Hey all SnowmobilingSeal here! This is my first Flash fan fiction but the idea for this story wouldn't leave my head for some time, there are going to be some differences compared to the show, I'll mention them briefly.

A few different things from the show, Thea Queen, Jesse "Quick" Wells, and Wally West are all 18. In this Laurel is already dead, and Barry has come back from the past in 2x17, and Jesse never left. The Supergirl/Flash crossover happened a little earlier and Team Flash knows about her.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Flash, Arrow/Green Arrow, or Supergirl or any of the DC characters, I only own the OCs

Ok let's get started!

The peaceful, serene, quiet morning of Central City was interrupted by the shrilling noise of an alarm clock, followed by a string of curses from the 18-year-old boy lying in bed next it. Aiden Riley smacked his alarm clock, put it on snooze, and tried to return back to his peaceful sleep.

At least, he tried to until the door opened revealing his mother, and in typical Tracey Riley fashion, pulled the sheets from over his body exposing him to the morning climate. He groaned and told his mother to leave him alone.

She held her ground and said, "Come on, it's your last exam today and then your finished high school, so you can't be late for it."

Then, like a dam breaking, memories came flooding back in full force. Studying the previous night for his history exam. Memorizing names, dates, events, key players in those events, and the important factors in those key players' life. Then the realization hit him-holy shit, he finished high school today!

"Alright, I'll get ready and meet you at the car," he told his mom, "just give me a few minutes to make myself presentable."

As soon as his mom left his room, he got up and looked in the mirror, he was pretty sure a horror movie monster looked back at him.

His shaggy and messy looking black hair looked like he had walked through a tornado before he went to sleep, and his baby blue eyes looked bloodshot and tired, very tired. Although he would never admit it to anybody but himself, he really was overweight and kinda short too (5'3, to be exact). But then, that look came with the whole 'I want to do well in school and screw sports' student that he was.

Aiden spent about 15 minutes cleaning himself up and trying to pick out a good outfit for the final exam-because come on, he's finishing high school today!- and he ended up with a pair of denim jeans, a blue striped shirt, and some regular white socks.

He ran to his desk and grabbed his materials for the day, pencils, pens, and of course- a student's best friend- an eraser and some whiteout.

Aiden came downstairs and grabbed a quick breakfast bar before rushing out to his mom who was in the car on their driveway. He got in, settled himself and started to eat the breakfast bar.

The drive was, for the most part, pretty uneventful, with his mom quizzing him about history and him getting all the questions right. He was right now preoccupied with eating his breakfast bar and freaking out about finishing high school when his mom said something that stopped him in his tracks.

"So, I was thinking," she paused and then continued, "maybe you could head over to the cemetery after the exam and let your dad know that you just finished high school."

Aiden froze, his breakfast bar forgotten. This topic had always been a bit of a sensitive one, he had always been close to his Dad but then when he had gotten shipped out to Afghanistan numerous times, it was always hard for Aiden to readjust to life without his dad. The day he had found out was horrible, and he would never forget it for as long as he lived.

7 years ago….

11-year-old Aiden Riley was in his room doing homework, while his Mom was cooking a feast downstairs. The reason? His dad, Jack Riley, was coming home after his longest tour yet in Afghanistan. Aiden was excited, he had gotten 100% on his science test today, and was very eager to tell his father about it.

He finished his homework and then turned on the tv and decided to watch some of his favourite cartoon shows. He watched them for about 1 hour and few minutes before his mother eagerly called him down to eat some dinner.

Aiden walked into the kitchen and was greeted by an amazing smell. It wasn't of food, or drinks, or his mom's perfume, it was of home. He never remembered smelling this before and he was excited, his dad was coming home, he would get to tell him about his test. Aiden and his dad could go out and play some basketball, or maybe some soccer, or whatever his dad liked.

The doorbell rang, and his mom practically sprinted to the front door. There was a moment of silence, and then the world ended.

