do?” Barry asks Cisco, ignoring Kayla.

“I make the toys, man.” Cisco grins happily, a slight bounce in his step, “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.” Cisco explains, holding an earpiece that clips onto the side of Barry’s helmet. There’s a distinct lightening bolt symbol on the side of it.

Cisco takes the helmet off Barry and walks under the tent as Caitlin walks over to Barry to check his initial vitals on the suit’s telemetry.

Caitlin notices Barry staring at her, “What?”

“Nothing.” Barry shakes his head slightly, “I just noticed you don’t smile too much.”

Caitlin brushes her brunette hair out of her eyes, “My once promising career in bioengineering is over. My boss is in a wheelchair for life.” She glances at Dr. Wells, who’s chatting with Kayla as he works, before Caitlin focuses on Barry again, “The explosion that put you and Kayla into comas also killed my fiancé. So this blank expression kind of feels like the way to go.” Caitlin finishes explaining, along with her initial vitals checks. She walks away, back under the tent.

“Mr. Allen.” Dr. Wells approaches in his wheelchair, “While I am extremely eager to determine your full range of abilities, I do caution restraint.”

“Yeah.” Barry nods.

Dr. Wells returns to the tent as Kayla walks over to Barry, holding his helmet, which Cisco had just finished modifying.

Kayla starts putting the helmet on Barry, “If you’re wondering, I’d prefer you don’t die, so please do take Wells’ advice, yeah?”

“Got it.” Barry smiles at her, “Hey, also… I was wondering if you were experiencing any side-effects. I mean, we were both hit by that lightening, shouldn’t you have something too?”

Kayla considers the idea of telling him the truth but she quickly rids herself if that idea, “Nope. Nothing like this shit with me. Maybe you just got lucky? Now, let’s see how fast you really are, eh?” She taps the side of his helmet to signal that she’s done.

“Yeah.” Barry nods.

Whilst Kayla walks back and sits in a chair beside Dr. Wells, Barry makes his way to one of those foot pedals they use in professional sprinting. Barry gets into position as Cisco stands a safe distance behind him with a speed-gauge.

Barry takes a deep breath, glancing behind him before focusing on the runway ahead. Dr. Wells puts on a pair of sunglasses whilst Kayla kicks up her legs on an empty part of the table, leaning on the back two legs of her chair. Caitlin remains frowning as she looks at his vitals on her screen, whilst Cisco is grinning as he waits for Barry to take-off.

It’s now or never…

Barry lurches forward, lightening coursing through his body, even visible in his eyes. His body speeds forwards and starts zooming down the runway as the takeoff sends a large gust of wind behind him.

The just of wind sends everything flying back. The tent lifts up before landing safely back down, Dr. Wells rolls back a bit, Caitlin stumbles slightly and Cisco falls on his ass whilst grinning. Kayla falls backwards but recovers, using her arms to easily stop herself from falling fully.

“Woohoo!” Barry yells as he feels the wind rushing past him.

“He just passed 200 knots per hour!” Cisco declares, watching Barry through his binoculars whilst glancing at his speed gauge.

“Not possible.” Caitlin states in disbelief.

Dr. Wells stays silent, monitoring Barry’s energy output through his screen. Kayla secretly records on her phone. She has a feeling Barry will want to remember this first run.

Barry was running, faster and faster, but his mind wandered back to that night…

~~~Flashback~~~

11 Year Old Barry Allen stood in his living room. In front of him was something impossible. Red and yellow lightening was running circles, getting faster and faster whilst Barry’s mom, Nora Allen, was on her knees, stuck in the middle of the chaos.

“Mom!”

“No, Barry!”

“Mom!”

“Don’t- Don’t let him touch you!”

The lightening smashed a pond crackled around the furniture, breaking everything. And then Barry saw it. Him. A man in the lightening. A yellow man in the lightening. The Man In Yellow.

The Man Who Murdered Nora Allen That Night…

~~~End of Flashback~~~

Barry focused, but it was too late and he was going too fast. He held his arms up as fast as he could before ramming hard into the water barrels at the end of the runway. There’s barrels, both broken and destroyed, around him, with water all over the floor as Barry clutches his broken wrist as he sits in agony.

Ouch…