Chapter 2
The Flash sped through the streets of Central City leaving a gust of wind in his passing. The people who had lived in the city for more than a few months were pretty familiar with the feeling the scarlet speedster left. They also knew what that meant, somewhere people were in danger and the Flash was running to save the day again. Most of the citizens of Central City felt grateful for having a hero as bright as the Flash to protect them. The villains hated him though. Ever since the speedster put on the red costume and started racing the streets, they only had managed to pull off a couple of petty thefts. And yet again, they soon after ended up behind bars anyway. The Flash always caught them. That's the reason many of them tried to take him out of the picture – not that any of their attempts were successful - , the others stayed hidden, too afraid of the man in red.
The Flash ran on the highway at 600 mph, he reached the scene ten seconds after he left his house. Still running Barry could see it. It was chaos. It wasn't just one or two cars that had crashed, the accident was still happening. Barry Allen saw a blue GMC flying upside down in the air. For him, it was as if time had stopped and he could see a young woman in the driver's seat. The scarlet speedster ran to her in less than a second and saw that there was also another passenger in the car, a young boy. Barry put immediately his hands on the car's door and vibrated them until he heard the sound of the door unlocking.
Two seconds.
He reached for the boy first, unclasping his seatbelt and grasping the young boy around his waist he ran him on the side of the road just a few meters away. Then he went back for the mother.
Four seconds.
Putting her down, the young woman didn't even realize she was out of the car. Her arms were still stretched out towards where her son was supposed to be, her face still terrified.
"Jonas!" she cried taking her son in her arms. "What-how...?" the woman was confused as to how she suddenly got there. She was sure the car was going to crush on the top of another one and her only thought was to somehow cover her son from the impact.
Jonas was fully aware as to how that had happened. He hadn't realized the accident, it happened so fast he didn't even have the time to blink. He could see, though, the yellow lightning moving towards his mother's car and boom Central City's hero was standing in front of him putting his mother down.
"Are you ok baby?"
Jonas was too busy looking at the Flash with wide eyes that he didn't answer his mother's question. Concerned, she turned around and her eyes fell upon the scarlet speedster. Her mouth hung open before she realized its happening.
"The Flash!" Jonas said in amazement.
Barry Allen loves moments like this. Seeing the gratitude in people's eyes, to be thankful the Flash was around. Barry loves being his superhero self and being accepted and loved by the people of his city fills him with warmth. As a child and even a teenager, Barry was mostly bullied by kids his age. He was pretty much a loner and didn't have any friends except Iris West – his first crush. He was nerdy and awkward and he talked too much about science and that bored the kids. They considered him a weirdo. Most people still do. It didn't help that his father was arrested for his mother's murder – even though Barry knew he didn't do it. So he was the weird –freak- son of a murderer. After he became the Flash, though, Barry gained a new air around him. Sure he was still awkward and nerdy and much to his boss's great displeasure amazingly dispunctual and clumsy. But, when he was in the Flash suit, Barry Allen the CSI took a step back and Barry Allen the superhero came to play. And the superhero aspect of Barry's personality was confident and playful and mysterious and he held himself with an air of importance that no one could deny.
"Are you both ok?" he asked the mother and the boy.
Both of them nodded, the mother still in shock and the young boy grinning at him with a big smile. Barry felt the same feeling of happiness envelope him. Yep, he definitely loved this feeling.
"Stay here."
And before either one could blink he was gone. The only evidence of his departure was the wind that blew both their hairs back. Jonas watched as the Flash saved other people from their cars and used his super speeding arms to put out the fires, amazed out of his mind that he got to see the Flash in action with his own eyes. Then suddenly another streak of lightning arrived at the scene. It was Kid Flash.
"You took your time." Barry teased his younger partner.
Wally rolled his eyes at his comment. "You started without me. Have you left anything for me to do?"
The scarlet speedster looked around examining the area. He shook his shoulders. The young speedster sighed knowing the answer.
"No, I think I took care of everything."
Just then sirens can be heard, the police had arrived. Barry was thankful for their response time. Wally had a disappointed look while detective Joe West pulled over his car.
"Why aren't you at school?" was the first thing he asked his son.
