"You'll never guess who came into work today."
"I don't know, Iris, who?" I had the phone pressed between my cheek and my shoulder as I walked out of the leasing office. I had just signed a lease for a small studio apartment, and I was so excited.
"Tony. Tony Woodward."
"You're kidding right?" I was making my way back to Joe and Iris' to pack up the small collection of belongings I had amassed in my short time back in Central City.
"I wish. He did that thing where he called me 'hot stuff.' Ugh he really creeps me out. He obviously peaked in high school."
"Tell me about it. I had AP Chem with him. Well, until he dropped."
She laughed "Anyway, I'm almost home, so I'll see you there?"
"Be there in a few!" I hung up and continued on my walk. I needed to see about getting a car soon, or even a bike. A few seconds after I hung up with Iris, the phone rang again, this time a number I didn't know.
"Hello, this is Ella."
"Hi, Ella, this is Captain Singh with the Central City Police Department."
"Oh, hi, captain, how are you?"
"Well, thanks. Listen, I know you don't start until Monday, but we have a stolen yellow Humvee, and Barry is currently MIA. I need someone to do the CSI stuff. We have a kit here, so just bring yourself." He gave me the address then hung up, and I turned around, making my way to the scene.
When I had gotten the phone call from the station the day of my interview telling me I had gotten the job, I was pleasantly surprised. Especially because Barry and I hadn't gotten around to having an actual interview, instead having an emotionally charged and extremely confusing few minutes before parting ways. I was also pretty sure that Barry hated me so the fact that I had gotten the job was even more confusing.
When I eventually showed up to the scene, it was quite a sight: a bright yellow Humvee with no driver's side door and three empty ATMs in the back.
"What kind of a tool steals a yellow Humvee?" I mused aloud as I approached the vehicle.
"What kind of a tool buys a yellow Humvee?" said a blonde, very attractive detective. "You must be Ella," he said holding out his hand, "I'm Eddie."
"So you're Iris' boyfriend." I said, shaking his hand.
His eyes opened wide in panic as he looked around, "Shh! Joe doesn't know yet."
"Joe doesn't know what?" Said Joe coming up behind Eddie. All Eddie could do was look at me, panic still etched onto his face.
"That I just signed a lease for my own place."
Joe's face dropped and Eddie let out a giant breath he had been holding in. "You're leaving us?"
"We both knew the arrangement was only temporary. Besides, I'll be back often. I can't cook to save my life." I added with a smile.
Joe and Eddie both laughed as Captain Singh came over.
"Enough with the chit chat everyone. Get to work."
Eddie and Joe both scattered and I took the CSI kit that Singh was holding and made my way to the vehicle. I put the book covers on my shoes, slid on some gloves, and looked very carefully at the scene, taking pictures, collecting evidence and prints from the car as well as the machine. Something threw me off though, as I examined the side of an ATM. There was a hand-sized dent in the side.
I grabbed Eddie's attention and motioned for him to come over, handing him a pair of gloves.
"Can you find the ATM locations and check the cameras? I know this sounds crazy, but I swear this was ripped out by hand."
"Oh, not you too," he said, putting on the gloves.
"What do you mean?"
"Barry always has these insane theories about why things happen when there is usually a perfectly rational explanation."
I turned back to the car. "That's Barry for you," I mumbled. "Just, satisfy my curiosity and put your hand here please?" He placed his hand in the indent. "See? It fits."
"I mean, I guess but—wait, what's that?" There was a gap between two of the ATMs, which meant we could see something else behind them. There was no way in hell I could move any of these things, so I climbed into the back and peeked from behind the seat.
"It's a keg. From Rusty… Rusty Iron Ale." I finally managed to make out.
"I know that place. It's in Keystone. We'll head that way tomorrow."
"We? I thought Barry would do this kind of thing. I'm only his assistant."
"Well that's what he gets for not showing up. Plus, we can get to know each other better." I climbed out of the car and stood next to him. "Thanks for saving my ass with Joe earlier. It means a lot."
