I own Emma, that's it! I know this is a DC universe but I'm throwing Marvel in here too! So I'm sorry if there's some hard core fans out there that are completely upset with me. Word of advice, if it bothers you, don't read it. For those of you who are new to my stories, check out my first story here,

s/10039756/1/Holding-Out-for-a-Red-White-and-Blue-Hero

for the first introduction to Emma. Still not exactly sure where this is heading, but I thought I'd throw this out here and see what you all think. I may or may not change the writing style a bit later on for this. I love hearing from you all, so let me know in the reviews what your thoughts are!

I am already a spin off on this story with Captain Cold and I'm really excited for it.

I sighed. I was sick of not really knowing where I was. I had to be somewhere near the coast, well, I assumed; I could taste salt in the air. I had lost count of the days passed or even what day it was for that fact. I think I washed my clothes, recently? I'm pretty sure I did within this week anyway. The last time I ate was probably early this morning.

Again, I sighed, this time sucking the air a little bit deeper into my lungs. What I do know is my name is Emma Blaser. I'm a mutant. I've been on the run from another, more powerful and dangerous mutant. I had to leave my home, the one I had just found, in order to protect my adopted family. I'm tired. I'm out of coffee. And the sign I just drove by read CENTRAL CITY and I was positive I have never heard of it.

The powerful engine hummed as I steered the car through the streets. I didn't know what exactly it was I was looking for but I kept on, driving further into the city. The streetlights began growing in numbers, the buildings becoming taller and the people multiplied. I caught my mouth agape as I took in the stunning surroundings. A small smile grew on my face; it looked like I had a lot to explore.

To add to the list of things I wasn't sure of anymore, I didn't know how long it took me to drive this far into the city. "A latte would be nice…hmmmmm," I babled to myself. I looked ahead squinting, "What does that say? Jitters? I think that's a coffee cup…" The car slowed down as it neared the building. Gently I steered it through the parking lot, finally settling on a spot.

As I pulled the glass door opened the smell of warm, welcoming coffee hit me. I flattened out my black pea coat and my brown suede boots hit the tiled floor. The café was really quite lovely; it was spacious with white tables, there were some bright red sofa chairs and quiet corners to disappear in. My focus was on the long tan counter to the right of my gaze. Down on the other end was a fairly large clear case in which I desperately hoped contained scrumptious pastries.

"Hi, welcome to Jitters! What can I get for you?" I jumped at the sudden cheery voice. I turned back to the counter in front of me to identify the sound to be greeted by a gorgeous woman whose long black hair fell in lazy twirls down past her shoulders. Her amiable smile was as big as the world. Light chocolate eyes mirrored her grin. "I'm sorry, do you need a few minutes yet?"

Slightly startled I replied, "Oh, um, yeah I guess so. Sorry! Umm…"

"First time here?" the friendly barista asked. I don't exactly know what kind of face I made but it made her chuckle, "Don't worry, I'll help you. We pretty much have anything you'd want; cappuccinos, lattes, tea, coffee. What are you thinking?"

"Um, well, I guess I was thinking a latte." I blatantly swept my eyes across the big menu board trying to decide. Mentally I opted for my choice of drink, what I usually ordered now days. "You know what, give me the biggest sized latte you got with two extra shots of expresso. Oh and could I get that with hazelnut flavoring?"

"Coming right up," the barista smiled at me. "I don't want to push but I noticed you eyeing up the baked goods. I'm just saying but we have awesome kronuts."

I smirked guiltily, "Ah, I shouldn't. But give me like two of those too."

She snorted and went to go to the pastry section. When she came back she handed me the white bag that held the food. "So what brought you all the way to this end of town?"

"Actually, I just drove into the city." She shot me a surprised face and I mentally scolded myself for starting a conversation. I quickly interjected, "I'm just passing through. Needed a breather."

"Where are you heading? It's getting kind of late. Maybe you should stay in town for the night. Here, I'm not going to take no for an answer," she said suddenly. Before I could reject, the woman in front of me pointed a finger at my face. "These kronuts are on me IF you take my advice. We have a phone boooook…. Right here!" from underneath the cash register, she lifted up a thick yellow paperback. "You can borrow this while you drink your latte to look for a hotel to stay for the night. Seriously, you should stay. Besides, the city has a lot going on right now." Her expression was sly as the last few words emphasized escaping her mouth.

I looked at her. I wasn't going to say anything but her chocolate eyes were seducing just as her face was intriguing. "Alright. You got me. What does that mean?" I asked, reluctantly giving in.

She held out her hand, "Let me see your phone. Trust me, I'll pull up a sight you should read." I stared at her for a few moments before reaching into my coat pocket and handing over my phone. "Here is a very valuable blog," she cooed as she handed back the thin item and stepped aside to steam milk. Hesitantly taking her word I peered down to see what mystery article I needed to read.

