To understand what I'm about to tell you, you need to do something first. You need to believe in the impossible. Can you do that? Good. My name is Barry Allen. I am the fastest man alive. Well, one of them anyway. Now to start my story I'm going to take you back to the day my life changed forever. I was running late as usual and had just made it off the elevator at the CCPD precinct. I guess that I should mention that I'm a CSI there. Anyway I was trying my best not to be seen and make it up the stairs to my lab before Captain Singh caught me when I ran into someone and feel to the ground.
"Oh my god I am so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," Barry apologized. He was so embarrassed he didn't even look at the guy.
"It's all right accidents happen." He offered a hand and helped me up. "Can I help you find someone?"
"Oh no. I'm Barry Allen, I work in the CSI lab upstairs," he introduced himself as he dusted off his clothes.
"Eddie," Joe's voice called out, "I see you've meet Barry. Barry this is our new Detective Eddie Thawne. He's a transfer from Keystone." Barry finally looked up and his heart stopped. He had never seen someone so beautiful.
"Um hi," Barry said not sure what else to say his brain couldn't seem to form sentences. He stuck his hand out to shake his hand. Eddie grabbed his and shook it and Barry hoped he wasn't sweating.
"It's nice to meet you," Eddie said the most amazing smile on his face.
"Alright, why don't we let Barry get a move on before he gets caught? He's running a little late. Again." They all shared a small laugh before Barry continued on his way to his lab.
Probably not the beginning you were expecting but I promise that it's important to the story I'm going to be telling. You see the day I meet Eddie Thawne was the day I started moving forward in my life. That was the day I stopped cling so hard to the past. That was the day life started to get better. The day I had more to live for than trying to free my dad.
And now on to the part you were probably expecting. The part of my story that set me on the path to becoming a superhero. Well it starts the night that my mother was murdered. It happened one night when I was little. I woke up to screaming and I ran down stairs. It was like there was a lightning store in my house. Lightning was flying around the room circling my mom. In the lightning I could see a man. She screamed for me to stay back and as soon as my dad showed up I found myself outside a few streets away from my house. By the time I got back they were arresting my dad and my mother was dead. Nobody would believe me about the man in the lightning that I saw. That night I went to stay with my best friend Iris West and her father Joe. That became my new home and family. But let's skip head to the day all of those pieces started to come together. It started like any other day with a crime and me running late.
"This is the second robbery this week. The teller I.D.'d Clyde Mardon as the shooter," Joe said to his partner.
"What? Oh, jeez, the Mardon Brothers are back?" his partner complained.
"What do we got?" Captain Singh asked as he walked over to the two detectives.
"Perps took the bank, shot out the cameras, and, as a chaser, killed the security guard over there. I've got unis kicking in doors of known Mardon Brothers associates," Joe explained.
"CSI been over it?"
"Uh, no."
"Where's Allen? You can't keep covering for him. If he's not here now, I'm going to have to carry on this investigation without him."
"Sorry I'm late, Captain Singh," Barry said as he ran up to the group.
"What was it this time, Mr. Allen? Did you forget to set your alarm clock? Before you answer, I should remind you the excuse you gave last time was car trouble. Want to know why that one was particularly memorable?"
"I do not own a car," Barry said guiltily.
"He was running an errand for me," joe cut in. "Barry, did you get me what I asked for?"
"Um no. I wasn't able to find it in time and I would've been even later if I continued to look. Sorry," Barry said as he began to look over the scene. "Getaway car's a Mustang Shelby GT500. Shelby's have a rear super-wide tire specific to that model. 12 inches with an asymmetrical tread. And there's something else," Barry said plucking the pen from the Captain's pocket with a quick "Thanks". He then used it to pick up a piece of the dirt and smell it. "Fecal excrement. Animal, I'd guess."
"My dad gave me that pen... Before he died."
"Sorry."
"Okay, I am ready to see this atom smasher smashing," Iris said walking into the lab.
"There was a shooting today. Your dad needs me to process some evidence, which means I don't know if we're going to be able to make it to S.T.A.R. Labs," Barry said clearly disappointed.
"But seeing this thing turn on is like your dream. Your sad, little nerdy dream. Besides, I canceled a date for this, Iris said while she started to eat Barry's fries.
"Hands off my fries."
"Unbelievable. I'm stress eating over my dissertation. We started selling cronuts at Jitters. I ate two today. If I don't graduate soon, I'm going to be more muffin top than woman."
"You look amazing Barry said trying to comfort his friend. All she did was scoff at him.
"What is so important about this particle accelerator anyway?"
"Harrison Wells' work in quantum theory is light-years ahead of anything they're doing at Cern."
"You're doing that thing where you're not speaking English."
"Okay," Barry said stepping up to the whiteboard and drawing a dot on it. "Just imagine that this dot is everything the human race has ever learned until this moment."
"Does that include "twerking"?"
"That, is everything we could learn from the particle accelerator," he explained as he drew a large circle around the dot. It's a whole new way of looking at physics. It will literally change the way that we think about everything."