Tracey Riley ended up breaking down in tears and falling her to her knees. Aiden, confused, walked to the door. In the doorway stood a dark-skinned man in an army uniform. He briefly looked at Aiden and his eyes widened.

"You look just like him…" he had said. This was not uncommon, people often said he looked very much like his parents.

Aiden had watched enough movies throughout his life and he knew that his dad was never coming home, never going to see him graduate, never going to see him get married, get his first job, or even get to see his own grandkids. Aiden's whole world shattered, but somehow he managed to get the words out of his mouth.

"How did it happen?"

"Our unit was escorting some local civilians to a safe zone, we came under fire and the only safe place for them was a building in a village close by," he paused, gathered his thoughts and continued, "the catch was that someone was going to have to stay behind and distract them, and it was very likely that whoever it was, was not going home. Your dad," he stopped again, his words catching in his throat, "he was so stubborn, he pushed everyone away and told them to get to the building, Jack pulled me aside and told me that if he didn't make it, he wanted me to be the one to tell you."

Suddenly, Aiden's hollow heart was lifted a bit, his dad had died a hero, saving people like he always had.

"Aiden," the man started, "he told me to give you this."

The army man handed Aiden a pocket watch and inside of it, was a picture of him and his dad when he had won his very first science fair. Aiden gave in to the tears, and they started rolling down his cheeks, leaving marks as they made their way down.

"I'm truly sorry for your loss," he said.

"Thank you for telling me," Aiden said, his voice sounded unnaturally calm, "but sir, I don't know your name, would you please tell me?"

The man chuckled softly and looked at him, "John," he said with a smile, "John Diggle."

End of Flashback

He snapped back to reality and noticed his mom was staring at him, wondering what was going through his head.

"Yeah," he said, "I'll go today and let him know."

They spent the rest of the car ride in silence.

His mom dropped him off at the front of the school and drove off, wishing him good luck, and to make her proud.

Waiting for him at the front of the school was his best friend Liam Smith, his brown hair in its usual spiky style, and his green eyes glued to his screen. Ever since the two had first met they had been the best of friends, close enough to be considered brothers. And, Liam had a way of helping Aiden when he was at his lowest….

6 years ago

12-year-old Aiden Riley was in the playground, but he really wasn't in the playground. His mind was always thinking about his dad. Running scenario's through his head over and over again. Aiden kept telling himself that his dad wasn't dead, but he knew the truth, his dad wasn't coming home.

So consumed by his thoughts he didn't notice young Liam Smith walking up to him and sitting next to him.

"I hear about what happened to your dad," he had said, "and I didn't know him, and I don't know you, but I know he wouldn't want you wasting your time moping, so come on! Let's go play some soccer!"

Aiden knew, deep in his heart that Liam was right, his dad wouldn't want him to sulk, he would want him to remember him at his best and live his life to the fullest.

Aiden looked at Liam, and when their eyes met, Aiden smiled and said, "Let's go play, I want to make sure you know who the better soccer player is in this friendship."

And they were friends ever since.

End of Flashback

"Yo!" Aiden said in greeting to his best friend.

Liam looked up from his phone and flicked his head towards Aiden to say 'Hi' back. They started walking together towards the classroom towards their final exam. Aiden looked over Liam's shoulder to get a better look at what he was looking at on his screen, but Liam looked up at him and mentioned about a party tonight at some girl's house, Aiden declined, he never was much of a partier.

(His decline to the invite wouldn't matter much anyway when it happened)

"Dude come on! You know," he said with a teasing grin on his face, "Christina is going to be there."

Heat immediately rushed to Aiden's face at the mention of his crush and other best friend, Christina Pearce. Her curly blonde hair, her beautiful blue eyes, and most importantly, in Aiden's opinion, her absolutely amazing intelligence. They had been friends for some time, but Aiden never had the courage to tell her how he felt about her. Aiden felt himself inadequate, with his thick black hair, tired eyes, and less than ideal physique.