"Not a problem, Eddie."
"Anyway, I'll check those cameras and let you know what happens."
My phone chimed as he left. It was a text from Iris.
Where are you? Thought you would be home by now.
Sorry, got called in for work 'cause *someone* wouldn't show up
Damn it Barry.. You met Eddie yet?
Nice guy, cute too. You didn't tell me Joe didn't know! Almost blew it for you.
So sorry! See you soon?
On my way!
The next day I was at the station getting briefed on the case with a bunch of other detectives. At the last possible moment, Barry walked in.
"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Allen," said Captain Singh, handing him a file and passing them out to the rest of us. Barry stood next to me at the edge of the room. "So, according to our database, our guy is Tony Woodward."
I turned to face Barry to catch him doing the same, the look of surprise on his face mirroring mine. I fished a pen and old receipt out of my bag and wrote, He was at Jitters yesterday with Iris,before passing it to him. His eyes widened as he reached for my pen.
Is she okay? I nodded, and Singh dismissed us, so we made our way back to the lab.
"What do you mean he was with Iris? What happened?" He said after closing the door. I could tell he was starting to get angry.
"I'm not sure. All I know is that he went into Jitters, hit on her, and then left."
Barry groaned in frustration before slamming his fist down onto the table. His face scrunched up in pain as he held his hand.
I rushed over to him, took his hand, and stretched it open, resting it in mine. A small "ow" escaped his lips.
"You need to calm down."
"You need to calm up! Or un-calm or whatever. Don't you remember what he did to you?"
"Of course I remember, but getting angry about it isn't going to help." I pulled him over to the sink, ran the cold water, and put his hand into it. He winced and tried to pull it away, but I wouldn't let him.
Tony used to always hit on me during school, after school, before school, at band practice, at football games, at basketball games, he even showed up at the state science fair. When I started dating Barry nothing changed. In fact, it only got worse. He would show up at my house late at night, and he somehow managed to show up on my dates with Barry.
There was a knock on the door before it got pushed open.
"Hey, Ella, are you in there?"
I let go of Barry's hand and jumped away. "Yeah, Eddie, hey, hello." I grabbed my bag and headed to the door.
"Where are you going?" Barry asked. I must've been mistaken because I was almost positive I could hear a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"Eddie and I are going to Keystone. There were some kegs in the back of the Humvee, and we're going to go check it out."
"Oh. Well, great."
I gave him a small smile, but he had already turned around, putting his hand back in the water.
And just when we were making progress. I closed the door to the lab with a sigh.
After spending a few hours in Keystone with Eddie, I was beat, so I stopped at Jitters for a little pick me up before heading home to pack. Walking out of Jitters, steaming macchiato in hand, I was about to head home when a figure stepped out of the shadows.
"Ella Mitchell." I jumped almost dropping my coffee. It was Tony.
"Tony Woodward. What a surprise." On the inside I was completely freaking out, but I hoped that wasn't showing.
"You don't sound happy to see me."
"Well, after what you did in high school, are you really surprised?" His hands balled into fists at his sides, and I took a small step back.
"You just had to go and pick Allen instead of me." He stepped towards me. "What was so great about him? He's just a stupid nerd." He slowly kept making his way towards me.
I stepped back, eventually bumping into the rough brick exterior of Jitters. "He's a good person. He respected me and my personal space."
"Oh, I respect you all right." He took one last step, which caused his body to be press against mine, and he held me to the wall. "You're sexy as hell." His hand trailed down my side, resting on my hip.
"Tony, stop!" He didn't. Instead, his hand snaked around my waist, jerking me towards him, making me drop my coffee.
"Let go of me!" I struggled against him, almost managing to get away from him when he grabbed my arm. Or at least what should've been him. When I looked down at where his hand should've been, a metal one was there instead. And he was holding very, very tight.
"No, Ella. You're mine this time."
