Gifts From Above

Barry POV

A new start, that's all I asked for. And now, I'm finally getting it.

'Welcome to National City!' The train stations automatic voice called out as my train came to a stop and the doors slid open.

The station was packed to the brim of its glass ceiling. The giant digital clock bathed the small crowds on the platforms with an orange light as it read 6:29:47

Whoo early for once!

I clattered off the train, my suitcases in each hand as I blocked up the door with the bags falling off my back.

"Sorry! Sorry, sorry..." I apologised multiple times as I picked up my luggage and hobbled to the side.

I don't need to be at the tower until 7:30... Time for a coffee!

I rolled along the platform, my bags trailing behind me as I got to the ticket gate. Sliding my ticket through the gate and walking through, I pulled one of the guys to the side.

"Sir, do you know where I can get some coffee? Long trip from Central." He waved me off as he mumbled something about 'just down the street'.

I trundled down the sidewalk until I found someplace with some French name that I could never pronounce.

I pushed through the glass doors and set my bags off to the side before going to the counter, for being so early in the morning, there sure are a lot of walking zombies.

People in expensive looking suits lined the counter as the barista slowly served the customers. Everyone grunted their order until one especially chirpy blonde thought being up at this time was usual; she was jumping up and down on her feet and speaking more than two words at a time.

Seriously? I almost never sleep and this person is still more awake than me!

"Usual please!" She cheered as she looked around, fixing the glasses that threatened to drop off the bridge of her nose.

Of course I got stuck behind little Ms Sunshine!

I waited behind her in line as her long coffee was prepared in three separate machines no less!

Waiting... and waiting... and waiting. The women decided to take a look around and turned her back on the Barista as soon as the coffee was placed on the counter.

"There you go, Kara. Don't want to be late for Ms Grant." The Barista must have startled 'Kara' as she jumped and turned at lightning speed, the coffee being knocked by her elbow.

The coffee started tumbling off of the counter as I reached out and grabbed the cylinder, ignoring the scolding contents that spilled slightly onto my hands.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry, I didn't mean that!" She gasped as I brought the coffee back up to the counter, not wanting to spend another ten minutes behind one person.

"It's no problem. Don't want you running late." She picked up the coffee again as I placed my order.

"Hi, I'm... I'm Kara." She stuttered as she held her hand out to me.

"Barry Allen, glad to be your coffee saviour today." I joked lightly to shake of the awkwardness.

"You're my hero Barry. Say... Do you want to... maybe..." She stuttered again but I cut her off.

"Look, you're cute and probably a great person, but I've just moved here and I'm not really looking to, you know, date." I stammered awkwardly as her face morphed to a look of sadness but brought back her chirpy exterior pretty quickly.

"Right! Plus, we just met! I'm not someone who goes out with a guy because she saved a coffee... and in turn my job... and in turn my house... and in turn my life..." She murmured as the Barista clicked her fingers at her.

"Cat!" She reminded the blonde as she shot to attention and uttered a 'right' before bursting out the door.

First day here and I already attracted the crazy girl? Great start Barry!

I took my coffee and tipped generously, deciding to sit down rather than attempt to tow my backs and drink the boiling liquid on the quickly busying streets.

Today I had a simple to do list. Get up for the train, check. Be on time for the train, check. Be ON TIME for the train, also check.

Now I only had to find one of the tallest buildings in National City and talk to someone named 'Hank Henshaw' for a prestigious job in the NCPD.

Really that's all I had planned, after I meet Hank at 7:30, I need to find a motel or something until I can find a place. I sipped at my coffee absentmindedly, waiting for the time to pass as I looked over the skyline to find the tallest building.

There were a few tall buildings, Catco, a fancy hotel and an office building. I was sent a picture of what the building looked like but no name or anyone to talk to when inside.

I looked down to my phone to see an angular building with blue glass and no signs to state what it was or any business at the top. I spotted the structure a max walk of about twenty minutes away, near the Catco building.

I spotted the digital clock in the top right corner of the phone as it read 7:15.

7:15?! I'm gonna be late again! The Doctor warned me about this!

I binned the drink cup and gathered my bags, practically lifting the suitcase over the sidewalk I rushed through the crowds, apologising when I hit someone with the bags but never stopping until I reached the front entrance.

.

I pushed through the glass door, my bags being stuck but nothing I couldn't fix without a couple hard tugs. After dislodging the bags I turned to find the reception filled with people all wearing serious faces and no smiles anywhere to be seen.