"Can we just focus on the fact that we are finishing high school today!" Aiden tried to redirect the conversation into something a little more comfortable.

Luckily for him, Liam didn't seem to notice, and that was probably for the best, since Christina pulled up next to them. Aiden's heart seem to beat a little bit faster whenever she was near him. The trio said their greetings and got ready to face the final test of high school together.

Aiden, Liam, and Christina walked into the auditorium where they would be doing their final exam and picked the seats closest to each other, not to cheat of course, but having each other around provided some comfort for each other.

2 hours, 45 minutes, and 36 seconds later…..

It had taken a shit load of time for the trio to finish because of the stupid amount of essay questions on the exam itself. But once it was finished, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that high school was over and it was time to start a new chapter in their lives. Especially Aiden.

Liam had to leave early because he needed to get ready for the party that was going on later that night. Christina was going too, and was determined to badger Aiden into going as well.

"Come on!" she complained, "You should go, you might meet a girl, and she might see the way I do, as an amazing guy with a good heart."

Apparently not good enough to consider thinking about me like that Aiden thought to himself.

Aiden had enough and silently committed, that by the end of the day, he would tell Christina he was in love with her. But first he had to talk to his dad.

"Hey Christina, I have to head to the cemetery today to see my dad," Christina immediately understood why and nodded, "but I need to tell you something important, so can we meet up at Jitters at 3?"

"Sure."

"Great, see you then!" Aiden then ran off to catch the train and go to the final resting place of his father.

Aiden knew cemeteries were creepy at times, but sometimes they were extra creepy, the one where is father was buried, was high up so fog often rolled in. The fog was especially thick today and that made the atmosphere even creepier.

He knew his way around, had been here enough times to know where he was going and suddenly found himself in front of his father's grave.

Jack Riley

Father

Son

Brother

Husband

Hero

"Hey Dad," Aiden spoke to the grave, hoping that wherever his dad was, he could hear him, "I finished high school today. It's a really great feeling, knowing that I'm starting a new chapter of my life. Oh, and funnily enough, I've decided to tell her Christina how I feel." He paused and then continued. "I hope it goes well, and I hope even more that wherever you are, you're proud of me, because I am so proud of you too." Aiden then started to sob a little, his father wasn't here to help him pick out colleges or universities, wasn't here to give his approval of his decision to tell Christina, wasn't here to teach him how to drive, he just wasn't here.

"Heh, I've always been a bit of a cry baby, I need to work on that, but I just wanted you to know what happened today, goodbye Dad, I'll be back here in a few weeks to let you know what university or college I've decided on."

As Aiden walked out of the cemetery he felt a rush of cool wind, hopefully that meant that his dad approved.

Jitters had always been busy, but for some reason today it seemed extra busy, but he could easily spot the blonde hair that belonged to Christina. He picked up his coffee and went over to the table. They talked for awhile about everything and nothing, and then Christina wanted Aiden to walk her home, since they lived so close to each other.

I'll tell her on the way there Aiden decided.

The walk back to her house was pleasant and it was quiet, perfect atmosphere to tell her exactly how he felt around her, how she made him feel.

Here we go

"Christina," She turned her head to look at him, "there's been something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time but never got the chance."

"Yeah?"

"Christina, I-" He never finished the statement though because at that precise moment, he heard a loud boom followed by a lot of windows being shattered.

"The only thing that could cause that type of damage-" Christina started.

"Is a sonic boom…" Aiden finished.

He looked down the street and squinted, and in the distance he could vaguely see 2 streaks heading down the road.

A blue and red streak. The Flash and that other guy, what did he call himself? Oh right Zoom

And they were heading right towards Aiden and Christina

Oh shit

Good? Bad? Terrible? Amazing? Awesome? Let me know in the reviews!

This SnowmobilingSeal signing off!