AN: This is my first Flash story, so some feedback would be appreciated, constructive criticism is welcome but keep the flames to a minimum please :)
20 YEARS AGO
UNKNOWN POV
A flash of lightning illuminated the room, the young boy flinched as the deafening sound of thunder pierced the silence.
He had always hated storms, ever since he was young they haunted him, he didn't know the reason behind this irrational hatred but in this moment, he didn't care. He pulled the sheets even tighter around him, hoping childishly that his sheets would protect him from the harsh storm that raged above.
Suddenly he heard a loud bang and knew that his father was home, probably drunk again as he usually was on a Friday night. He hoped his mom was sleeping so that his dad didn't do anything, she was always the one who suffered, protecting him from his unstable father.
A fear of dread filled his stomach, his mother wasn't in bed, he didn't hear her come upstairs earlier. He froze, his heart pounding against his chest. Without a second thought he launched the sheets away from him and bolting out the room. Propelling himself of the wall he bounded down the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him.
When suddenly his worst nightmare became a reality, the sound of his mother screaming would forever haunt him.
He sprinted around the corner. The boy froze with fear, too shocked at the scene before him. His mother, the woman who cared him, raised him and protected him was on her knees on the ground, tears streaming down her face. He wanted nothing more in that moment that to comfort his mother, the sight of her in tears ripping his heart in two. While his father... His father stood above her, with a gun pointed at her head, the cool metal practically screaming death. He was shouting at her about something the boy would not recall for many years, his face almost purple with anger. The gun did not waver once in the man's tirade, staying steadily focused on the target in front of him.
The boy HAD to, he HAD to do something. Knowing it would put himself in the firing line, the boy acted. "Dad?!" the boy cried fearfully, "What are you doing to mom!?"
His father spun around, the gun coming to focus on Fletcher. Fletcher stared directly into the barrel, not caring about his fate if it protected his mum. Fearfully, he looked up at the man who was supposed to protect him, his father's face was horribly scarred from his time in the military, the boy had heard the story many times, his dad had walked into a Vietnamese trap and when the napalm hit the forest it had injured him horrifically. It took a huge amount of skin grafts before the man looked remotely human again. The army discharged him immediately, leaving an unstable man with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the ability to kill his fellow man in cold blood with no remorse. He was, both physically and mentally, a monster.
Now though, now he looked more like a monster than he ever had. The gun was still pointed at the boy, but the dad was now facing the boy. "Your mother and I were just having a... Discussion." he spat.
His mother was now screaming "NO FLETCHER RUN." over and over. She lurched at the boy, hoping to protect him from his psychopathic father. Unfortunately, this was a grave mistake.
"BE QUIET WOMAN" his father yelled, years of military training kicked in, as Fletcher seen this play out in slow motion. The gun in the man's hand moved in an arc, coming to rest on his mother's head, the trained killer squeezed the trigger, a bang filled the air as the gun was fired. His mother stopped screaming and slumped to the ground, blood gushing from a wound between her eyes. "NO MOM!" the boy screamed, running over to crouch beside his mother. "WAKE UP! MOM YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!" he shook his mother vigorously.
Meanwhile his father was shaking his head, tears running down his face "SUSAN NO! I DIDNT MEAN IT". In the moment Fletcher seen what his father truly was, a broken man who was in desperate need of help. In an instant the father put the gun in his mouth and once again squeezing the trigger. The man's blood decorated the walls, as the bang that ended his mother claimed its second victim of the night. The soldier slumped to the floor, his service finally over.
Silence filled the air as the young boy sat cradling his mother's head, still trying to wake his mom up from her slumber, his attempts were in vain. His father's body lay warm on the ground behind him, the gun that had ruined his life in a few short moments lay still clutched in the man's grip. A few minutes later the sound of sirens filled the air, as a car pulled up outside. Moments later police kicked down the door, their torches illuminated the dark hallway.
But nothing could have prepared the officers for the gruesome sight around the corner. The cops were frozen for a few precious seconds, until Detective Joe West took lead his previous experience allowing him to recover somewhat from the scene. Seeing the boy, Fletcher, in the same position he had been in minutes prior, unmoving. "My god..." he muttered, the entire room was devastated, furniture had been thrown about, but the worst part was the two bodies in a pool of blood. The detective walked up the boy.