I walked over to the receptionist, a man in a black suit and an earpiece, hands behind his back and slight bulge under his left arm. A gun?!

My suitcases made loud scratching noises as I dragged it along the smooth floor, drawing all eyes to me. I reached the receptionist but he hardly acknowledged my presence.

"Uh, hi. I'm Barry, Barry Allen. I'm here for the 7:30 meeting with a Mr Hank Henshaw." I held out my hand but the receptionist just pushed a button and spoke with a monotone voice.

"7:30 meeting at 7:35. The Director won't appreciate it. Go take a seat, he will be down soon." He pointed to the waiting area then reverted back to his original stance.

I was seated approximately 20 minutes before one large elevator came down to the lobby and opened to reveal a dark skinned man in full black clothing, boots, trousers, t shirt. Nothing like I would expect of a NCPD officer...

He was flanked by two other burly men who followed in their formation perfectly until they reached me.

"Hi, hi sir. Barry Allen." I greeted after tripping over a few of my own bags.

"You planning on moving in Mr Allen?" He asked as he eyed my bags critically.

"No sir, just got here from Central City. It was pretty short notice so I had to bring my stuff with me until I can find a place to stay for now. And please sir, call me Barry." I extended a hand that almost got broken as he gripped it with the force of a bear.

"Follow me, Mr Allen." He ordered as we headed to the elevator but broke off into a separate room.

"Sit down." He ordered again, as I followed like a puppy dog. Taking one of the two seats that were separated by a table.

"You were late Mr Allen. Normally I don't tolerate that kind of first impression." He left me hanging for a few seconds as I felt my heart drop. "But you are lucky I need a new lab guy and you are the best in this part of the country." He pulled out a file and threw it to my side of the table.

"You have a file on me? What position is this Mr Henshaw?" I asked as I looked through my life story... Including my doctor reports since I was eleven...

"You see my concern, Mr Allen. I need your skills, but I need to make sure you are mentally stable for the position." He pulled out a singular sheet from the pages and sat across from me.

"Tell me. What did you see when you were eleven. On that night." I knew exactly what he was referring to, but how did he know?

"With all due respect sir. I don't want to. I have been going to the therapy and I have gotten past it. My mother's murder doesn't define who I am." I spoke with the certainty that had been missing with my physiatrist.

"It may not. But the illusion you made after you found your mother. A vortex of red lightning? And a man at the centre? Disappearing and reappearing blocks away from your house? Why would you think this?" I snapped at his knowledge of my past.

"Look! I was a child that just saw his father murder his mother, I made up a story to cope with it! I came here for a job, not another therapy session. The point is, my mother is dead, and my father died in prison. My therapist helped me repress the memories and I am over it, what has this got to do with the NCPD anyway?" I stood from the chair and leaned over the desk.

"This isn't for the NCPD." He stated before getting up and leaving the room, making me follow him.

"Seriously?! My captain said that this was a sure thing; I left my old life in Central for nothing? What is going on?" Hank entered the elevator he emerged from, his two bodyguards joining him but keeping the doors open.

"Are you coming Mr Allen?" He challenged as I hesitated at entering the small space with three beefy guys.

With my final breath, I stepped a foot inside the elevator, the doors immediately snapped shut behind me as the men both turned a key in two secret indents in the side of the walls.

"What's with all the secrecy? You keep Superman up here?" I tried to joke to shrug off how uncomfortable the situation was.

"Close enough, Mr Allen." Hank smiled lightly as the Elevator shot from the ground floor and raised us maybe a dozen floors in under twenty seconds. The doors opened to a dark blue room, the sun pouring through the tinted windows and bathing the military like people all standing around the large room with the most advanced technology I had ever seen.

"Welcome to the DEO, Mr Allen. A secret branch of the Government that only the President knows about. I am the Director and recently my best lab chemist has demanded a promotion to the field. That's where you come in. You will be fully trained of course but you will spend most of your day doing what you would normally do in the CCPD except with Alien material and more advanced technology." He walked through the building with a brisk pace, showing off the highly military-like agents in full black and a gun strapped to their side, the advanced computers and satellite display and laboratory.

"This isn't what I signed up for..." I trailed off as I looked through the lab, a lot of stuff that the whole CCPD budget could never afford.

