On one crisp fall night, I saved the Sorceress' life.

It was just like any other ordinary night, until the vigilante legend literally fell straight into my path. She made a fateful choice to reveal her secrets to me so that her life stood a chance- secrets that I would keep in exchange for any favor I wished.

The Sorceress is heroic.

The Sorceress is a genius.

The Sorceress has saved and taken countless lives.

And the Sorceress is in my debt.

Maybe I should introduce you first.

You've probably heard of Superman. Spiderman. Wonderwoman. The Arrow. The Flash. Maybe even Arsenal?

Sure, you know about them. The flashy heroes. The ones that made a name and an image for themselves so that countless others could worship them in the years to come.

But, the ones you don't know about? The ones that do their work in silence, expecting no glory in return? The ones that go about their lives like normal, and die leaving their benefactors with no idea of who to thank?

Maybe… they're the real heroes.

They're people like who literally cloak themselves in invisibility and go about their days without seeing their masked faces in the papers.

Or they're people who save people as a shadow, but to the rest of the world, are known to be dead.

People like the Sorceress.

Chapter 1

A woman in black stands on the roof on the Central City Hospital's main building. Her eyes are chocolate brown and survey the sleeping city with a sharp eye.

A bird's call from above startles her – she easily leaps down from the roof onto the street below. The sound of her feet hitting the ground is no louder than the whistle of the wind.

She notices the coffee shop, Jitters just a few blocks ahead, and walks so fast and so gracefully, it's almost as if she glides past the sleeping shops. Finally, she reaches the coffee shop and peers in.

The lights are all out, except for a flickering sign saying CLOSED on the front door. She peers closer and can see, through the glass, the menu spread out above the counter. The Flash drink remains a special on the menu, the woman notices with a slight chuckle. It has been twenty years since the speedster's debut, and still the city adores him.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps dislodging cobblestone sounds behind her and the woman turns sharply. But the culprit is gone. She moves more alertly now.

Then there is another sound behind her, even louder. She barely has time to turn to her pursuant before he is upon her, a vicious gleam in his eye. In his right hand, he wields a sword.

The woman gasps – her face is hidden by a mask that covers all but her eyes, and her hood covers her hair, weaving down to a black cloak that closes at the front, and is worn over a pair of black leggings. She immediately turns and races in the other direction, back towards the hospital, and she can feel her pursuant hot on her heels.

After less than a few minutes, it seems as though the footsteps are multiplying, and without turning she knows that more have come to join her original pursuant. Frustrated, she turns a sharp corner, and runs straight into a man in brown. He chuckles as he brings out a sword similar to his companion.

The woman stops in her tracks, and draws from her the sheath by her ankle a wicked looking blade with a curved edge.

"That's right," she says in a low, smooth voice, "You know what this is. And you know what I can do with it."

The man moves forward, and the woman sweeps the sword around her, in an arc, "Do you really want to push it?" she snaps.

The man hesitates, but then there is another sound behind her and she whips around to see her original pursuant. He taps the tip of his sword into his gloved hand.

"Are you sure you want to push it? Sorceress?" he snarls.

There is fear in the woman's eyes, but she holds out her sword anyway, ready to take on both of her attackers. She is in a closed alleyway, there is nowhere to run, and she is prepared to fight for her life.

"Sorceress!" a small voice peeps from behind her.

She allows herself to look away from a moment, and catches a glimpse of a young girl, with wavy light brown hair, crouching in the alleyway. The Sorceress feels dismay wash over her. She tries to avoid having civilians in the field when fighting her opponents, and especially not children. Her attackers have not yet noticed the girl, but if she continues to push for attention, it will not be long before she is noticed.

"I have a way out," The girl whispers.

The woman keeps her eyes trained on one attacker, but weighs the girl's words. A way out? Who is this child?

"Follow me," she says, before disappearing.

The Sorceress feels her options battering her – either stay and fight or run after this girl and hope she actually has an escape. She sighs inwardly before pulling a small black ball the size of a marble from her pocket.

"And what do you plan on doing with that," her second pursuant growls.

The Sorceress doesn't answer, but raises the ball above her head. Then without warning, she throws the ball to the ground, and a puff of thick black smoke rose around her.

The two men in brown cough, furiously trying to ward off the smoke. When it finally clears, the woman is gone.

The first pursuant meets his companion's eye. The same anger is reflected by each of them.

"Bloody Sorceress," the first man snarls, "She won't get away with this again."

At 40 years old, most people would have started to put down the bats and the balls and start filling into a middle-aged body. Barry Allen, however, has only gained speed.

"One more time, Uncle Barry! Remember, only I know where I hid the pizza!"

Barry stops in his tracks with a puff on the speed track and Wally West laughs.

"Whoo!" Barry says, throwing a look at Wally, "Your kid is something else, Wally."