"What's your name son?" he asked gently.
The boy looked up, tears poured down his face. "F-F-Fletcher" he stuttered.
"Okay Fletcher, would you mind telling me what happened here?" the detective prodded.
"M-M-Mommy won't wake up!" the boy cried "You have to wake her up!".
The detective was filled with sadness, here was a boy the same age as his daughter, who had just lost both parents in a murder-suicide. "Someone is on their way don't worry" he soothed. The boy turned back to his mother. Joe walked up to his partner, Singh.
"It looks like the father shot the mother then shot himself, poor kid." Singh sighed. "Did he say anything?".
"Only that his name was Fletcher and that his mom wouldn't wake up". This was by far one of the worst cases he had ever seen.
Moments later, the paramedics had arrived. They instantly rushed to work, 2 of them running over to Fletcher's mother and 2 to his father. They never woke up. Three people died that day, as Fletcher's broken mind never recovered from watching his father slaughter his mother, before turning the gun on himself and leaving an orphan.
PRESENT DAY
ANDREW POV
Andrew woke up with a groan, probably not the best idea to fall asleep on the subway, his head filled with complaints.
However, suddenly whatever complaints he had about his sleep left him, he was filled with excitement. He had landed a job in Central City, his hometown. Working for Mercury Labs. However, that wasn't what he was excited about, his college roommate and best friend of 4 years, Barry Allen, lived in Central City.
He grabbed his bags and departed the train, pushing his way through the sea of people blocking the exit. Leaving the building, he took in the sight around him. What a sight it was, a sea of commuters in suits and yellow cab taxis. This was a very different scene than he was used to in Germany. Getting his phone out, he scrolled and dialled the number he hadn't even looked at for years.
"Hello? Who is this?" a groggy voice said.
"Barry c'mon how could you forget your best friend?" Andrew teased
"Andrew? Andrew Kenning? How longs it been? 5 years?" Barry asked, shocked.
"Well 4 and a half but who's counting" he replied.
"Man, where are you? If you're in town we need to meet up."
"Yeah, we do, I just landed a job at Mercury Labs so I'm here for good now" Andrew revealed.
"What? That's great man, going to be just like the old days"
"Hopefully with less drinking"
"Yeah... No"
"That's the Barry I knew!"
"You remember where Jitters is right? Meet me there at 10"
"Ok got it, see you then!"
"Bye"
Andrew checked his watch, 8:30. More than enough time to check out his new apartment. He looked at the address on his phone, 220 Baker Street. He hailed a cab.
"220 Baker street please" Andrew stated. The driver just nodded and started driving.
20 minutes later they arrived outside the complex. The old building had burned down years prior and was replaced with a modern block of apartments. The apartment was paid for by Mercury Labs thank god, Andrew dreaded to think how much it cost them.
Walking into the complex he was greeted with the sight of gleaming marble floors with pillars lining each side of the entrance. A magnificent fountain dominated the centre of the room. Practically oozing wealth. A doorman behind a desk, glancing up at Andrew.
"Hello? I've just moved in, I'm in apartment 5?" Andrew said, momentarily dazed by his surroundings. 'Thank god I didn't have to pay for this' he thought 'Must have cost Mercury Labs a small fortune!'
"You're the new guy? Go to the first floor in the elevator, last on your right." the doorman grumbled, turning his attention back to the newspaper, Andrew glanced at the headline. Star labs was opening a particle accelerator? He'll need to check it out, he had heard many things about the mysterious Harrison Wells character.
Walking past the elevator Andrew briskly walked up the stairs, glancing at his watch. 9:00, he only has an hour to meet Barry, he decided against checking his apartment in favour of catching up with his long-time friend.
"Hey man its Barry just calling to let you know I can't do 4 can you meet me at the CCPD CSI department at 1?" Barry asked. Andrew held back a groan, he was hoping to check Mercury Labs out by 1.
"Yeah sure man that's no problem." Andrew sighed.
"Thanks, the captain is making me look at these cases so it's a bit hectic." Barry explained.
"I start work tomorrow anyway, hopefully Mercury Labs isn't as bad." Andrew said. In truth he was quite excited for his new job, Mercury Labs was one of the chief innovators in the country and he couldn't wait to be a part of revolutionising modern science.