"Now you know why I had to question you on your past. I have a recommendation from your old captain and co workers, you are qualified for the job and it's yours, if you can go through the training." He called over a small brunette who seems to be wearing a gun holster a couple sizes too big.

"Alex. Meet Barry Allen, he will be your replacement." I mindlessly shook Alex's' hand as I took it all in.

"You up for the job, Rookie?" She asked as I thought about my measly lab in Central

The Captain would always take me back; Joe would make sure of it. Could I work for the government? With Hank when he knows so much about my past?

I told him myself, that my past doesn't define me. I don't need to be depressed because my mother died; I don't need to be ashamed of my father's prison suicide. I don't even remember the night, only what my therapist has told me.

"Bring it on." I challenged as neither smiled happily, but a menacing grin that made me bite my tongue.

.

"Keep your hands up, Barry!" Alex yelled at me before her fist connected with my nose for the fifth time today.

"Come on! I had to get my nose fixed last month, don't break it again!" I complained as I wiped the blood of my lip.

"Then keep your hands up. You may be a quick learner, but you have a lot to learn." Alex let loose her onslaught as I ducked and dodged her punches until a kick was sent to my chest, kicking me off the training mat.

"Why do I have to do this anyway? I'm a lab guy." I picked myself up off the cold floor as Alex jumped down to the ground and picked up her towel.

"All DEO agents have to know how to fight and shoot to a degree, lab guys are no different, and you were told when you started three months ago. You ready for the next round?" She asked as she jumped back onto the mat.

"Not tonight, I'm too tired and I don't think my face can take anymore." I sighed as I dabbed the blood on my brow and upper lip.

"You quit early tonight then you come in earlier tomorrow. You know my rule." She sighed as she took off her padded gloves that really need some extra padding.

"I'm not quitting out just yet, I'm just gonna put a few extra hours in the lab. As long as Hank is still away." I looked out of the training room to find barely anyone still active, being around ten at night anyway.

"No, he's still overlooking our secondary base in the desert. Remember Barry, I'm going away so you better keep up your training without me." She warned me.

"Yeah yeah, don't you have a sister to go see?" I subtly prodded.

"Not gonna happen, Agent Allen. She already has one secret agent in her life, she's not getting another." She waved me off as she left for the elevator, leaving me alone in my lab.

I had been spending lots of time alone in here. After about three months of getting my ass handed to me by Agent Danvers I decided to use the new labs to start one of my own projects.

To speed up my recovery time by increasing my bodies work rate. In theory it would speed up my cells so everything from common colds to broken bones would be fixed within hours.

I will need to add safety measures for things like quicker aging. Also if I speed up metabolisms I want to account for dehydration and the speed food would be broken down. But if I can fix the mistakes like that then theoretically cure most diseases, fix bones in hours, it would be an extraordinary medical breakthrough, plus the field Agents could use some quick fixes.

It would be a drug so I have to make sure it's not addictive and that I can manufacture it at a mass scale.

This drug could be the greatest creation in recent history. It can do wonders.

.

This drug will never work!

I have been here for hours and yet I still can't get a balanced formula that doesn't fall apart after two seconds of promising results.

I need something to bond the chemicals together quickly and fuse them before they break down.

I attempted to add a few more chemicals but it was ruined when lightning struck something outside. I jumped higher than ever before and sent some of the non-lethal chemicals all over myself in the white lab coat.

"Great! This was my favourite lab coat!" I whined as I shed the clothing quickly.

A second bolt struck in the distance, causing the electricity for the entire city to die out, but as the lights in my lab turned off, a light bulb in my head lit up like the fourth of July.

"Lightning! Perfect!" I grabbed all the chemicals I was using and a long iron pipe on my way to the balcony just across from my lab.

I set up my makeshift conductor and a timing device that will release all the chemicals together once the bolt of lightning bolt hits the metal, then it continues to travel until it binds them together.

It's not the best method but with all but the emergency generator down I need to use desperate measures to complete this breakthrough now!

"C'mon... c'mon... C'mon!" I chanted as I looked into the air, the clouds were rumbling but not sending anything but rain towards the ground.

As I looked back towards my experiment, I saw that the open beakers were being diluted by the rain, a rookie mistake. I cursed under my breath before running back into my lab and grabbing all the beakers of chemicals that I would need for the compound.

