Chapter 1

"You're going to be late!"

The soundtrack of his life summed up in five words.

That morning was not unlike any other morning in Central City. The sun was up, people were on the move and Barry Allen was ten minutes behind schedule – one sock clumsily stuck on, with a piece of toast jammed in his mouth. Toast supplied to him by a none too pleasant housemate that was currently looking at Barry like something he'd just stepped in on the side of the road.

"Would it kill you to try getting up on time? An alarm clock that actually works might not be that bad of an idea." Noire sighed, one hand on his hip and the other clutching a saucepan that looked like it had the food of the gods cooking in it. Or it could just be eggs, but it was too early in the morning to tell difference and Barry's stomach was screaming for whatever was making that beautiful smell – so for now eggs would be considered food of the gods.

Noticing Barry's very pointed stare at the food, Noire made a good show of rolling his eyes and gesturing to the dinning room table. "Go on then, get dressed properly and I'll get that food in you."

If Barry was smiling he moved too quick for Noire to see and rapidly he was throwing on whatever clothes were both clean and available to him. He was late sure, but Barry had more than enough speed to make up for it – and it was knowing this that probably made him late all the time. Too comfortable, cocky, overconfident – all ways used to describe Barry Allen by a few choice people. Namely Bruce.

It was barely three seconds after Noire had finished speaking that Barry was back downstairs and in the familiar chair by the table, waiting expectantly for his breakfast. The chair rocked back and forth shakily as it tried to compensate for the abrupt why Barry threw himself into it, thankfully it didn't just topple over right then and there.

"If you eat that fast." Noire said, eyeing Barry warningly as he set down the plate of familiar foods in front of his caretaker. "I'll burn it next time." He probably would keep true to that threat as well. Noire wasn't a massive fan of speed around the house, which was fine because Barry knew he made an effort not to float around the house either so fair was fair.

Barry tried to give Noire what he hoped was an innocent smile but as usual his ward didn't look the slightest bit swayed by the expression. Instead the younger man went about cleaning up after breakfast. Barry felt the familiar urge to request Noire sit down and eat thing him, but knew it would be a wasted effort.

Sometimes it troubled Barry to know that no matter how hard he tried to act like a big brother or even a father to the boy that had spent most of his life under this roof – there were just some things they'd never share. The need to eat and sleep regularly for example, or their different opinion on where it was acceptable to make a nest. Thankfully after some debate Noire had given up trying to nest on the roof, it had been an interesting fight, one Barry wasn't keen on revisiting.

However, Barry had managed to find some things he could help Noire with – to help him play the role of guardian properly.

"What's your schedule for today Noire?" Barry asked, trying to find the correct balance of speaking and eating without prompting Noire's wrath if he accidentally did both. "School? Work?"

Perhaps he was a little too enthusiastic with his questioning because Noire stopped what he was doing and shot him a scathing look, in the past that would have concerned him more but Barry reasoned that it was just Noire's way of showing love now days. Obviously the question didn't irritate him too much because the touchy kid finally let out a sigh and straightened up to answer.

"I have a class today and then I'm going to the work site." Barry was pretty happy to hear both of those things. It meant that Noire was keeping himself well away from anything crime related and interacting with other people like a normal kid. Perfect.

His job was more volunteering than anything else but he'd been able to make a little bit of money by helping out at the construction site – all of which he thrust at Barry the second he was given it. Noire seemed intent on paying Barry back for the cost of feeding him everyday – even if Barry tried to refuse it Noire had it ways of getting the money to Barry. Usually he'd slip it into Barry's wallet or back pocket without telling him.

"Wipe that look off your face!" Noire snapped at him, finding Barry's expression to be infuriatingly smug and it made his ears burn. "Eat your bloody food and get to your own day job. You have ten minutes before you're late."

"I don't remember when or why we swapped roles." Barry mused, wondering why exactly Noire acted more like the adult than he did most of the time, or maybe it was just that Noire was always incredibly grouchy – just made him look older.

"Get going." Noire insisted, gesturing to the door again and this time Barry swore that the kid was smiling – but only a little bit.

Barry responded in kind, flashing Noire the brightest smile he could muster before finishing off his breakfast. Barry left much the way he'd come, in a mad rush with the last piece of bread still hanging out of his mouth, but for once Barry felt like he was going to be on time.

He was wrong.

Stumbling through the doors of the police station, Barry barely managed to avoid running right into one of the officers. The trip over barely took a few minutes even if he had been distracted by a mugging that required a five-minute fix – including borrowed handcuffs and dropping off the mugger in front of a police car. Nothing major, but enough to slow him down that little bit, add that to the pit stop he made in at Jitters before getting to the station and that completely drained his ten minutes of wiggle room.