A group of young girls walked out of Jitters laughing and sipping their drinks, when one of them turned and saw us. She must've seen the news because recognition flashed on her face, and she pulled out her phone. Before she could do anything though, Tony had let me go and grabbed her phone, crushing it. His hand returned to normal as he dropped the phone, and, at this point, I was more confused than scared.
The girls had run off, and he was about to leave, but not before turning to face me one last time.
"This isn't over, Ella."
By the time I got back to Joe and Iris', I just wanted to curl up in bed with barbecue chips and Netflix. But of course, the universe did not want that to happen. Iris was sitting at the dining room table writing an article for blog about the Flash, while Joe and Barry were sitting on the couch talking.
"Hey El-" Joe started as I came through the door.
"What the hell happened to you?" Barry interrupted, running over to me. He held my arm carefully while examining the handprint-bruise that was now forming on my forearm.
"Nothing, I'm fine." I started walking away, but he followed.
"Don't lie to me, Ella. What happened?" I started making my way up the stairs, and Barry still continued to follow.
I stopped in front of the bedroom door before turning around to face him. "I ran into Tony, okay? Happy?" I went into my room and slammed the door shut behind me before sinking into the bed.
Barry came in a few seconds later and closed the door quietly behind him before sitting next to me.
"No, of course I'm not happy." He said quietly. He slowly reached out and cupped my cheek. Tears started to flood my eyes.
"I'm sorry, Barry. I'm so, so sorry."
"I know, Ella-phant. I know."
And I knew with the use of his old pet name for me that things were going to be okay.
"See you tomorrow, Ella!" I waved to my co-worker as we walked separate ways out of the building—she towards her car and me headed towards my house. As she drove off, I noticed one car left in the parking lot. Tony's car. I picked up the pace and changed my direction, so I was heading in the opposite way of where his car was. His lights turned on, and he drove towards me, keeping pace as he rolled down the window.
"What're you doing walking home alone? Where's your boyfriend?"
I ignored him and kept on walking, but he wouldn't leave.
"Come on, Ella, I'll give you a ride."
"No thanks, Tony, I'm alright walking."
"It's not safe for a girl like you to walk alone on a night like this."
"I'm fine, Tony."
Suddenly the car sped up, and he pulled around before stopping in front of me. Tony then climbed out of the car and crossed the short distance until he was in front of me.
"I don't know why you picked Allen over me. He's just a stupid geek."
"Tony, not now, please, I just want to go home." I moved to step around him, but he grabbed ahold of my arms and stopped me from going anywhere.
"I could give you so much more. I'm on the football team. I'm popular. I could take you anywhere you wanted." He had started leading me back towards his car, and, no matter how hard I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, it didn't work. He was bigger and stronger than me, and I couldn't get away. But I tried.
"Stop. Trying. To. Leave. Me." He slammed me against the side of his car, pain shooting down my back.
"Tony, please."
"Yes, baby?" He pressed himself onto me, pinning every single inch of my body down with his.
"Let me GO!" I started screaming, but one of his hands clamped over my mouth, as I screamed into his palm.
"Now, now, that wasn't very nice." With the hand that wasn't over my mouth, he grabbed a lock of my hair, twisting it around his finger.
I felt his hands run down the sides of my body, the weight of him enough to keep me pressed against the car. He squeezed my butt and tried to put his tongue in my mouth, but I bit him. Pulling away, he grabbed my throat and held me to the car, shaking his head.
"That was a mistake, Ella" He opened the car door and threw me in the backseat before climbing in the driver's seat and speeding away.
"Tony, what the hell are you doing! Slow down!" I tried to open the door, but it was locked, and I couldn't unlock it from back here. He must've put the child lock on. I could see the needle on the speedometer steadily going up as Tony kept his foot on the accelerator.
I pressed myself into the seat and fumbled as I tried to put my seatbelt on, and I looked around. We were about to pass the police station, and I just hoped that they would notice.
Tony turned to face me. "It's okay—I said I'll take care of you."
Tony had veered off course, and I saw headlights coming straight for us.