"You got to get yourself a girlfriend."
"Hey, leave him alone. He's working," Joe said walking into the lab.
"Hi, dad." A beep was heard in the room. "Your test thingy is done."
"I think the Mardon Brothers are hiding on a farm," Barry said looking over the results and then handing them to Joe. "The fecal matter I found on the street, it was cow manure, which contained traces of oxytetracycline. It's an antibiotic. There are only four farms in the area that still use it in their feed. Bet you find a really sweet Shelby parked at one of them."
"Dad, seeing as how Barry solved your poop problem, how about letting him go to S.T.A.R. Labs?"
"Fine, go."
"Yes! Thank you, Joe."
"So, Barry, how was your trip? Did you find proof of the impossible in Starling City, or did you just make my dad mad for no reason?"
"Actually, while I was away, I had a chance to think about... You know, relationships. And, well, I'm not in one. And you're not in one, either. And you're my best friend, Iris."
"You're mine too. Why else would I be here?"
"That's not what I meant. What I..."
"I know what you're going to say, Barry."
"I'm not sure you do."
"Even though we pretty much grew up in the same house together, and we're kind of like brother and sister, but because we're not brother and sister, it can get really weird and awkward to talk to me about girls. But I just want you to know that it shouldn't be awkward. There is nothing that I want more than for you to meet the right girl that totally loves and adores you for the amazing guy that you are."
"Took the words right out of my mouth."
"Aw, aren't you glad I know you so well?" But not well enough to know that I like boys too. A certain detective to be precise Barry thought to himself.
"Thank you. My name is Harrison Wells. Tonight, the future begins. The work my team and I will do here will change our understanding of physics. We'll bring about advancements in power, advancements in medicine, and trust me, that future will be here faster than you think." As everyone began to clap someone bumped into Iris and took off with her bag.
"Oh, hey, my laptop! It's got my dissertation." Barry took off after the guy. The guy smacked him in the face as he rounded the corner.
"All right, kid, you don't have to do this, all right? Just give me back my friend's bag, and we'll call it even. Okay?" The guy acted like he was going to give it back when he hit Barry again.
"Barry!" Iris called out as she ran to catch up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"Freeze! Police," Eddie ordered. "Or do you want to find out the hard way you're not faster than a bullet?" And there he was Eddie Thawne the very same detective Barry had been thinking of earlier.
"Who is that guy, and what is he so proud of," Iris asked once they were back in the police station? "So he caught a mugger?"
"He's a transfer from Keystone. Started a few months ago. His names Eddie Thawne."
"Oh, that's Detective Pretty Boy." Barry schooled his face into one of confusion and hoped that his face didn't blush as he mentally agreed. "That's what my dad calls him. Says he actually keeps score when it comes to arrests. He is pretty though."
I'm Linda Park, and we're live outside S.T.A.R. Labs despite the inclement weather, which is only going to get worse. The torrential downpour has in no way affected the particle accelerator, which is up and running smoothly according to S.T.A.R. Labs CEO Harrison Wells. Barry turned away from his computer screen when he heard a knock at his lab door.
"Hey Bar, I heard the guy hit you. Is your nose alright? Yeah it's just a little sore now," Barry said as he stepped up at the skylight chain. Barry pulled on the chain and it didn't move. "Hey can you help me with this."
"Sure," Eddie said walking over. He placed his hand above Barry's on the chain and they both pulled it moved a little and Eddie's hand slid on top of Barry's. They both froze and looked at each other. "So, I was wondering," Eddie started, "we been friends for a few months and I just wanted to know if you would like to…" But he never got to finish his question. Before he could finish the bolt of lightning came down the chain and they were both sent flying into the shelves.
"What are you doing," Caitlin asked as she walked into see Cisco singing along to Pokerface.
"Barry likes this song."
"How could you possibly know that?"
"I checked his Facebook page. I mean, they can hear everything, right?"
"Auditory functions are the last sensory faculties to degenerate." Barry shot up gasping for air. "Oh, my God! Where am I?"
"He's up. Dr. Wells, get down to the cortex, like, right now," Cisco called over the intercom.
"Pulse 120, pupils equally reactive to light," Caitlin said as she checked over Barry.
"Hey, hey, whoa, whoa, relax. Everything's okay, man. You're at S.T.A.R. Labs."
"S.T.A.R. Labs? Who are you," Barry asked confused?
"I'm Cisco Ramon. She's Caitlin... Dr. Snow."
"I need you to urinate in this."
"Not right this second," Cisco said giving her a look.
"What, what is happening? What's going on?"
"You guys were struck by lightning, dude."
"What," Barry asked shocked? Then he saw himself on the monitor. "Lightning gave me abs?"
"Your muscles should be atrophied, but instead they're in a chronic and unexplained state of cellular regeneration. Come here. Have a seat. You were in a coma."
"For how long?"
"Nine months."
"What," he asked but then he noticed the second bed in the room. "When is he going to wake up?"