"Allen." Barry knew that voice and the way that it was saying his name wasn't exactly encouraging.

Brandishing a tray of coffees and a sorry smile, Barry turned to face director Singh with the most hopeful of peace offerings. Singh looked about as forgiving with Barry's tardiness as Noire did with Barry's speed.

"Late." Singh growled flatly. "Again." The director gave Barry the once over, taking in the extra cups of coffee with a knowing stare. As if to try and further give up his offerings, Barry raised the tray with the same hopeful smile. Singh eyed Barry for a few more seconds before finally letting loose a heavy sigh and accepting the peace offering.

And so Barry Allen kept his job in the Central City Police Force for another day.
All down to the miracle that was Jitter's coffee.

"We got another crime scene to add to the pile today Allen." Singh kicked into work mode and began listing off the specifics of todays work while Barry gave out the few other coffees he brought with him on the way to his workspace. One for Forrest, another for Spivot and finally one for Captain Frye.

For every coffee cup he set down, Barry gained another file or evidence folder. By the time he'd reached his desk, Barry had a pile of different types of evidence dumped in front of him and even more expectations from Singh.

Barry was positive that he could beat those expectations given the correct amount of room to work with. Unfortunately there was never enough room when it came to the police station, not to get up the speed he needed anyway.

The crime scene that Singh had left on his desk that morning was at the very least merciful in how obvious the answers were. A few tests to verify his theories and Barry felt certain that they'd have the criminal caught and his desk clear for a few more things within a few hours. But even as Barry sat there, going through the motions of paperwork and proving theories that could become leads somewhere down the track, his mind was a thousand years away.

A quick glance up at the cellphone on his desk reminded Barry that no matter how many times he tried to get into contact with Hal – when he was off planet it was effective radio silence. He seemed to be off planet a lot lately and Barry only had a vague idea what was going on in the green lanterns intergalactic battles.

Small snippets were given to him in the moments Hal would confide in him. Sinestro's betrayal and the creation of his corps, the mutual hatred for yellow they'd come to share. But most of what happened off planet stayed with Hal and the other green lanterns, leaving the scarlet speedster to feel a little out of the loop.

Which wouldn't be such a bother if it weren't for the fact that Hal seemed to be struggling with something he could never full explain, which not only made Barry feel left out but it made him a lousy friend as well.

Not that Hal was much better; he never picked up his damn phone anymore.

Not too many months ago he and Hal had been inseparable, he could rely on his friend to appear whenever he called him. In hindsight maybe he hadn't been grateful enough for that attentive behavior, without it Barry felt a rather noticeable hole in his life.

"Nothing I can't deal with." Barry reasoned under his breath while flicking through another set of reports. These ones were a little more troubling, a double homicide. The only save grace with the case was that it was very obviously not done by a super villain of any kind; just the regular old murders and thieves.

When did that become a comforting thought? Barry bit back a sigh, he had to keep on smiling and getting work done with a jump in his step. If he stopped being the high note of the day, than who would bring at least a little light heartedness to the increasingly difficult slug? Even Hal seemed to be worried that something was looming in the distance with his fellow lanterns. What that was exactly, no one seemed sure and the guardians didn't seem to be much help.

Really it was a whole lot of nothing to deal with in the end, just some sense that something, somewhere at some point was going to happen. It didn't get much vaguer than that – thanks for the heads up.

Pushing all Flash problems to the back of his mind, Barry tried his damndest to focus on his day job at least for a few hours. Working with the police was just as rewarding as being the Flash, he just needed to solve cases where he could and keep the city a safer place. For a few productive hours Barry managed to avoid thinking about the League or his fly about friend – of course it was just when he was getting comfortable with this easy going pace that the world shifted gears.

"So Barry." He jumped, honestly not having heard Patty walking up to his desk. "This has got to be a first." She mused, draping one arm over the back of his chair and the other on her hip as she looked over his work with an amused smile. "Four hours of solid work – no sudden errands or disappearances. That is…unless you ducked out too quick for me to notice."

Barry laughed, mostly because he knew Patty was just toying with him. He barely noticed that she was half serious with that comment. "Today has been good." He agreed wholeheartedly as he sat back in his seat to show Patty the files he'd spent the last hour combing through and sorting. A sense of pride washed over him, not because he'd done work though that certainly did help, but because he'd made it through the day mostly without even thinking about his Flash persona.

