February 3, 2000

Central City

Prologue

Big Belly Burger was the last thing Officer Michael Sutton needed.

And yet he couldn't be happier as he scarfed down the juicy and severely unhealthy burger before washing it down with an ice cold soda. He knew he needed to cut down on the fatty foods, but there was nothing in this world or the next that could beat a Big Belly Burger.

Plus, he had been craving a meaty burger ever since his wife had decided that they should go on a vegetarian diet and now there wasn't any dish she made that didn't contain tofu. He felt that after putting up with her tofu casseroles that he was entitled to a cheat day every once in awhile, without her knowledge of course.

"Looks like snow," said his partner lazily as he leaned back in his chair and stared up out of the windshield at the white flecks that were starting to fall to the ground.

This year had produced one of the coldest and iciest winters that Central City had seen in over twenty years and after being hit with continuous snow storms, it was safe to say that everybody was ready for spring to come.

"I wish these snow storms would clear up soon," said Michael as he turned the heat up to try and combat the icy cold weather, "I'm tired of shoveling my driveway every morning."

"Or have to unbury your car from a mound of snow in the morning," added his partner as he sipped down the last of his soda.

Michael was about to reply when all of the sudden a yellow flash appeared out of nowhere and crossed the road right in front of them, forcing Officer Sutton to slam on the brakes which caused the patrol car to slide all over the icy road.

Michael gripped the steering wheel tight until his knuckles became white from the pressure as the car finally came to a full and complete stop. He looked over to his partner to make sure that he was okay and was greeted with a stunned expression.

"What the hell was that?" asked his partner as he clutched the armrest, his eyes the size of saucers.

"It was some sort of streak," said a perplexed Michael as his eyes traveled along the road that was being illuminated by the street lamps before he stepped off the brake and accelerated in an attempt to follow it.

"Well whatever it was it was fast," said his freaked partner, "really fast."

Michael pursed his lips as he turned on the sirens, his eyes searching the landscape for any sign of the yellow streak that had nearly caused them to crash their patrol car. They had been driving around for a few minutes before Michael saw a yellow flash in the corner of his eye and turned to see the streak disappear down a side street.

"There! Did you see that?" asked his partner as he frantically pointed in the direction of the streak.

"I saw it," mumbled Michael as he stepped on the gas and turned down the same street before coming to a full stop at the sight that awaited them in the park.

"My God," breathed Michael as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing, his blue eyes wide with fear as he gripped the steering wheel so hard he thought he was going to break his fingers.

The yellow streak was the only thing he could see as it ran around the park at such an incredible speed that the freshly fallen snow had started to rise up in the air and swirl around the yellow phenomenon.

His partner was frozen still in shock as he too stared at the bizarre scene in front of them and Henry could tell that neither of them knew what to do. Fast moving yellow streaks was definitely not in their police training and there was really no protocol that dictated what they should do.

"Call for backup," shouted Henry as he came out of his reverie and pulled out his gun, which he fully intended to use if need be.

Michael jumped out of the patrol car and raised his gun in the air as he slowly stepped closer to the yellow streak, his partner following closely behind him with his gun raised as well.

The sheer force of the wind that was being produced by the yellow lightning was enough to slow his steps as he pushed against the invisible force. His heart pounded in fear and anticipation as he got close enough to the yellow blur to see that there was something, or someone, trapped inside of the fast moving circle.

He was about to fire off a couple of rounds from his gun when all of the sudden, the yellow streak zoomed past the two officers and disappeared in a flash down the street.

As soon as the streak had disappeared Michael heard a thump as something hit the ground and he wasted no time in running over to inspect whatever had been trapped inside the speed force.

His breath hitched as soon as he saw what the streak had left behind and he quickly holstered his gun before reaching down and grabbing the unconscious little girl into his arms and checking her pulse to make sure she was okay.

"Is that a little girl?" shouted his partner in shock and confusion as he stared down at the limp child.

"Call for an ambulance!" cried Michael as he yanked off his coat and wrapped the girl's small and pale body inside the warm jacket to shield her from the cold. She was so small that the jacket completely dwarfed her tiny frame and Henry was sure she could be no older than two or three years old.

She was dressed only in a flimsy torn nightdress that did nothing to protect her from the harsh winter weather and it had been soaked by the wet snow. Her forehead had a fairly sizable gash that extended from her frizzy hairline down to her left eyebrow and Michael had a feeling that it might leave a faint but noticeable scar once it had healed.

Her skin was deathly pale to the point where it was almost an ashy white and her lips were starting to take on a blue tint, which caused the Officer to hold her tighter in his arms in hopes of keeping her warm until the paramedics arrived.

He could feel her shallow breathing and he knew that she had a pulse, but it was much weaker than what it should be. He prayed to God that the ambulance arrived soon because he knew that this little girl would die without medical attention and he was not prepared to have to go through that.

"Where the hell is that ambulance?" he asked his partner, who was frantically talking over the police radio.

"They're on their way but the ice is making it difficult for them to get through," said his partner.

Michael looked back down at the girl and slowly brushed a tight curly strand of hair away from her ashy brown face as he tried to piece together why this child had been even been in this situation. What was she doing out here at night in a snowstorm with nothing more than a flimsy nightgown on?

Michael at this point had no doubt in his mind that she had either been kidnapped or abandoned, but he had no idea how the yellow streak fit into all of this. Had the yellow streak kidnapped her? Was the yellow streak even a person? If so, how was it possible that someone could travel at that type of speed?

No, it just wasn't possible that a human being could run that fast. But then again, he had just seen the impossible and who was he to judge what was or wasn't possible?

Michael was suddenly pulled from his thoughts when he heard the sound of sirens making their way down the street and he breathed a sigh of relief as the ambulance and the other police cars came to a blaring stop and two paramedics jumped out with a stretcher and a much-needed blanket.

"Just hang on, Sweetheart," he said as he watched the EMT's make their way over to them, "everything is going to be just fine."

He was so focused on the child before him that he failed to notice a man in a yellow suit watching them from the shadows in a nearby alley, his eyes glowing a bright crimson red as he watched the Policeman hoist the girl onto the gurney.

He smiled maliciously at the scene as he imagined all the different ways he could hurt the Flash using this little girl. Of all the ways he could hurt the Scarlet Speedster, this was definitely one of the worst.

"Your turn, Allen," he said before disappearing in a yellow flash.