Manifestations in the Dark

by Tif S

AU: Cisco Ramon has never had a home until he is taken in by Harrison Wells, a man with a troubled past and a tarnished legacy. When Wells is kidnapped by those seeking revenge, Cisco believes there must be an answer in the lab. Who he finds instead is a young man who died three years earlier, and a chance to help find his foster father. Teen!Cisco Ghost!Barry

1. Prologue

A/N: Hello fellow Flash fans. In my usual tradition of attempting a pretty major AU story in a fandom, I finally landed on a good and proper idea that seemed worth trying out. It's called Manifestations in the Dark, and it is already quite different from many of my other Flash projects. At any rate, I own nothing but my OCs and the plot.

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Prologue: Harrison's Disgrace

The Particle Accelerator Explosion was a life changing event for many, a life taking event for others and a life shattering event for one man, Dr. Harrison Wells. I had known Harrison for about two years before it happened. Before the explosion, he was a well respected scientist, one of the brilliant minds in his field: an obsessive-compulsive, meticulous, maddeningly serious, and sometimes severe teacher to those who worked with him. Harrison Wells was also a devoted father to his daughter, young Jesse, who was all of fourteen the day her father's life changed forever, and by extent her own.

The day it happened seemed to be an ordinary day by most standards. The interns and the scientists on site had protocol just in case the worst happened. They didn't expect the worst to happen though. Who does when you work on something for as long as they had worked on the Particle Accelerator? After all, they had every backup in place, every possible safety drill practiced and perfected, every precautionary measure implemented, but science is fickle. Even a field with as many procedures and precedents has its flaws.

The Particle Accelerator explosion could be called a flaw, rather like the minute hidden detail that allowed the destruction of the Death Star, except no one intended for this to happen. There were no plans to retrieve, no battalions, just a few lone employees trying to ensure things went smoothly.

After it happened, STAR Labs was forgotten, ignored by most. A blip in the corner of the eye of wary tourists, terrified citizens and one young man who quite accidentally found himself in the middle of the secrets of that night, all in an effort to save his newfound family.

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A/N: Let me know what you think.