One day he planned to propose to Iris and when that day came he knew that it may eventually lead to hanging up his mask and settling down – to be a father. If that was ever going to happen he needed to practice just being Barry Allen for long periods of time. He never had to turn a blind eye to the wrong in the world, but maybe he could fight it as Barry

A glance at the clock brought a smile onto Barry's face. It was nearing late afternoon now which mean Noire was probably at the local college, doing just as well as Barry in his attempt at normal life hopefully. If he kept up this good work at school and his part-time job, Barry was going to try and teach him how to drive – that would be an event. A potentially life threatening event.

"Not bad Red." Patty praised him with a small clap on the back and a beaming smile. She could be a bit of a tough love sort of friend sometimes but when she saw real effort she never let it go by without proper recognition. "Lets keep up this streak for a week and then we'll really have something to celebrate."

"Right, a week without Central City needing saving. That'll be the day." God forbid even the Rouges stay quiet for more than a few days at a time. It was so much easier when they were working together, at least then Barry could round them up all in one swoop, rather than each picking an individual day to torment the city. Well Barry could dream.

"Still no word from the out of town boy toy?" Patty asked, gesturing to the phone that had remained blissfully silent the past few hours. "Still run about?"

"Okay, first off, not my boy toy and secondly…yes. Yes, you're absolutely right, not a peep out of him." Barry sighed, tossing his phone a dirty look like it was somehow the small piece of tech's fault. Completely unfair but maybe he could text Hal his fury if he glared hard enough, an idea that his mind helpfully supplied was unrealistic.

"I'm sure he's just-" Patty straightened up as Singh made his way over, clicking his tongue in agitation and probably completely unaware of his angry habit. A quick glance was tossed between Barry and Patty, a sort of wager on just what complaint was going to come out of him this time. Thankfully it wasn't something related to either of their shortcomings, though Singh would certainly make time for that later as well.

"It's another one." He growled, flashing a familiar scene in front of Barry's eyes as he threw down the photos he'd no doubt just gotten from a new crime scene. "Another one and we still have nothing!"

Barry felt his heart sink in his chest as he recognized this unnervingly familiar set up. While Singh voiced his grievances, Barry gathered up the photos and began sorting through them slowly, one of the few times he moved slowly in fact. It was like seeing a well-rehearsed play, everything down to the burn marks on the body was identical to the last crime of this nature.

The problem with these crimes was the lack of clues. No prints, no conceivable motive, nothing had been stolen or broken and there didn't even seem to be a struggle – it was almost like the victim had just suddenly been struck down by the hand of god. Not a concept Barry put much faith in now days.

"That's the fourth one in two months." Singh sighed, having calmed down enough to turn his furious growls into simple exhaustion. "Same story as last time, no sign of forced entry and everything seems to be accounted for."

"This shop..?" Barry began to ask, gesturing to the photos that primarily focused on the corpse and the scene around the body.

"It's a fabrics store." Singh supplied dryly. That also matched the nature of these killings, never a bank or jewelry store, the first had been a toyshop, the second hadn't even been in a store but instead a residential apartment and the third was a secondhand store. All four had all their valuables, stock and money exactly where it had been left the night before the killings. There was never a struggle either, no broken doors or dramatics. It really was like these people had just dropped.

Barry had asked around at first, tried to find a connection between the victims. A job, a hobby – hell he would have looked into it if they ended up having the same damn coffee for breakfast. But nothing stuck out to him. Their genders were varied, their homes distant and their lives all very different. Some invisible to the public, others well liked – none of their names seemed to come up in the same circles.

So here they had no motive or evidence to pin a subject, not so much as a whisper of anything out of the ordinary for the police to work with and not a shred of material for the forensic scientists to study. They had next to nothing. After a while even the body was no longer of use.

Whatever happened to the victims didn't stop after death, the initial burn like marks didn't change the way that Barry was used to seeing on burn victims. Instead it turned them white, not just burn area white, but whole body skin and internal organs all turned to an ash white. After that set in it wasn't long before the bodies began to fall apart, crumbling like they were made of dust. Their insides dried up and turned to powder or a stone like substance – when Barry had been sent samples even those began to vanish after a while.

For a brief moment however he'd gotten some answers but they hardly helped. The analysis of the corpses after they turned full body white came back as…chalk. They'd literally become chalk. Of course this didn't help much on the police's end but for the Flash it meant a little bit more.

No one would have argued that this was the work of someone a little out of the police's jurisdiction. Whether it was a new scheme from people like the Rouges – which didn't actually fit their profile – or a new metahuman running around it didn't matter – it was now the Flash's area of work.

The only problem was that Barry had a pretty good guess who was behind this and while that was troubling enough the appearance of another body meant…

Abruptly Barry shot from his seat, hands slamming down on the desk in his haste to get to the television.