Bright red letters immediately stood out. 'The Streak' was the only thing I needed to skim to roll my eyes. "Great," I muttered, "more superheroes. Just what I need."

"I'm sorry," I gasped, jumping out of my skin at the new voice, "what did you just say?" My head whirled to reveal a man standing behind me in a red plaid button up. He was much taller than me. Thick, full brown hair teased on top of his head. His hazel eyes were filled with curiosity as they bore into mine. He seemed a little taken aback.

"OH, oh um, nothing. Just uh," I stumbled for any kind of words," you know? Nothing. Psshhh, people right?" I waved my phone quickly and put it in my pocket.

He seemed to understand what article was up on the device. To my surprise, he acted very similar to my reaction to his sudden appearance. "Oh, yeah totally. I mean come on, this guy, just, yeah right," he rambled, running a hand through his perfect hair.

I smirked at him, quite enjoying his comment. I suddenly noticed how flattering his hazel eyes were with the few freckles spackled across his face. He is cute... Deciding to keep the conversation going I pulled out my phone again, glancing down at the website. "The name alone. The Streak? Clearly, no one consulted the poor guy on it."

Again, he took me a bit off guard by laughing, agreeing with me. We stood there briefly still smiling. Finally he opened his mouth to say something but the barista beat him to the punch, "Here's your supercharged latte! Barry! How's it going?"

"I'm great, Iris. Just getting some coffee," adorable guy applied.

The gorgeous woman turned back to me and handed over the oversized cup, "You, go sit over there, enjoy your drink and look for a place to stay."

I snorted, "Thanks." I gathered up the yellow book and my baggie of treats and trekked over to a quiet corner. Hopping up on the bar stool, I couldn't help my eyes wandering back to the counter where 'Barry' and 'Iris' were still conversing. A slumping feeling sat in my chest. "Too bad, he was cute." I turned the paperback to a random page, not exactly interested in looking up hotels. I placed my phone on top of the book and returned to the article about the 'The Streak'. It turns out that there were a couple of pages on this guy accompanied by blurry pictures of something red. I heaved a sigh. Superheroes meant villains which always led to bad news. I wanted to get away from this situation. I had no idea who this 'Streak' guy was or what he could do, but I'm sure he had his hands full without my existence getting in the way; I had my own baggage after all. If this city already had its own vigilante, I didn't want to intrude. Mindlessly, I sipped on the latte while my attention stared at one of the soundless televisions.

Unluckily my gaze kept sneaking back to the phone, to the articles, the fuzzy posts. A curiosity grew in my chest. I picked up my phone hoping that somehow the pictures would become clearer. "Who are you?" I murmured. It would be nice to meet a nice guy, a good guy, like a pause to my seemingly hectic life. "Hmm…" I hummed as I sipped on coffee. It wouldn't hurt to look around tonight. I peeped back towards the barista at the counter, "I mean, after all, I was advised to stay put." My gaze left the woman and toured around the area, unexpectedly meeting with the eyes of the man I had ran into before. Clearly embarrassed, his panicked expression wildly turned and found an interest through the window. A smile crept on my face but it soon left when a glimpse of the gorgeous barista came back into view. They clearly had a thing. And I realized I didn't belong here as my chest felt like it was sinking. I pursed my lips together as I gathered my things. I hopped up to the counter, "Thanks, Iris! You're a big help!" I smiled at her as she gave me a goodbye wave.

Hours later with hands in pockets of the coat, I trudged slowly along the sands of the beach as waves came to their end. My car was parked miles away, back at the city. I had been planning on booking it out of town after the café, but curiosity found the best of me. I parked the Audi on a quieter part of the city and I wandered, hoping to catch a glimpse of the so called Streak. All I found was my way to the outskirts of town by the coast. Everything had been quiet.

I continued a meandering stroll down the beach. Staring out at the water, a sense of sereneness started to flow throughout my being; the whooshing of the waves calmed my beating heart. I took a quick glance around me to see if I was alone, when I was sure, I extended my arm and the water began to dance. I couldn't help but smile. It seemed like forever since I've been able to use my mutant abilities, like they were cooped up. This felt like stretching and it was amazing. I began laughing as I started to jog and I took hold of more of the liquid, all of it twirling, swaying around. I spun in circles and the water came to me, spinning with me. Bliss; it was a sentiment I've only met rarely in recent times. I found it harder and harder to be happy these days, but this was wonderful to be myself. It was peaceful.

