Chapter 1: Purpose
The day the scanner flashed red was the day Barry's life ended. How was he supposed to know that he was poisoned with this abnormality? It wasn't his fault that he had been chosen to have these powers. If he could simply return his powers to wherever they had come from he would do it in a heartbeat.
The Central City police department had been placed on lockdown until they could find the metahuman hidden within the building. After a few hours had passed, two men in suits joined the men meant to 'guard' the premises, arriving with blood scanners and even more unnervingly, guns.
"Line up in two lines, single file!" one of the men barked at the confused officers.
Barry, upon hearing this order, lined up with the rest of the men, just as weary as the rest of them. One by one, each of the men scanned green and they let out an audible sigh of relief. Joe West, Barry's adoptive father, whispered to Barry, "Don't worry kid, you got nothing to fear. If you had some sort of superpower I'm pretty sure I would know. I do live with you." He gave Barry a pat on the back and added, "Unfortunately. Did you know you left your boxers on the couch again."
Barry laughed lightly at Joe's attempt to lighten the mood. "Once. I did that a total of one time."
"Twice now. But man, now you're gonna stink up the living room for days." Joe replied, crinkling his nose.
"Next," the man called. Barry inched towards him holding out his wrist. The needle pricked Barry's wrist, drawing a small drop of blood. The scanner took a minute to evaluate his blood sample. In just a short second, the scanner flashed red. Barry's eyes widened in disbelief. He looked back at Joe, whose blood had drained from his face. There was a moment where everyone froze, slowly processing that Barry Allen, the CSI worker they passed every day, was a metahuman.
The moment ended when the other man shouted, "Seize him!"
"No. Run, Barry run! Get out of here!" Joe shouted, trying to push through the wall of soldiers blocking his path.
Time seemed to move in slow motion for Barry. It wasn't just your same old time slowing down after an awkward situation or something, time actually slowed around him. It took a split second for Barry to process Joe's plea. He ran. Two soldier stood in Barry's way out in the hallway, tasers outstretched. The larger of the two soldiers lunged with the taser, but Barry dodged at almost superhuman speed.
"Woah." Barry exhaled, staring at his hands. The other soldier lunged again but Barry was much quicker, taking the taser out of his hands before he knew what hit him and shock the soldier until he fell to the ground.
"Warning! Meta is breaking out! I repeat meta is breaking out!" the remaining soldier shouted loudly so that the entire building could've heard him.
"Shut up!" Barry hissed, wasting no time, knocking the soldier out with a swift punch to the jaw. It wasn't long before a river of soldiers, led by the two men in suits flooded into the hallway after him. Barry ran, but the men were gaining on him, fast.
I have to go faster. Barry thought. Faster! He sprinted faster than he thought possible, exiting the building in one swift motion. In a flash, he was home. What the… How'd I get home? Barry wondered. He wondered if he was dreaming, glancing around the house nervously. The boxers left on the couch brought him out of his stupor. He couldn't have such a detailed dream. And this seemed so real for something so impossible.
"Barry? You're home early. Where's dad?" Barry spun around to see Iris, his adoptive sister and major crush.
"Oh my god! Barry! You're bleeding!" Iris gasped.
"Huh?" Barry asked, confused. His eyes followed Iris' gaze to his shoulder. Sure enough, a stain of red was already pooling on his shirt.
"Oh… I must've gotten shot while they were chasing me." Now that Iris had mentioned it, Barry felt an explosion of pain from his left shoulder and grimaced darkly.
"Are you alright? What happened? What do you mean? Who's chasing you?" Iris asked, eyes wide in fright for Barry, fearing the worst.
Barry applied pressure to his wound to try to stop the bleeding, "I think I'm in trouble. I don't know how, but I am."
Eyes, still wide with concern, Iris said, "Why don't you start from the beginning?"
Barry ran his other hand through his hair, sighing, "Well, at the precinct today, a couple of men came to find a meta in the building…" Barry began.
"Did they not find him? Is he on the loose?"
"Iris…" Barry trailed off, not knowing how to put this into words, "I-I'm the meta."
Iris stepped back unconsciously, the very reaction Barry had hoped not to receive, fear.
"No, no, Iris! I'm not dangerous I swear!" Barry pleaded. Iris regained her composure and gave him a reassuring smile.
"I know Bar, it's just a lot to take in." She took a deep breath. "You have to get that wound of yours patched up first. I have some bandages in the kitchen. Then you should get out of the city Barry. It's the only way you can be safe with the government searching far and wide for metas like you."
"I know," Barry sighed, "I'll miss you." He stepped forward and Iris wrapped her arms around him for a hug.
"I'll miss you too, Barry Allen." Iris said, eyes watering. Suddenly, alarms sounded, heard throughout the entire town.
"Public city announcement! A young man in his mid-twenties has evaded custody. He has attacked two soldiers and has been pronounced a public threat. He may have a bullet wound from our soldiers If you see him, please turn him into the nearest meta-collection center immediately. A photograph will be released shortly. Until this criminal is found, the city will be placed on lockdown. No one leaves or enters the city." With a beep, the voice signed off.
Slowly, Iris looked up at Barry. "You need to hide, Bar. We can sneak you out of here. O-or we can-"
"Calm down Iris." Barry took a shaky breath. "First, I have to bandage this thing." He said, gesturing to his wound.
"Oh! Yes, of course." She scurried to the kitchen, digging through the drawers until she found a roll of thick cloth. She did her best to bandage his gushing shoulder and tied it off with shaky hands.
"Okay," Barry said, "What now?"
"You still haven't told me what you what your power is, Mr. Superhero," Iris joked, punching him lightly in the shoulder to lighten the mood.
"Super speed." Barry replied.
"What! That's actually pretty cool despite all this." Iris grinned.
"No! It is so not cool! See what it costed me! I'm the most wanted man in Central City and there's a hole in my shoulder!" Barry was practically steaming from his anger.
"Barry. It's not your fault that you're different. In fact, the world could use a little different nowadays." With this, Barry's face lifted. Maybe all hope was not lost. A scream pierced through the room and the two of them rushed to the window to see what had happened.
"Please! Please don't take my daughter!" A woman was crying on her knees while officers pried a little girl, no more than 7 years old from the woman's arms.
"Mommy! Don't let them take me!" The girl thrashed in the steel hold of the officer who cuffed her and handed her to another man in the meta-collection truck.
"Please don't take her. I'm all she has left. She doesn't even have powers! She's not a threat, I swear! Just don't take her from me." The woman begged to the pitiless face of the officer.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. She may not be a threat to society now. But she could become one and we can't take that risk." With that, the officer jumped into the truck and took off for the Meta Correction Facility, leaving the mother sobbing on the street.
Barry tore his eyes away from the window in disgust. How could they take the little girl from her own mother? She wasn't dangerous and neither was he. Could the people be wrong about metahumans? Maybe they weren't all as dangerous as the government made them out to be.
All Barry knew is that families could not keep being teared apart like this. While the little girl had been taken away, he had stood, helplessly and he hated it. What if he could make a difference? Families deserved to stay together, not be torn apart because chance gifted one with powers.
Barry looked up to see Iris staring at him. "What are you thinking in that brilliant mind of yours?"
"I don't want to hide, or run away," Barry said firmly, "I want to use my powers for good. To save metahumans like me from being taken away."
Hey guys. Welcome to my very first story :D Read and tell me what you think in the reviews! I might do weekly reviews depending on school. Hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it :)