"Allen, what the hell are you doing?" Singh was calling after him as Barry rushed to the little communal TV and began to fiddle with the buttons, just wishing for once technology would do what he wanted. How hard was it to find the news station? The television had a hundred different settings, and a thousand more channels; Barry only needed ten for Pete's sake!

"Last time we got one of these cases." Patty filled in the empty air where Barry should have been answering Singh. "There was that little stir down town, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Singh mumbled thoughtfully. "With the two metahumans."

"And the time before that?" Patty prompted.

"Same thing." The realization finally dawned on Singh and immediately a groan slipped out of his throat. "Oh Christ…not again."

Barry was having similar thoughts, except he was more worried than inconvenienced. Finally the television deemed his attempts worthy – or pitiful – enough to flick to the channel he'd been looking for and immediately Barry's heart sank.

There on the screen was a news report about the two familiar metahumans going at it in the streets of central city. There was no live footage but someone had snapped a picture of the two, a young man clothed from head to toe in white stood weightlessly in the air, arms crossed and waiting as the other metahuman seemed to be lining up a running punch.

"Again." Patty confirmed with a grim nod of her head. "Monochrome Black and White – you'd think they'd get along being a pair like that." She lamented with a roll of her shoulders just as another picture slid up behind the news reporters shoulder of the attacking metahuman, or 'Black' getting thrown halfway across the screen and into the ground – apparently the punch hadn't worked out.

"Evidently not…" Patty continued with a weary sigh.

"I got to go." Barry said rapidly, tearing away from the tv and his co-workers to rush to the door, tugging on his jacket clumsily as he did.

"What?" Singh barked, back to being angry. "What do you mean 'go'? We have work to do here Allen!"

"Yeah, yeah I know." Barry struggled for an excuse even as he continued to back towards the exit. "But I…ah have a lead!" It was pathetic but perhaps not entirely a lie. "If I can get some sort of sample from the white one, maybe we could make a match."

"To chalk?" Singh asked, unimpressed by Barry's 'lead'.

"They show up to brawl whenever a murder like this happens right, and the bodies turn white – so maybe they're connected. I just need one sample." With his excuses poorly made Barry shot out of the office as fast as he could humanly go before Singh could even finish reminding him he wasn't a police officer and should stay in the lab. When he was outside of the building however he dropped the human part and took off at Flash speed.

Along the way he released his suit from his ring and got changed, he couldn't exactly show up to a metahuman fight as Barry Allen, sample collecting or not. More to the point he was one hundred percent certain that White was responsible for the deaths, he hardly felt the need to get a sample when White had his mark all over this one.

What worried Barry the most was that the two metahumans would tear each other apart and take parts of Central City with them before he had a chance to get between them. As he ran Barry realized he hadn't actually got an exact location when he stared running but it wasn't hard to find the two – just follow the shouting and trail of destruction.

It didn't take long to find them when he employed that method. Barry came skidding to a halt when one of the two flew in front of him, having been knocked out of the sky by the other. Occasionally their habit of flying could be a problem, it was hard to run in midair okay?

As the smaller of the two – Black – went flying past, Barry instinctively reached out to try and stop the other's fall, only to get a blast of white-hot light in his direction. He managed to sidestep the attack but the heat that radiated off of the beam was warning enough not to get too close.

"Flash." His name was called like a greeting more than a warning and he turned to send a scathing glare at the metahuman addressing him.

Monochrome White looked much like he had in the newscasts pictures. Still left hanging in the air by an unseen force, arms crossed neatly over his chest with a pleasant smile plastered on his face. "I don't remember extending an invitation."

Barry had seen other metahumans that barely resembled a human anymore but these two looked strikingly young and very much human, save for a few oddities in their appearance. Jutting out of White's forehead and behind his ears were a set of horn like structures, they almost looked like a crown on his head. Black on the other hand had an almost dirty appearance, black smudges were just visible across the bridge of his nose and around his eyes from under his mask, it was like his skin was permanently scraped up.

The two gave off similar personas to match their appearances as well, White was undeniably regal in the way he conducted himself and Black was….well…

"I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" Black was screaming as he dragged himself up off the ground, angrily brushing rubble from his shoulders. White only smirked at the other's passionate display and unlike the darker of the two figures, he had no mask to hide his mirth behind.

"Such language." White cooed and raised his hand up again, small sparks of light beginning to bubble up around his palm and form into a solid ball. Barry recognized it as the beginnings of the attack that had almost burned him up when he arrived and with a shout of warning he ran at Black, planning to get him out of the way of the beam before it fried him.