I rushed back to the balcony and began attaching the needed chemicals before I could taste a metallic copper in my mouth. I looked skyward just as the clouds parted and a dark blue bolt of electricity soared toward my conductor.

"Shi~" I began as the bolt hit the iron rod, spilling corrosive chemicals over my skin in unbelievable agony.

The last kick in the nuts was when the lightning made its way through the rod and towards the unready beakers. My eyes were squeezed shut but my ears could hear a small hissing before my body was blown back inside with glass shrapnel as I was doused in even more chemicals and many lacerations from the glass, letting the chemicals pour into my bloodstream.

I wish I had my advanced healing right now as my screams die in my throat and my body gives into the pain.

The last picture I could see was a passenger plane, with one turbine on fire, falling to the ground before I blackened out.

.

'Pa-pa-pa-poker face'

My ears twitched as I drifted into consciousness.

Is that Lady Gaga? My favourite song no less?

"Who's song this time Agent Schott?" A deep voice interrupted the song as my vision started coming back and immediately the pure white ceiling blinded me

That's a bright white roof, must be morning!

"Agent Allen's today sir. Checked his face book page." This voice seemed a lot softer and obedient as the deep voice was obviously dominant.

The memories of my experiment came back to me, my brain raced as the images came back, the chemicals, the lightning bolt, the explosion.

Machines around me started to beep rapidly until it was just an ongoing noise, I could feel cold hands on me as I tried to jerk my unresponsive body awake.

"What's going on? I could hear the beeping from my apartment." A gust of wind flew over me and a women's voice that held an aura of authority demanded to know as I felt the control of my body coming back to me.

I shot up, sweating from head to toe with wires all over me, The Director of the DEO, Hank Henshaw and two other figures were around the bed that I recognised as a DEO hospital bed.

"Whoa! He's alive!" A small brunet man jumped back as he typed at his datapad.

"What happened?!" I demanded as I jumped to my feet, swiping the wires off of my bare stomach and chest, I brushed past the girl in a cape and made my way to the door but the Director stopped me.

"Agent Allen, you've been in a coma for just under a year, take your time." He warned as he pushed me back to the bed with a little more force than his body would allow.

"It will all be okay." A petite blonde in the blue and red get-up reassured me as I cowered away.

"Who are these people Director?" I backed up to the wall as three more Agents came in, at the front was Alex.

"Barry? You're awake?" She asked as she lowered her pistol, but two automatic weapons were still aimed at my bare chest.

"Stand down men. Agent Allen is no threat." The Director ordered, the Agents following his orders immediately

"You were struck by lightning Agent. Our other lab techs said that you must have been trying to do some experiment when the lightning struck. It doused you in chemicals and exploded glass was embedded in your skin." Alex explained to me as I began slowing my breathing down.

"Who are these two?" I asked as I pointed to the guy frantically typing at a computer and the blonde that looked prepared to go as a feminine Superman for Halloween.

"The man at the computer is Agent Schott; he's our newest IT guy. And this is Supergirl, the cousin of Superman." Hank explained to me as I looked her over, my brain starting to get fuzzy as I looked at the red cape.

"Hi, you've been in your coma for as long as I've been around, I protect National City with help from the DEO, I hope you get better soon." She cheerfully introduced herself as my brain started going into a full spin.

Hank and Supergirl seemed to hear something in the distance as they both shot up to their full height, Supergirl still not being very tall, and hank a full head taller.

"Gotta go, bank alarm a few blocks away." She smiled to the people in the room before running out at super speeds, leaving nothing but a blood red trail from a blood red cape.

I jumped back and landed on the ground as a wave of new memories seemed to have come back to me. The night my mother was murdered, it wasn't red lightning, it was a red cape! The man in the storm now seemed too small to be a man, now they were petite and had a lean build, nothing like how my therapist told me.

How stupid of me! There is no such things as lightning men, it was a kryptonian! A female Kryptonian...

My mother was killed by Supergirl!

"Are you all right Agent Allen?" Hank asked as I picked myself up from the floor

"N...N... Yeah. That will just take a bit of getting use to. I will be fine when I get to my lab." I tried to push through the Agents at the door but Alex stomped me with just one hand.

"You need to rest, you have been in a coma and your muscles must have deteriorated from the lack of use. You can get back to work in a couple weeks at minimum." I turned back to find myself facing a screen that was connected to a camera directly trained at my abdomen.

"Lightning... Gave me abs?"

Huh, I wonder what else it gave me