"Hey, I got to go, need to tell Sigh about this!" Barry rushed. Andrew hung up, wondering what discovery it was that Barry made. He decided he would go to sleep for a few hours, it had been a long day after all. Opening his apartment, he held back a gasp. On the far wall were roof to ceiling windows, that held a view of the Central City skyline. Expensive wooden flooring adorned the entire apartment, undoubtedly from some exotic tropical forest from some out of the way country he hadn't heard of. The entire complex screamed modern, with white and black being the dominant colour scheme for most of the kitchen and bathroom. Too tired to truly appreciate his new home, he walked forward with one clear purpose. A few moments later he was sound asleep on the double bed.
Andrew awoke to the sound of his phone going off. He tried to cover his ears with a pillow to get some more sleep and stop the hellish noise that was torturing him, but his efforts were to no avail. He checked the Caller ID. Wait what was the time, he was supposed to meet Barry at 9! He glanced at the time, 8:30! Andrew jumped up like a bullet, dashing around and getting clothes unpacked for the meeting with Barry, he had no time to unpack everything. Which wouldn't be done for at least a month, given how good at procrastinating he was. He then ran outside stopping only to greet the doorman who couldn't care less. He got in the nearest taxi and a few minutes later was on his way to the CCPD. He decided to give Barry a call. After a few rings, he picked up.
"Hey Andrew, you on your way?" Barry asked. Back in college Andrew was notorious for being late so it was no wonder Barry was checking.
"Yeah man in a cab now." Andrew grinned. "Can't wait to see you, it's been far too long".
"We wouldn't have this problem if you didn't decide to go work abroad" Barry teased. Andrew flinched, he knew it was in good faith, but no one could know the real reason he went abroad.
"Ha-ha yeah it was worth it though, Europe is a really nice place."
"Yeah I bet. Anyway, I should get back to work, see you in a few minutes? We might just be in time for the STAR Labs accelerator!" Barry all but yelled. Andrew grinned at his friend's enthusiasm for the accelerator, they were by far the biggest nerds in college.
"Yeah, it's going to be great, see you soon." Andrew hung up.
Around 20 minutes later he pulled up in front of cream coloured building, with a statue of a man standing out front. Paying the extortionate fee of the cab, Andrew began the journey up the stairs, marvelling at the beautiful architecture in front of him. As he stepped into the police station, he made his way through the crowd of officers and criminals to the reception. Flashing a smile at the lovely young lady who manned the desk. "Could you tell me where to find one Barry Allen? I'm a bit lost" Trying to employ a bit of his charm, Andrew grinned at the lady.
"Y-yes right away sir" the flustered woman responded. "He's currently in the CSI lab. I'll get someone to escort you" Seeing an African-American detective walk by, the receptionist called out. "Detective West! You wouldn't mind escorting… Sorry what's your name?" she blushed. "Andrew, Andrew Kennings" Andrew replied, chuckling at the receptionist causing her to go a deeper shade of red, if possible.
"You wouldn't mind escorting Andrew to the CSI lab, would you?"
"Not at all Mindy." The man in question replied, his face scrunched up at the familiar sounding name, he walked over to Andrew and looking him up and down. "You look a bit familiar, do I know you?" Andrew panicked, praying that Detective West hadn't heard about his exploits in Berlin.
"You been to Europe recently, detective?" Andrew questioned, flashing a grin at the middle-aged detective.
"Unfortunately, no… Must be someone else then." The Detective smiled back. Andrew let out a sigh of relief, not knowing what he would do if someone found out his secret. He'd left Europe to escape from that past, he didn't need anyone else reminding him of it.
"So, what brings you to the CSI lab, Andrew?" The detective questioned as they walked to a nearby elevator, the detective pressing a few of the buttons on the brass control pad and scanning a badge, the elevator lurched heavenward as they continued the conversation.
"Just visiting an old friend from college, not seen each other in 4 years give or take" Andrew replied, eager to move the conversation on from Europe. "Doesn't surprise me he ended up here, he was obsessed with justice."
"A friend from college you say? To me it sounds like you're talking about my son Barry" Detective West laughed. Wondering what a small world it must be, to be meeting Barry Allen's college friend in the station.