"Watch out!" He turned back and quickly jerked the wheel, taking us out of the path of the oncoming vehicle. But he couldn't regain control of the vehicle, and the last thing I remembered were the branches of the big apple tree next to the station poking through the window before I blacked out.
I woke up in a cold sweat, the memory of my car accident with Tony fresh in my mind. As my breathing slowed, I finally realized I wasn't alone. Before I could do anything though, a hand covered my mouth, and I felt someone picking me up. Even though it was the middle of the night, there was just enough moonlight to be able to distinguish his features. Tony. I tried to fight back, but it was useless. I was half asleep, and he was ridiculously strong, and he managed to get me out of my window and into a vehicle, keeping my mouth covered the whole time as he drove away.
I started to recognize a few of the streets signs as he continued to drive.
"Are you going to start screaming?" I shook my head. "Good." He removed his hand, and I took a deep breath. He eventually stopped in a parking lot, and I looked around. We were at our old high school.
"Remember this place, Ella?"
"What's the plan here, Tony? Finally going to go for that G.E.D.?" He gripped my arm tight as he pulled me out of the car, dragging me into the building. His entire body had turned to metal as he tossed me down the hallway. I slammed against a locker, wincing in pain as he slowly walked towards me.
"You were supposed to pick me, Ella. Not him."
I scrambled against the lockers, trying to get farther away, but he kept coming until he put his hands on either side of me, trapping me where I was.
"Why did you pick him? You could've done so much better than him. You were perfect. Smart, kind, and gorgeous. But for some reason you didn't want to be with me. You wouldn't even talk to me or be my friend. You just blew me off for him without giving me a chance. I saw you guys sneak out of Chem class a ton to do god knows what. I liked you so much, but you never gave me the time of day."
Maybe I could talk him down. "Tony, you came on way too strong. You called me 'hot stuff' the first time we met. You didn't understand the word 'no.' You latched yourself onto me without wondering or even thinking about what I wanted. Barry and I went to Jitters to do our work. Nothing happened."
"Bullshit!" He slammed his fist into the locker once more, and I flinched at the sound, trying to recoil, but there was no where to go. I know I should probably stop, but it wasn't as if the situation could get any worse.
"We could have been friends if you hadn't of come on so strong."
"That's because I loved you. I still do."
I shook my head. "If you really loved me, you wouldn't have almost gotten me killed that night!"
I could see the tension leave his shoulders. "I never wanted to hurt you."
"Then what did you want?"
"I just wanted to be with you. I wanted you to notice me as more than just the tough jock guy. I was more than that. I am more than that." He reached his hand out and stroked the side of my face, his eyes filled with sadness and longing. I had never seen this side of Tony. He had never let it show. And I knew that I had to be very careful with what I said next.
"Then why did you think going 90 miles an hour in the middle of town and not watching the road was a good idea?"
"We turned out fine, didn't we?"
"How did you know? You left me there alone. You wrapped us around a tree, and you walked away unscathed. Meanwhile, I had a dislocated shoulder, a fractured wrist, and three broken ribs!" I was breathing heavily, but I couldn't calm down.
"I looked for you. In the hospital, I tried to check on you, but they wouldn't let me because I wasn't family. But Allen was allowed in."
"Because my mother let him in. Because he was my boyfriend, and he didn't leave me for dead." I hit his chest at the last part, and it was as if I had knocked him out of his trance. His eyes hardened, and the anger was back in full force.
He punched the locker a few inches from my face, making my eyes widen in fear as it caved around his steel fist.
"I didn't want you to die! I wanted to show you I was worth it!" His voice made me cringe. I was scared, but there was nothing I could do about it.
"Please," I whispered "Don't hurt me, Tony. We were so young. I didn't know. I didn't understand."
"There's no one here to stop me from showing you now."
A gust of wind blew my hair around my face.
"You're wrong."
Tony and I both turned to the voice, and there he was. The mysterious Flash everyone was talking about.