"Uncle Barry," says the young girl holding an iPad 18 and giving Barry a stern look.

"You heard her, Barry," Wally says, clapping him on the back.

Barry sighs, "Alright Kate, I'm going" Barry pauses for a moment, then throws himself back into high speed.

Hearty laughter comes from the back of the room, and a middle-aged brown haired woman comes forward and put her hands on Kate's shoulders. "Katie, are you giving your uncle a hard time?"

The girl twists her head back to give the woman a critical look. "Mom, he needs to go faster. Otherwise, my science project will completely flop."

"Well, I for one think you are an extremely lucky kid to have three speedsters helping you with your science project," a deep voice chuckles from behind a computer from where it is seated on a small wooden table.

Kate's gaze softens, "I know, Grandpa," She says, coming to him and wrapping her arms around him from behind.

Wally rolled his eyes, "Jesus, Dad."

"He's right, Wally," says the brown-haired woman, coming beside Wally and sliding her hand in his. He turns to look into her eyes, "She's lucky. And so are we."

Wally smiles and the two lean in for a kiss.

"Mom, Dad, ew," says Kate, ducking behind Joe West. Joe laughs.

"It's not long now before you start bringing boys for your daddy to beat up," he chuckles.

Wally frowns at him and the woman beside him, Jesse scoffs.

"You hardly beat up Barry when he started dating Iris."

Joe shrugs, "Yeah, and that's because I raised him half his life. I was okay with Iris dating a boy because I oversaw most of his moral development."

"Wow, thanks Joe," said Barry, who has finished his run and is now wiping his face with a towel. He throws it at Wally, who dashes away. "I kinda thought you actually trusted me."

"Yeah, cause you're my son too."

"Oh, please don't make this weird," says Wally, putting his face in his hands.

"Too late," said a new voice, coming in through the door. Iris West-Allen crosses her arms and looks directly at her father. "Dad, I thought we were over this like, two decades ago. Can you just let Barry and I enjoy our marriage without you going and making it sound weird?"

"But it is weird, Iris…" Joe says with an innocent shrug, then trailing off as Iris raised her eyebrows at him, "And I'll stop talking about it so you and Barry can enjoy your marriage.

Iris smiles. "Thank you." Barry zooms over to her. "Barry, there's someone who's been waiting to see you all day."

Barry grins. "Of course, where is she?"

Iris smiles and nods her head. A teenage girl comes out carrying a tiny baby. Barry sighs, his eyes shining.

He smiles at the girl first, coming and kissing her head, "My beautiful Nora," he says, and she smiles back at him. Then they look down at the small baby, who has begun to fuss.

"Oh," Barry breathes, "He reaches out and takes the baby from his eldest daughter's arms, "Fran, aren't you absolutely precious today." He takes the baby and cradled her against his chest.

Iris comes beside him, resting on his arm and the entire lab turns to look at the scene with happiness.

"Uncle Barry."

Barry Allen sighs and gently returns Fran to her sister's arms with smile. "Coming, Katie."

The girl is acutely aware of the silence with which the Sorceress glides behind her. She feels her heart racing faster as she realizes she is finally meeting her, finally meeting the living legend responsible for saving so many lives.

Then she hears the voice speak from behind her. "Where are you taking me, child?"

"Just a little farther," the girl says hastily. After making herself visible to the Sorceress, she ducked into an alley that led beneath the Jitters coffee shop, and is navigating a set of hidden passageways that she has known for years. She looks behind to see that the Sorceress is still following, and is shocked for a moment to see a fierceness in her eyes that she was not expecting.

Finally, she reaches an old, brown door. The front of it is covered in scratches, and it creaks loudly as Michaela opens it.

"Quiet!" the Sorceress hisses. Michaela nods, startled, back at her, then inches the door open slowly the rest of the way and makes her way in.

The interior of the room is a mess. The leftmost corner is littered with papers. Three large cans of solution line the wall next to it, and in the middle of the room is a small rectangular table. Three small wooden chairs sat around the room. A soft red glow illuminates the whole room.

Michaela turns back to the Sorceress, who is just crossing the threshold and taking in the room with sharp eyes. "It's a dark room," the girl explains briefly.

The Sorceress turns her head slowly to look at her. "Wonderful," she says, "My favorite kind."

Although the Sorceress seems to enjoy the room, there is nothing in her expression to suggest she has softened towards the girl. She sighs inwardly.

"Um…so what's the deal with those guys chasing you?"

The Sorceress turns to her and her eyes burn through the girl. She feels as though she is being attacked with daggers.

"You don't need to concern yourself with that," the Sorceress says icily.

The girl hesitates a moment. Then an idea comes to her and she stuck out her hand. "So, I'm Michaela."