"We don't know," Dr. Snow said. "We couldn't even be sure if or when you would wake up." Barry got up off the chair and walked over to him. Barry stared at Eddie laying there not moving on the bed. Barry reach forward and touched his hand. Barry felt a spark when their hands met and then Eddie was shooting up the same way he had except Barry's name was what was on his lips.
"Hey it's ok," Barry said trying to calm him down. He had placed his hand on Eddie's chest to keep him in the bed. Eddie reached up and grabbed his hand.
"Barry," he said "what happened?"
"Yea, I'm here. We apparently got struck by lightning."
"What," Eddie asked looking Barry over? "Lightning gave you abs?"
Barry laughed "That's what I said." Barry saw Eddie relax back on to the bed as they laughed. Then Dr. Snow was stepping over to check on Eddie like she had with Barry. Then a voice spoke from over by the door "Welcome back, Mr. Allen and Mr. Thawne. The three of us have a lot to discuss." Barry looked only to see Dr. Harrison Wells in a wheelchair.
"It's hard to believe I'm here," Barry said as they walked around the lab. I have always wanted to meet you face to face.
"Yeah? Well, you certainly went to great lengths to do it. S.T.A.R. Labs has not been operational since FEMA categorized us as a class four hazardous location. 17 people died that night. Many more were injured. Myself amongst them."
"Wow. What happened?" Eddie asked as they took in the damage.
"Nine months ago, the particle accelerator went online exactly as planned. For 45 minutes, I had achieved my life's dream. And then... Then there was an anomaly. The electron volts became unmeasurable, the ring under us popped. Energy from that detonation was thrown into the sky and that, in turn, seeded a storm cloud..."
"That created the lightning bolt that struck us."
"That's right. I was recovering myself... When I heard about you two. The hospital was undergoing unexplainable power outages every time either of you were going into cardiac arrest, which was actually a misdiagnosis because you see, you weren't flat lining. Your heartbeat was moving too fast for the EKG to register it. Now, I'm not the most popular person in town these days, but Detective West and his daughter gave me permission to bring you here, where we were able to stabilize you," Dr. Wells said as they made their way back into the cortex.
"Iris?"
"Iris, yes. She came to see you quite often."
"She talks a lot."
"Also, she's hot."
"I need to go."
"No, you can't."
"No, Caitlin's right. No, now that you're both awake, we need to do more tests. You're still going through changes. There's so much that we don't know."
"I'm fine. Really, I feel normal," Barry said as he made his way to the exit. "Thank you for saving my life" and then he was gone. "Can I keep the sweatshirt?" He asked popping back into the room.
"Yeah, keep the sweatshirt".
"I'll follow him and make sure he's ok," Eddie said.
"Come back if anything happens."
"Sure," Eddie said and followed Barry out. Not to long after they left they found themselves standing outside of Jitters. Barry and Eddie stood watching Iris though the window. Barry smiled when she looked up and saw them.
"Oh my God," she said as he walked through the door. "You're both awake. Why didn't S.T.A.R. Labs call us?
"We just woke up."
"Should you even be on your feet?"
"Iris, I... I'm okay."
"I watched you die, Barry. You kept dying. Your heart kept stopping."
"It's still beating."
"Feels really fast."
"Oops" they heard as the waitress was bumped and her tray feel. Eddie stood watching as everything went in slow motion. He wasn't sure what was happening but then everything went back to normal.
"Are you okay Tracy," Iris asked? The waitress said yes and began to clean up the mess. "My dad is going to be so happy to see you. Let me get my stuff, okay? Be right back."
"Oh, you scared the hell out of us, kid. Both of you," Joe said looking at Eddie. "You both look okay. Are you really?"
"Yeah," Eddie said "I feel great."
"Detective West, we've got a 5.15 in progress at Gold City Bank, two dead. Storm's really picking up on the South side. I'd grab your rain gear."
"I'm sorry, Barry. I got to run."
"Do you need our help?"
"No, you two should take it easy. There'll be plenty for you guys to do once you settle in. Let's go, partner."
"Hey, Allen, Thawne. Glad to see you."
"Thanks, Chyre. Glad to be back," Barry said noticing the scar on Chyre's neck.
"The night of the explosion, Clyde Mardon shot and nearly killed Chyre. Mardon and his brother died trying to escape. Their plane crashed," Iris explained when she noticed him looking.
Eddie watched a criminal begin to reach for one of the officer's gun. Again time seemed to slow down around them except this time he saw Barry move at the same speed he was. Barry ran forward bumped into the guy and was back to his spot before everything went back to normal. Barry looked almost scared.
"You okay," Iris asked?
"I... I'm fine. I... I just need some air. But I'll call you tonight, all right," Barry said already walking to the back door.
"I'll check on him," Eddie said when Iris looked at him and he walked toward the door. He got out side just in time to see Barry zipping around and then run into dumpster. He started to walk over to him when he was suddenly there. Barry looked at him and the biggest grin spread across his face. He looked down the alleyway and then to off Eddie right on his heels. But then they both ran into the back of a mail truck.
"Awesome," Barry said.