The yellow speedster groaned. No matter how many times he talked to his father about acknowledging him like that in public, the detective found it hard to comply. Wally was thankful no other policemen were near to hear his father say that. The last thing they needed was for someone to connect the dots about their true identities.
"I heard there was an accident."
Joe gave his son a look that clearly says he'd preferred it if he had stayed at his class. The detective knew well, though, that his younger son was as hard-headed as he was.
"Joe do you have this? I'll be right back."
Before Joe could nod his head, the Flash was gone. Barry checks on the people he saved making sure they're ok. He gets a lot of thank yous both from the victims and the paramedics. The police officers acknowledge him and they nod, even wave his direction. They are all thankful for him being here. They all know if it wasn't for the Flash there would be many casualties today.
He stopped in front of the first people he saved. Jonas and the young mother.
"Are you sure you are both ok?" he asked them again wanting to be certain.
"We are." Jonas spoke before his mother could. "You are so awesome. That was so cool. I can't wait to tell all my friends at school I met you."
Barry's heart warms. He smiled brightly at the boy. In his line of work, he is used to seeing the darkest and worst things human kind has to offer. Seeing the reaction of people like the kid reminds him of the goodness in the world. It brightens him.
"I don't know how to thank you." The mother approaches the Flash with shaken voice.
The green eyes of the hero leave the boy and find her. He notes that she is still shaken by the ordeal and the terrified look haven't left her face, but she's not shaking.
"You don't have to, but you just did." he spoke with a calm voice.
"But still, I..." the woman tries to object.
The Flash stoops to his knees so that he is on the eye level of the boy. "How old are you Jonas?"
The kid smiled even brighter. "Ten." he answered.
Barry tried to make an amused look. He's not sure how much it shows with his face half covered by the mask. "Ten. You're a big boy."
Jonas giggled and his brown eyes spark as he's talking to his favorite hero.
"Your suit is so cool. Is it leather?"
"No. It's called reinforced tripolymer. It looks like leather but it's actually a material that doesn't burn by the air friction when I'm running."
Jonas opened his mouth in awe. "That's so cool! Can I take a picture with you?"
"Sure." the Flash nodded.
His mother took the picture with her phone and the flash hugged the kid before speeding away.
#
Oliver Queen was having a bad day. Felicity Smoak got an alert about a breaking in the Star City museum, but when the Green Arrow and the team got there the place was trashed and the owner was dead on the floor. It was the fifth time someone had broken in some facility and they weren't even close to getting him. It didn't help that there was no evidence left at any of the crime scenes either. No signs of breaking and entering, no fingerprints, no blood, no nothing. It looked like an inside job, but how many inside jobs could occur at such a short period of time. It wasn't that the suspects had organized something like this and one person couldn't work so many jobs. It wasn't that, his gut was telling him so. The Green Arrow's instincts were always right. This case was starting to get on Oliver's nerves.
The name of the dead man on the floor was David Mathews. He was 45 years old, a little bald and pot-bellied. According to the files Felicity found he lived with his husband in a neighborhood in the north of Star City. The man was so clean he didn't even have a parking ticket. It wasn't a personal thing, the green arrow had concluded. The man was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Examining his body Oliver couldn't tell the cause of his death. The body didn't have any wounds or any kind of mark either. They would have to wait for the autopsy and the forensics report. It was a good thing they had Dinah Drake, the new Black Canary, as their inside man – or woman as it was the case.
"What are we doing now boss?" Wild Dog asked.
Oliver sighed, having a nerve wrecking feeling this was metahuman related. The specialists of the SCPD hadn't found any sort of clue in the bodies of the previous crime scenes. He was pretty sure they won't find any in this one either. The Green Arrow hated to admit it, but he had a feeling they were going to need team Flash's help on this one and Oliver hated asking for help. But, if there was one person the vigilante turned hero would want as a partner and counted on besides his team, it was the scarlet speedster. The protector of Central City. Oliver still remembers the young hero coming to him for advice when he first got his powers. Then, he had told the young man he was a guardian angel and Barry had proved him correct. It made the grim man proud to be his friend, his ally, his partner.
"Let's go back." he ordered.
Yep, they were going to need their help. Besides, Barry Allen was one of the best men he knew and the best CSI he has ever met – not that he would ever admit it to him.