The Sorceress eyes the hand coldly. "You have done me a favor, Michaela," she says, without taking the hand. "This will not be forgotten."

Michaela withdraws her hand. "Um, thanks."

The Sorceress sighs. "But now I really must be leaving."

"Of course," Michaela says, feeling a sinking disappointment in her heart nonetheless. Her moment in the presence of the vigilante she had heard so much about had lasted no more than three minutes.

"Thanks again," The Sorceress says, grudgingly, then turns to leave the way she came. Then, just as she is preparing to turn the doorknob, she turns back around to the doorknob. She hesitated before she spoke.

"…Michaela, right? Is- is this room being used?"

"Kate had you working today, didn't she?"

Barry chuckles from where his seated on his old chair in the control room of STAR Labs, his wife beside him. "No kidding."

Iris rubs his arm. "You seem kind of sad today, Barry."

He is quiet for a moment. "Kate is brilliant, Iris."

She nods. "She is going to do amazing things."

Barry shuts his eyes and he feels a sudden pain in his heart. "I used to know someone else just like her."

He seems for a moment to be lost in memories before Iris' voice calls him back. "Oh my god."

Barry opens his eyes, and follows his wife's gaze to where she is looking at the STAR Labs television. His heart tightens as he reads the headline, FESTO SUSPECTED OF TAKING MAYORAL CANDIDATE RAY PALMER. WIFE AND TEENAGE DAUGHTER ALSO REPORTED MISSING.

Iris turns to him. "My god, Barry. It's Ray."

Barry sighs heavily. "They've struck too many times, Iris. But I don't know what to do. We've tried everything to figure out where they are and we've come up with nothing."

Iris stands up briskly. "Barry, this is Ray. Our friend. We have to find a way!"

Barry looks up at her, the pain in his eyes reaching deep. "I can't. I can't do any more than I have."

Iris looks back at the screen. "Oh, poor Anna. She's just a child. I wonder if Nora knows about this yet. Or Michaela."

Barry looks at her. "Maybe. She's in their year."

Iris nods. "And this Sorceress…"

"Sorceress!" Barry stands and Iris looks at him with concern. "She's the reason I'm able to do half I what I do right now. And I don't even know who she is!"

Iris gives him a look. "Well, whoever she is… we should be grateful. She's taking out the minor baddies while you focus on this Festo problem."

Barry turns to her with a hopeful expression.

Iris' brow goes up, "What?"

"What if… what if Sorceress joined us?"

"What?" Iris gies him an incredulous look. "Barry, we've been down this road, before. Sorceress is virtually untraceable. And even if she were… who knows if she would even want to work with us?"

Barry nods slowly. "Right, you're right I know." He runs a face over his face. "I'm just so fed up with this Festo problem. They're turning Central City into a terrifying place to live. And they're even starting to lose faith in me."

"In us," Iris says, coming to him and squeezing his shoulder. "And we can handle them. We won't let this city forget how formidable the Flash is." She smiles at him.

He gives a small smile in return, and she turns and begins to walk away.

"Don't lose faith in yourself, Barry," she says over her shoulder.

"Um…no I guess not," Michaela stammers. Sorceress nods.

"This place may be ideal as a base."

Michaela's eyes widen. "Really?"

"How many other people know about this place?" Sorceress asks, avoiding Michaela's gaze.

"Um, no one," Michaela says. "No one but me."

"Do you use this place regularly."

"N-no."

Sorceress nods. "Then this is ideal." She turns back to Michaela, who is still shocked from the idea of the Sorceress using the place as her base.

"You would never be able to come here," the Sorceress warns, "Nor can you tell anyone about this place."

Michaela finds herself nodding slowly. "O-okay."

Sorceress nods. "Great, so… it's most likely not safe for you to leave with those guys still hanging around, you should probably stay here."

It is odd for the vigilante to invite Michaela to stay in her own secret hideout, but she obliges, pulling out an old wooden chair and sitting down in the rightmost corner of the room. The Sorceress began to poke around. Among the many stacks of old film paper, there were a few old film cameras and rolls in their canisters. A few trays lay stacked against the wall for film processing, and against the opposite sides were contraptions used for transferring the images from the camera to the paper before processing.

"This is an odd room," the Sorceress remarked.

Michaela sighs inwardly. Even more odd is the situation she's in now. Somehow, this is not how she imagined her first meeting with the vigilante.

"Do you work with anyone?"

The Sorceress turns back to her sharply. "What?"

Michaela fidgets in her seat. "It's just – I know that the Flash has a team."

"I am not the Flash," The Sorceress says flatly.

"Of course not," Michaela says hastily. "I was just wondering."

"I prefer to work alone," the Sorceress says simply. She glances at the door, as if could will the two men chasing her to simply disappear. "You should get some sleep," she says, without looking back at Michaela.