I let the water settle back to the way it was. I stared out over the vastness, composed, utterly complete. I sucked in a deep breath, letting it out gradually. My hands found the warmness of the coat pockets. "Wow," I jerked around putting my fists in front of me at the sound of a male's voice. "It's okay! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" My eyebrows furrowed when I spotted the source of the sound. A man, a few yards ahead of me, had his arms in front of him surrendering. He was covered in a scarlet suit, all of him, from his feet to his head. The mask covered a majority of his face besides his eyes, nose and lips. A large gold lightning bolt rested in the middle of his chest.

I lowered my defensive arms, greeting him slightly, "I didn't even hear you sneak up on me. What are you doing way out here?"

"My team picked up some weird energy vibes out here. Hence, why I came," he answered, dropping his arms as well. My eyes kept sweeping up and down his suit, waiting for any surprises.

"Hmm, a team. So it's not just you in all of this?" I asked. I took a step towards him, recognizing him from the blurry photos I studied earlier. "It's kind of funny, I was actually trying to find you before. Yet all it took was some of my magic."

He chuckled, "Oh really? And why would you want to find me?" He also took a few steps towards me, clearly amused.

I shrugged, "Curiosity, I guess." I halted when I was a few feet from the skinny man in the red suit. I hooked my hands behind my back and tilted my head. To my amusement, he mirrored the head tilt and placed his hands on his hips. I didn't sense any danger standing close to him. My tone became cocky, "So, what is it that you do?" A simple sly smirk appeared on his lips to which I started to regret my question and my eyes grew wide.

A yelp escaped my mouth when something warm wrapped around my waist. I couldn't focus on the scenery around me; at first thinking I was incredibly, suddenly dizzy when everything was a blur, but then realizing my hair was whipping past my face, I was moving astonishingly fast. It took me a few seconds to apprehend the man in the red suit was carrying me only after attempting to focus my vision. My arms found his shoulders, mildly afraid of being tossed off. As quickly as it had begun, the world abruptly became visible again and my hands couldn't seem to grasp the man anymore. The momentum did not agree with my body and soon I was knocked down on the cool grass. I laid on my back as I closed my eyes, my hand reaching up to rub my forehead.

"Oh balls…" I moaned. I heard laughing above me. Slowly, I opened my eyelids and glared at the guy who had the biggest smile on his face. "Alright, alright. You're fast. I get it. Jerk. Ughh…" I hesitantly sat up, leaning on my hands. Noticing I was actually laying on grass, I looked up and saw I wasn't near the coast anymore. In fact, the city buildings were just behind me when I turned. "Huh…. Okay then. Okay, Speedy Gonzales," I slowly spoke, "Please tell me you're not calling yourself the Streak?" I turned to look up at him.

He snorted again and sauntered at me, "No. I was pretty fond of The Flash. What do you think?"

I nodded, "Alright, The Flash. I can roll with that." I lifted an open palm at him to which he took in his strong grip, pulling me up. He was several inches taller than I when I came to a stance. "Call me Vapor."

"Vapor? My buddy is going to be a little disappointed that he doesn't get to come up with a cool name for you," he laughed. I couldn't help but notice his big, goofy smile, how one of his teeth was a little bit crooked but that's what made it all the better. His warmth towards me was refreshing. I couldn't help but return the gesture. "Back to my previous question, why were you looking for me?"

I shrugged, "Like I said, I was curious. I was just rolling through town when you came up. Thought it would be a nice change of pace to meet a good guy."

The man's smile faded slightly, making me feel like I had said something wrong. "You're not from here?"

I simply shook my head in response. "Why?" I cautiously asked, my chest slowly becoming heavy.

The Flash merely stared at me. Hesitantly he continued seemingly a little bit dazed, "It's just… I haven't met anyone-like me- who's from outside Central City. You sure you weren't cruising through town a couple of months ago?" He crossed his arms loosely as he stood closer to me.

For some reason I had a difficult time trying to concentrate on what his words meant. My face scrunched as I attempted to focus on my explanation, "Trust me, I have never been near this place in my life." I placed hands on my hips. It was dark, so I couldn't see what his eyes were saying. But his general concern and confusion made me realize he didn't have that much experience in the freak department. "Are you…alone? I mean, not alone-alone, but like different-alone?"

"I've dealt with metahumans. I've only been this way for a few months. I guess I thought people affected by the explosion were only from here."

"What? What's a metahuman?"

A whirling of crackling abruptly caught my attention away from the scarlet man. I whipped my head around to locate the source of the distraction. Preparing for a fight, I bent my knees slightly and raised my arms as I turned. A blur of blue light was heading towards us. I pivoted my feet in order grab the Flash's arm and with all my strength and power, I managed to toss the man to the side with a grunt, with just enough time to turn back to the oncoming assault. Before I realized what was happening, a foot in front of me the ground violently shook as the blue light impacted. And everything disappeared.