"Barry Allen? Yeah that's the one! He was my roommate and closest friend when we were there." Andrew laughed. "Is your name Joe by any chance? Barry wouldn't stop talking about you! I swear I grew to know you and that other person he wouldn't stop talking about, Iris I think? More than I thought possible!" Andrew exclaimed.
The lift they were in dinged to a stop, as the doors slowly parted to reveal a busy office-like environment. With a swarm of Central City's finest darting about, some were on the phone to unknown leads on cases, others were wasting time at the water fountain. It was these people whose very job it was to stop crimes and keeping the city safe. Having a quick look around the massive atrium, Andrew took in his surroundings. A giant mural of the CCPD sat on the wall next to him, proclaiming the words "TRUTH, LIBERTY, JUSTICE", the motto of the police department. Dual sets of stairs flanked either side of the office block, as Joe led him through this swarm of people, as they walked up one of the stairs.
"That explains where I know you from, Barry had a picture of the two of you in his room until he moved out!" Joe chuckled, glad he was finally meeting the boy Barry had shared so many memories with. "Well, here we are, just at the end of this corridor." He was led down a narrow corridor, with many doors on each side, and a door at the end. Which appeared to be their destination. Andrew could admit he was slightly nervous, after all, he hadn't seen his old friend in many years, and he couldn't predict if he had changed at all. Just who would the man on the other side of this door be? Andrew and Joe stopped at the corridor, Joe turning the handle open and stepping in. Andrew took a deep breath before following his lead.
When the door opened, Andrews old friend spun around in his chair, not realising that all the paperwork he had spent the last 2 hours on was near the edge of the desk. In a what would be comical display, if it wasn't important files for a murder case, the chair swept all the papers onto the floor, scattering them all in a flutter of paper and ink.
"I swear I'm almost done Joe, they'll be on your desk in half an hour tops…" Barry began to explain, before trailing off after noticing the unexpected guest in his lab. Barry was shocked, gone was the scrawny, pale boy he had once shared a room with in college. Now Andrew rocked a more athletic build and a tan that showed his European escapades.
Andrew was thinking similarly of Barry, while he hadn't changed much in his clumsiness and lame excuses, he looked quite a bit different from the much paler, scrawnier boy. While he was still scrawny in some senses of the word, he was a big improvement on how he looked in college.
Finally choosing to break the silence that existed between the two, Andrew grinned at his friend.
"Hey man, long time no see eh?" Andrew said casually, as if they hadn't not seen each other in several years.
"Understatement of the century, Andy" Barry joked back, grinning back at his childhood friend. Too caught up in the reunion to care about the mess he had created in his clumsiness. Joe simply looked on, smiling at the two friends reuniting, slowly making a retreat out the room to give the two some time to catch up.
"So, what you been up to these past 4 years?" Andrew asked, holding back the urge to hug his long-lost friend.
"Nothing much, solve crimes, kicking ass, usual." Barry grinned back
"You still too scared to make a move on Iris Bar?" Andrew teased, he couldn't resist for long, he had been holding that back since he got back in the States. The blush that grew on Barry's face made it worth it, as Barry stuttered to come up with a reply.
"I-I am not scared! I just like being her friend" Barry said lamely, knowing that he would just get teased mercilessly for saying it. "In fact, she was here earlier, you just missed her."
"Shame that is… But still friend zoned I see…" Andrew shook his head sympathetically. "Plenty more fish in the sea Allen, that is, if I don't catch them first" He joked.
"You wish Kenning." Barry retorted. "Anyway, you seen that Star Labs accelerator? Its due to turn on in 20 or so minutes if you want to go watch?" Andrew could practically feel the excitement the nerd in front of him had about the accelerator, Andrew couldn't really say anything however, the scientific opportunities the accelerator would great were immense.
"Hell, yeah man! I see that on the news and knew we should go see it, science nerds finally triumph!" He cheered.
"Yeah man let me just get this cleaned up, shouldn't take long" Barry said sheepishly, looking at the mess of paper scattered around him. Andrew decided to help, taking pity on the boy beside him. Andrew was glad he came back, seeing Barry had brought back memories of their college days, the one piece of his past he didn't want to escape from.