"Um, okay," Michaela looks around her. She realizes there isn't much in the dark room fit for a comfortable sleep, but then looks up and sees that the Sorceress has taken off her cloak and holds it out to Michaela. Underneath, she wears a short sleeved flowy black shirt.

"Use this," she says briskly. As Michaela takes it, she watches, the Sorceress pulls a small dark brown ball, no bigger than a marble from out from her hair, which is half pulled back by a black beret. Michaela watches in fascination as the Sorceress pushes a button on the ball and it inflates with alarming speed, eventually growing to the size of a flat, bathtub sized cushion.

"I use it for getaways," The Sorceress explains as Michaela gapes, open-mouthed, at the cushion. "I just push this button and if I have to jump from somewhere high, I've got somewhere to land. You can use it to sleep," she adds as Michaela continues to stand, amazed.

Michaela shakes herself out of her position. "Thanks, she says, gingerly sitting on the cushion, then allows herself to relax. She bunches up the Sorceress' cloak under her head relaxes her body into the cushion.

"Are you going to sleep?" Michaela asks, twisting her head to look at the Sorceress.

"I'm not tired," the Sorceress says without elaborating. She has pulled up a wooden chair similar to the one Michaela was using earlier and her eyes are once again fixed on the door.

"Okay," Michaela says, drowsiness beginning to take over her now that the adrenaline had died down from her initial encounter with the vigilante. But as she drifts into sleep, the thought occurs to her that perhaps the Sorceress was tired. But she wasn't going to show it, because she didn't trust Michaela.

Michaela is running through the dark streets of central city. The streetlights are tinged with red, and they throw a sinister glow onto all of the familiar buildings she has known her entire life. She passes by a sandwich shop from which she has eaten many times, Tiano's, and she sees through the window that the television is still on, switched to the news channel. Michaela peers closer and gasps as she sees the headline.

FESTO SUSPECTED OF TAKING POLICE DIRECTOR BARRY ALLEN. WIFE AND TEENAGE DAUGHTER ALSO REPORTED MISSING.

An icy feeling takes a hold of Michaela and her world spins around. No, this can't be happening. It can't, it can't.

"Nora!" she gasps.

Suddenly, her eyes fly open. She isn't in the streets of Central City, but in the dark room underneath Jitters. The Sorceress is still sitting in the same chair from before, and looks over at Michaela with concern.

"Are you alright, child?" she asks.

Michaela nods. "Have you slept at all?"

"I don't need to," Sorceress says, returning her gaze towards the door.

Michaela pauses to listen for a moment. Just as always, the room and its surroundings were silent. She was sure that no one knew of this room but her. And now… the Sorceress.

"Did you say… Nora?" the Sorceress asks.

Curiosity bubbles up within Michaela. Does the Sorceress know Nora?

"Yeah."

Sorceress shakes her head. "It's just… I used to know someone by that name," She says without elaborating.

Michaela lets her gaze linger on the Sorceress. She has a thousand more questions but she pushes them down so she can say what she's been meaning to.

"Sorceress, I was wondering…"

The vigilante turns her sharp gaze back to Michaela and she feels herself begin to heat up. But she won't let herself be intimidated this time. She pushes herself to say the words.

"I-I was wondering if I could help you. In your vigilante work."

There is a shattering silence then, in which Michaela was sure she would have been able to hear a single stand of the Sorceress long black hair fall to the floor.

"As I told you before," Sorceress says slowly, in a measured voice. "I work alone."

"But I saved your life!" Michaela blurts out before she can stop herself.

Sorceress' gaze hardens. "I had the situation under control."

"But I made things easier," Michaela argues, "Otherwise you wouldn't have come down here."

There is another silence at which Michaela imagines the Sorceress fuming at the situation she was in.

"You do know about my hideout," the Sorceress says slowly.

Michaela nods.

Sorceress sighs. "I suppose…"

"Yes!" Michaela sits up in her cushion. The Sorceress' eyes remain guarded. "I could get a superhero suit, too, and-"

"No!" the Sorceress cuts in sharply. "Nothing like that! You can do little things for me," she says in a softer voice. "You can provide intel and… covert investigation. But nothing," she adds with emphasis, "That would compromise your safety. Or my identity. It's very easy do something incredibly stupid in the name of a hero."

Michaela hesitates. It's not exactly what she imagined, but it's certainly better than nothing. She bravely sticks out a hand to the Sorceress and the vigilante eyes it warily before slowly taking it. Michaela gives it a firm shake and meets the Sorceress' eyes.

"Deal."

Hi! Thanks for reading the first chapter of my fan fiction focusing on two original characters and also following Central City's very own Barry Allen, twenty years into the future! More to come about the Sorceress' mysterious past, and about Michaela's life in Central City.