Except White didn't end up aiming for Black, instead he shot the beam just a little bit across, just a little bit ahead of Barry's path and caught his leg in the process. Barry managed to grab Black before the beam hit him but when it did he was rewarded with a feeling not unlike that of being shot by Cold's gun. Except it didn't encase his leg in ice and thus allowed him to keep moving, even if the movement caused him unspeakable discomfort.

It had only been in the space of a few seconds but Barry managed to get Black well out of the way before his leg gave him enough grief that he had to stop moving. When they stopped, Barry dropped Black back to the ground and instead clutched the area around his leg where the beam had hit him – grazed him actually. It had only just made contact but the burn was nothing to scoff at and Barry knew that if it had hit him dead on, he wouldn't be using that leg for a good while. If he'd been human it might have even spread and turned his limb to chalk like the other victims. Thankfully his suit was made to withstand Cold and Heatwave's guns, White's attacks weren't unlike their guns and so the worst of it wouldn't get through to his muscles and flesh.

"What the hell are you doing here Flash?" Barry had almost forgotten that Black was there with him and looked up to see a pair of furious red eyes glaring down at him from above the other's mask. "Get lost." Barry opened his mouth to snap back something about gratitude but Black could be alarmingly quick on his feet and before Barry had the chance to defend his actions – the male had leapt into the air and away from Barry, no doubt going back up to face off with White again.

Just…brilliant…

Barry stood upright, planning to go after the other and stop this nonsense before it went too far but the slight pressure on his wounded leg did well to keep him from moving at his fastest. It wasn't enough to ground him but running was no easy task and it was made even more difficult by the fact that the two were flying. Still he tried to keep up – not something he was accustomed to finding difficult.

"Oops." White smiling innocently when Black shot back up into the air to face him, and didn't Black just look so perturbed? It was undeniably amusing to White. "Looks like he got in the way, how unfortunate."

"You aimed for him!" Black snarled back accusingly and White merely smiled with a small shrug. Neither denying nor confirming the accusations. That only fueled Black's rage further; he'd attacked the scarlet speedster and didn't even have the decency to look ashamed about his actions.

Black's anger was so thick it was practically pliable, and White's smile twisted into a satisfied smirk. He'd successfully riled up the other and just by the look in Black's eyes, he knew he'd won. No matter how hard he hit, how powerful he tried to make his attacks – he would lose. Because Black was reckless, and White was levelheaded.

This fight was already over, and White had won.

Black just hadn't realized it yet, it always took him a little while longer than everyone else to figure out when a fight was lost.

All it took was a gesture, a small twitch of his fingers to bring Black barreling towards him and with a careless swing of his fist; Black tossed himself through the air without any need for White to exert himself. Bending his body downwards, White curled under Black's fist rendering the attack harmless as he slid up behind Black who only just seemed to now be noticing his mistake.

Always the last horse to cross the finishing line.

"Hmpf, slow." White mused before whipping his arm across his chest in a single fluid motion, the action called up a familiar light structure. Black's eyes widened as the scorpion like appendage whipped out, following the flow of White's arm as it struck Black's back like a whip. A scream tore from Black's chest as his entire body caved in forward under the force of the strike, he was stunned and White wasn't going to give him the time to recollect his thoughts.

"Again..." White slashed his arm in the opposite direction and the tail followed his motions again, slicing along the small of Black's back. "Again." Another strike, across his spine. "Again." This time the suit tore, shredding the bottom of Black's cape, as the jagged tail cut into the line of his shoulder.

"Again." The tail arched up and in one violent motion, speared into Black's back between the blades of his shoulders. Finally White saw something in colour, blood. It bubbled up around the jagged point of the light tail and began to dribble down its length slowly, moving closer to where the tail formed at the base of White's spine.

He watched as Black twitched and writhed, still pierced by the jagged appendage, barely able to draw in a proper breath. The helpless gasping sound he made was pitiful and White grew tired of hearing it quickly.

"Pathetic." The word was as venomous as the poison that would course through a real scorpion's tail. With a simple flick of his wrist, the tail retracted and broke away into a thousand different pieces now that its usefulness had run its course. Instead the familiar threads of white light slipped from White's fingers and wrapped around Black's torso, ensnaring him in a constricting hold only to raise him higher into the air and fling him back towards the earth.

Black body crumpled, becoming limp as it was thrown through the air like a ragdoll, like he weighed nothing at all. Barry flinched when Black's body hit the building opposite White. Glass shattered and Barry was positive he saw some of the stone structure give away as Black's body became imbedded in the wall.