"You just can't stay dead, can you?" Tony said before leaving me and lunging at the Flash, his entire body turning to steel. I had heard about Flash, but I had never seen him until now, and he was living up to his namesake. Red flashes were swirling around Tony as he tried to attack the flash with no success. I was frozen to my spot against the lockers, entranced by what was going on in front of me but also terrified that if I moved they would remember I was there.
The Flash slowed and slid through Tony's legs, and the next thing I knew I was moved all the way down to the end of the hall.
"Wait here," he said, his face vibrating, so I wouldn't be able to see who he was.
"Okay," I managed to get out before the two continued fighting again. This was the most intense and and interesting thing I had seen in a long time, and I couldn't help but be captivated by it.
"I've known guys like you that peaked in high school. You were a bully then and a bully now." He was taunting Tony, and it was making Tony really angry. Angry enough that Tony was starting to get a few more hits in, and the Flash was going to lose. The Flash grabbed a flag pole and tried to swing it at him, but Tony grabbed it and used the force to slam Flash back through the lockers into the wall. He crumpled on the ground, groaning in pain.
And then he was gone.
"There goes your hero." Said Tony, slowly making his way towards me.
"We can talk about this, Tony. Please, let's talk."
He stopped walking and just looked at me, considering my proposition. "Okay, let's—"
A gust of wind blew my hair back once more. Noticing, Tony started to turn his entire body to metal again, but it wasn't fast enough. The Flash burst through the doors and punched him so hard that he went flying, turning back into his regular, human, unconscious self.
A flash of red, and then he was in front of me again. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine. Are you okay?"
He slid down the locker next to me and joined me on the floor. "I think I broke my hand."
I heard the tell tale sign of police sirens in the distance as they made their way towards the school.
"That's my cue," he said before speeding away, taking Tony with him.
I leaned back against the locker and closed my eyes. Jealousy. That's all this was. Tony was jealous that I had a relationship with Barry when he wanted to be with me. He just had a really weird way of showing it. And now that the Flash had taken Tony, who knows what he was going to do with him? He might have saved me, but was I really in any danger? It sure felt like it to begin with, but, after he opened up to me, I wasn't so sure.
The doors to the school burst open, and Joe and Eddie came through, looking around.
"Ella!" Said Eddie, rushing towards me. He kneeled down in front of me, checking me for injuries. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?"
"I'm fine, Eddie, just tired. The Flash saved me."
"Of course he did. But you're okay?" He held out his hand and helped me to my feet. I could detect a hint of something in his voice. Jealousy? Dislike? Was Eddie not fond of the Flash?
"Yeah, I'm good." But I wasn't, not really. I was physically hurt and emotionally confused, and I didn't like either feeling.
I made my way to Joe, who gave me a giant hug before asking all the same questions Eddie did.
"It was Tony, wasn't it?" I hadn't realized Barry was here too, but there he was. Floppy brown hair and gorgeous, green eyes laced with concern.
I nodded, "Yeah, but it's okay—he wasn't going to hurt me, not really. But the Flash saved me."
"He's uh, a pretty good guy, right? Saving people and all that?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feet as he said this, breaking our eye contact.
"Yeah, I mean, I guess so," In the moment, I was glad he had shown up, but now I wasn't so sure. I had gotten through to Tony, and we were starting to understand each other. "Anyway, I need to get some rest. Goodnight." And with that I walked out of the school, wishing it was just as easy to walk away from my confusion and feelings but also wishing I had been given the chance to walk away from Tony with a better understanding of what had gone on. I know the Flash was supposed to be my hero, but I had believed Barry was my hero in high school. Believing that only hurt Tony, and now the Flash trying to save me, hurting Tony again. Maybe he wasn't the monster. Maybe I was.
Hey there everyone!
Thanks so much to those of you that have read, favourited, and followed my story! It means a whole lot. Sorry it's taken me so long to upload a second chapter, I've just been having so many computer problems and it is so stressful.
Anyway, let me know what you think!
Three should be up before the end of the month (fingers crossed!)
Tori x