About 10 minutes later, Andrew finally stood up. Groaning at the stiffness in his back from picking up and sorting all of Barry's paperwork. Barry had told him he was heading down to meet Singh and give him the paperwork, and that after that he would come back, and they could head to Star Labs. Andrew decided to use the time to admire his environment, machines whirred around the room. Undoubtedly performing some sciencey CSI tasks that Andrew didn't want to waste time trying to understand their purpose.
The windows that covered the far wall lead to a brilliant view of the city skyline, showing the people Barry was helping to protect. Glancing at the pin board that sat in the centre, he noticed the covering pulled down over it. Checking his surroundings in a quick swivel motion, Andrew felt quite guilty for what he was about to do. However, his morbid curiosity got the better of him and he drew up the cover.
He was shocked at what he had uncovered, in place of the board with leads on whatever case he was working on, was the leads to the case he had spent his life working on. His mother's death. Andrew had of course been aware of the story behind the Allen family, how his father killed his mother in cold blood and the poor boy ran away. This had initially made him quite reluctant to befriend Barry, however after Barry explained in detail the true happenings of that night, Andrew had somehow believed him. Knowing that the traumatised boy in front of him – who was obsessed with solving his mothers case even back then - was telling the truth.
Andrew had thought Barry had gave up trying to solve his mothers case, in retrospect he was quite stupid and naïve to presume that Barry had given up. Given that the entire reason Barry became a CSI was to uncover the truth of what happened that night and liberate his father from his prison cell. Andrew heard the thumping of footsteps, rapidly pulling down the cover and leaping back to a less suspicious position.
He pretended to admire one of the whirring machines as Barry walked through the door, a little red in the face and no papers in his hand.
Barry grinned at him, stopping to grab his jacket "You ready to see history made?"
Andrew grinned in return, stepping towards the door "You know it man, lead the way!"
Barry led Andrew back the way they came, through the hallway and down the stairs, stopping only to tell Joe about the car he would undoubtedly find at one of the farms in the city. Just as they were about to head into the elevator, Singh cut them off, standing in front of their escape.
"Hey Allen, I need you to run that DNA we got from the robbery again, just to make sure."
Barry swore internally, inwardly quite angry that he would miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to see Harrison Wells genius in action. He also wondered where Iris was, she was meant to meet him in his lab and they would go see the accelerator. Barry neglected to think of the fact that their trip had slipped his mind in the unexpected reunion with Andrew.
Outwardly smiling at the captain, Barry agreed. "Yeah sure thing Captain, they will be on your desk as soon as possible". The captain left, seemingly satisfied with this answer. Barry turned around apologetically to Andrew.
"Sorry man I'm going to have to sit tonight out, you can still go if you want don't let me hold you back from seeing the accelerator" Barry said, dejectedly turning back towards the stairs.
"Man, we've just been reunited for the first time in 4 years, you aren't getting rid of me that easily!" Andrew grinned, following Barry on the path back up to his lab. "Besides, with your lab giving us such a good view of the Star Labs building, it'll be like we are actually there!".
Barry grinned, Andrew was right, he could see it right from his work. Barry started towards his lab with an extra spring in his step, only a few short minutes until history would be made. Letting himself into his lab, he quickly set to work. Andrew hopelessly attempting to comprehend the tasks Barry was doing, now Andrew was a genius when it came to chemistry, but the biology side of it fried his mind.
With Barry finished his CSI magic, they both turned towards the TV. Watching Harrison Wells make history with his announcement. Like most of the eyes on the city, they were focused on the strange building that dominated the centre of the city. As it seemingly lit up, for the first few seconds everything seemed normal. Cheering with the rest of the city, Andrew couldn't believe that Central City was finally taking the world stage as a centre of science and brilliance.
After a few minutes however, it was clear something had went wrong. The accelerator lit up lit a Christmas tree in a miraculous explosion. Bolts of lightning striking down on the city with a vengeance. Andrew looked on in amazement before a bolt of lightning came through the sun roof, striking a shocked Barry and sending him flying into chemicals. The sheer energy from the blast caused Andrew to fall into unconsciousness…
And there it is folks! The first chapter of my latest flash story, I'm new to the whole fanfiction thing so any reviews with criticism or compliments or in general would be appreciated greatly! Thanks a lot and if you enjoy the story leave a review or a follow/favourite.
Galaxian.