"Come now." White was there in an instant, hovering idly above the small nest of rubble and glass that had formed around Black's battered form. "I give you three whole weeks and this is the best you have to offer? Some measly lucky shots and punches? I know you can do better than this, surely you could at least put in some effort."

The lighter brother tsked in mock disappointment, moving in closer to Black as he struggled to jerk his body upright again. Barry knew Black's limits and with White involved, those limits were becoming much more apparent – he wouldn't last long.

"It's a joke." White hissed lowly to Black. "You're a joke. A fool parading as a hero."

"You…" Black mouth moved to form words but only succeeded in coughing up a heft amount of blood, adding some more colour to his black persona. "I will get you back damn it."

"You'll never catch up to me!" Finally anger began to taint White's words as he lunged forward, grabbing Black around the throat to jerk him off the ground. No light structures this time, no playing around with toys and tricks – this time he was going to bruise Black with his own hands.

"You're unable to make any substantial shadow tools, your flight is weak at best and your ability to withstand pain is not even worth mentioning. You are in no way a match for me, we may be of the same origin but you're weak, I am strong. My light obeys my commands, you reject your shadows – you are uselessness in the form of a boy."

The connection burned, White and Black clashing as their skin met but White endured with a hateful sneer stretched across his face. "You will never inherit the stone. It belongs to me – I am the only one worthy of it."

White watched carelessly as Black squirmed, choking as his fingers desperately clawed at White's seemingly immovable hands. When his fingers would brush against White's flesh they singed and Black let out further cries of pain. White knew then he was the dominant force, if they were to touch and cancel out another other – he would win. White would overcome Black and Black would be wiped clean from the planet rather than White becoming tainted by the others darkness.

Black wasn't even close to being ready to face him.

"Heads up and hands off!" White barely had time to blink before he was catapulted off of Black but a sudden flash of red. Mentally he cursed himself for letting them get so close to the ground and for momentarily forgetting Black had a friend there with him.

With a growl of annoyance White managed to gain control of his body, stopping the spinning motion till he was upright in the sky again, looking down at the Flash as the speedster crouched by Black. For a few seconds White merely observed the two, noting the way the Flash was checking over Black's injuries. That was a type of kindness that White hadn't seen in many months. For now it would have to suffice.

"If you're going to insist on tearing up my city!" Flash called up to White, pointing with the hand currently not being used to keep Black upright. "Then you're going to have to get around me first."

White's lips twitched up into a smile at that, what a predictably heroic thing to say.

"The city is unimportant." A lie. "If I insist on tearing up that thing in your arms-" White pointed carelessly to the wounded metahuman in the Flash's arms, noting the way Black struggled to try and retaliate when he was called a thing, and failed in doing so. "-would you still object?"

"I would." The answer came so abruptly and firmly that White was almost surprised. It was the answer he expected to be given by a hero but the finality and determination behind it did surprise him.

Finally White relented, chuckling quietly as the flickers of light around his figure began to fade and diffuse. "Very well Flash." White spoke smoothly, putting on a diplomatic face. "I'll leave it here for today." With that he spun in the air and made move to leave.

"Oh no you don't!" White paused, amused when the Flash called him back. "You killed another civilian didn't you White? The scene at the fabric store, that's your signature isn't it?"

For a few seconds White remained where he floated in the air, back to the two heroes before finally a quiet sigh slipped past his lips.

"Well…for the sake of my ambition, this time I'll say no." He answered calmly. Somehow that rung a little too familiarly in Barry's head 'for the sake of my ambition'. It reminded Barry of things that Thawne would sometimes say when the future was involved.

"You'll 'say'?" Flash repeated dryly, staring at the villain in disbelief. "Did you or did you not, White? Give me a proper answer this time!"

"If I say yes you'll chase me to the ends of the earth, if I say no he will brand me a liar and chase me all the same. I will answer with what best suits my needs." White tossed a cold smirk over his shoulder at Flash. "So for today my answer is no."

The Flash didn't chase after White when he left because in all truth he didn't know if White was responsible for the murders. Sometimes it seemed like it could only be him but other times it seemed like that was impossible, if he didn't kill those people then his crimes were minor and all very personal. All his crimes would be against Black, not civilians.

That jogged the Flash's memory and he looked down at the beaten metahuman in his arms. White could take a beating well enough but Black…he was still small and every hit from White seemed to have gone straight through him.

The Flash's leg still burned with the phantom pain of White's strike and he could guess how much it hurt Black to be struck through that many times with such ferocity. So without another word, the Flash gathered the weakened Black in a tight hold and took off in the direction of home. All the way Black squirmed and groaned, his body fighting off the lingering patches of white on his flesh. Barry knew this effect, when the two would touch they often left a mark on the others, Black dirtied White's skin with the same sort of smudges and dark patches that were scattered on his own body and White would leave sickly pale blotches on the other.

Sometimes one of them could even fade a little bit – that was a rare and terrifying occurrence. Not one that either party seemed keen on being a part of any time soon.

"Let…" Barry heard Black trying to speak, his voice strained with the effort of forming proper words. "Let me down." The words were snarled viciously but Barry ignored them, slowing slightly as they neared his residence.

"I said let me down!" Black tried again, raising his voice to try and force the Flash to comply. He was ignored a second time. "Damn it Barry, let me go!"

That did it.

The second they were inside the house, Barry dumped Noire on the couch, giving him his wish. The younger man barely had the time to collect his thoughts before Barry tore off his mask and turned on him in a rage.

"I told you I didn't want you fighting anymore!" Barry was barely able to keep himself from shouting as he looked down at Noire, in his Black persona getup. "You could have been killed!"

"Yeah, well I ignored you!" Noire shot back, not bothering to try and keep his voice down like Barry had. "White was out there, I wasn't just going to sit back and let him do whatever he damn well pleased."

"Are you not hearing me Noire?" Barry demanded, making a wild gesture to Noire's still battered body. "Are you not hearing anything? You could have died out there!"

The icy silence from Noire at least told Barry that he wasn't naïve to that possibility, but he wasn't about to agree with Barry and stay out of trouble either. So Barry pushed on.

"Its dangerous out there Noire. I'm only trying to protect you." Barry tried to reason, softening his tone a little bit as he tried to be lenient but it was so damn difficult.

Wally insisted on going out and fighting crime as well, but Barry knew his speed, knew how it felt and the safety that came with it. Noire didn't have the speed that Barry knew so well and put his trust in to keep Wally safe. He wasn't a metahuman in the sense that he'd been given wonderful powers to fight humans with, he wasn't rich and clever like Bruce and even though his 'species' was born with particular talents, the same man that he'd been up against that night had his direct counter powers. A kryptonite complex if ever Barry saw one.

Noire was too reckless, too full of anger and anguish to realize when things went too far, to know his limits and where to turn tail and run. He wasn't safe out there and Barry desperately tried to understand, to give Noire time to realize this life wasn't for him but he never did and so here they are – shouting at one another the way Barry always wanted to avoid.

But when Barry thought about today, remembered the moments where he wasn't able to do anything and Noire was screaming – those terrifying seconds where he thought he was going to lose someone – he couldn't help but be angry. Barry wouldn't let anyone die on his watch, what about that did Noire not understand?

For a few seconds today, Barry had that crushing sense of not being fast enough. Memories of a yellow speedster came to mind, filling Barry with an all too familiar dread. Today if he hadn't been fast enough, Black may have died and Barry would have only had himself to blame – just like when he was a child.

He couldn't…he just couldn't.

"Barry…" Noire's voice was quiet and that was why it startled Barry as much as it had. He was expecting more shouting, not a hushed murmur. "No matter what you say this is what I am always going to be. White is right, I'm just a fucking shadow, how am I meant to catch him? I mean…look at me!" Noire gestured furiously to his clothes, his hair even his eyes.

"Black, black, black! Everything about me is wrong, my eyes are red for god's sake! I was made to be the bad one – White is the good one. I was made to be evil, then forced to be a hero and now White is trying to make me…god I don't know what he is trying to make me into and you-!" Black trailed off, his eyes hardening. "You're just trying to make me feel human."

"Don't you dare say that about yourself!" Barry snapped, unintentionally raising his voice again. "There's nothing wrong with you Noire, there's never been anything wrong with you. You can't help how you were born; you are your actions, not your birth. You can be as good as you choose to be. You were not made to be bad."

"What the hell would you know? You, perfect Barry – bloody – Allen! Everyone loves you, have you ever had someone hate you a day in your damn life? Ha, do you even have the slightest idea what it's like you hate yourself? You and your perfect fucking life…"

Noire had struck a cord and for a split second Barry saw nothing but red. It was only when he caught the slight widening of Noire's eyes that Barry realized he was actually moving like he was going to hit him. Immediately Barry recoiled from Noire, never in his life had he ever wanted to strike a friend – he'd never even considered slapping Noire before. No matter how many times he got up on the roof or hissed at Hal, he'd never even thought about it.

In a mix of fear and anger, Barry fixed Noire with a scathing glare. "You…" Words were hard to come by and Barry found himself growling instead of finishing the thought. It was actually through the anger that Barry realized he didn't want to hit Noire.

The kid had struck a raw nerve with his vicious accusations of perfection but at the same time Barry knew him well enough to see that Noire was probably hurting more than he let on. Barry didn't want to hit Noire, he wanted to hug him, because that was the only thing he could think to do when the kid was upset.

So that's exactly what he did.

Noire tensed and began to make noises of complaint the second Barry wrapped his arms around Noire's shoulders, but he was ignored just like Noire ignored Barry in favor of running around as Monochrome Black.

"What are you-?" Noire began to snarl only for Barry to squeeze his shoulders gently. Barry didn't actually have any words for Noire anymore, he still felt the anger and the hurt but he needed the kid to know that he wasn't hated, so he embraced him all the same.

Had anyone ever hated him? He could think of a few very specific people for that role. He'd never hated himself? He had a childhood of blame that said otherwise. But Noire didn't have to hear any of that, it wasn't the kid's place to wear that sort of burden. That was all for Barry.

Barry just wanted Noire to be happy, something he never seemed to be. So even though he was hurting himself, Barry tried to lighten the weight of Noire's heart.

"Don't hurt yourself kid." Barry mumbled quietly, hugging Noire more tightly. "You don't have to feel like you're all alone you know…"

Noire was struggling now, bruised and battered or not, he was still difficult to keep hold of when he really wanted to escape. Despite Barry's efforts, Noire was able to slip out of his arms and back away from Barry like being near him was painful.

"What would you know…?" Noire muttered again, shaking his head as he backed towards the door. "You're perfect."

"Noire." Barry tried to get through to the kid but his voice sounded tired to his own ears. "I'm not-"

"No! Shut up." Noire shouted, eyes screwed shut as his whole body seemed to tremble. "You're the most perfect person I've ever met. If you say you're not perfect than…"

"What would she think of this behavior?" Barry asked, cutting across Noire before he could say something that hurt them both, but in speaking so abruptly he accidentally crossed a line he shouldn't have and Noire ended up getting hurt anyway. "What would Lacie think of you acting this way? Huh? Did you stop to think about what she would think of you now? Would she be proud of you?"

The words came pouring out, but they weren't meant for Noire. Barry knew in the back of his mind that he was caught between talking about his own mother and Noire's. At that moment he couldn't imagine either of them being proud of their children.

Barry saw his red eyes widen a fraction and the crestfallen expression on his face almost made Barry flinch. The look on Noire's face said it all. Noire took a single deep breath, shuddering as he tried to remain composed before finally he turned his back on Barry and left the house without a word, shutting the door behind him quietly. It was the lack of an outburst, the lack of sound or any sort of retaliation that really struck Barry. He knew then he'd said too much, they'd just let a fight get out of control.

Barry's chest felt tight with guilt and his own hurt feelings. No matter how unfair Noire was or how much Barry was sure he was right – he couldn't let the kid go out there and hurt all on his own. He promised to keep the kid safe, to help him grow up without wearing the guilt of his mother's death on his shoulders like Barry had and in one afternoon he'd broken every promise he'd made.

"Kid!" Barry called after Noire, dashing for the door. The moment his fingers connected with the cool metal of the doorknob however, his entire body felt like it had been sucked into a vacuum. The floor seemed to fall out from under his feet and before Barry knew it his world was turning on its side and he was falling to the ground.

He was still conscious but it was not crisp and clear like real life, it felt more like Barry had suddenly been struck hard from behind and was slipping in and out of the waking world and dreams. As he lay on the ground, just trying to breathe and make sense of the what had happened, a set of shoes came to stand in his haze vision.

Struggling Barry tried to lift his gaze but his body refused to obey his commands, the best he could do was look at the shape of the person standing over him. In the poor lighting Barry could just make out a crooked grin.

"Now…where to begin." The voice wasn't one Barry knew. It wasn't a Rouge or Zoom in his home, it was a stranger but he was still in his Flash uniform so this stranger now knew exactly who he was. Crouching down to get a better look at Barry, the stranger's smile stretched out further on his leathery face and Barry could just see something hanging off the figure's face, something like bandages.

"Oh, where to begin with you little hero." The stranger paused before breaking out into a fit of hysterical laughter. "H-Hero, oh…that's wonderful. Come now, lets see how much of a hero you are in my little doll house."

The world was starting to slip away from Barry and as it got darker he found himself staring at the door Noire had just vanished out of. He desperately wished he could take back what he'd said, but it seemed like the world had different plans for him tonight and he was left to fall into unconsciousness with the knowledge that he'd hurt someone.