"Be careful man, we don't know what this meta can do." Cisco's voice rang into Barry's ear while he was staking out the area.
A few minutes earlier there had been an alert of a spike in dark matter coming from the Performing Arts Theatre that was downtown Central City. Barry had to duck out of another training session with Snart to check it out, leaving him behind with the two scientist. He knew the other two weren't the most comfortable around him alone but they had an agreement that no one would get hurt.
"Put that down Cold!" Cisco shouted. Barry chuckled wondering what exactly was going on back at Star Labs. "If you break that you're paying for the parts." He warned. Barry could vaguely make out Snart's voice in the background, but he didn't catch what he said.
The Speedster did a circle around the building checking the perimeter. There were no shows or rehearsals going on today, so whoever was inside wasn't supposed to be there. He came to a stop at a door around back, he tried the doorknob but it was locked. Placing his hand on it he vibrated it fast enough to break the structures in the lock. He could have tried phasing through it but he wasn't yet confident enough that he wouldn't get stuck halfway through.
"I'm heading in." He whispered, pushing the door open slowly.
The light from outside filtered into the dark space once the door was open, but besides that everything was covered in shadows. Carefully Barry stepped inside, he didn't know what he was looking for or what might come out of the shadows. All the dressing rooms and hallways backstage were empty, the entire place seemed completely abandoned of life. That was until he heard it, a soft crying coming from somewhere out front. It sounded like a young child, but he knew very well it could a trap. He sped into the area, using the extra time he gained by running to look for anything suspicious. There sitting in the middle of the stage, huddling under the ghost light was a little girl. Once he made sure the place was clear he stopped beside her crouching down so he was closer to her level.
"Hey there." He spoke softly trying not to scare her. "Are you okay?" He questioned her, and she looked up at him from under a mess of blonde ringlets. Her eyes widened at the sight of him and she skidded back a few inches. "It's okay I'm not going to hurt you I'm a good guy, have you ever heard of The Flash?" He questioned tentatively and she nodded. "That's me, do you need help finding your parents?" He offered her a gloved hand to help her stand up and she took it, holding on tightly. "Do you know where you live? I'm going to take you home." Instead of speaking she just nodded and started pulling him forward, towards the back exit. He followed, letting her hold onto his hand as they walked.
"Watch out Barry, the ratings are spiking." Cisco told him through the comm.
Once out back in the daylight the young girl turned to look at him a smile on her face. There was no sign of tears on her face despite the sobbing he had heard her doing earlier. The girl couldn't have been older than nine or ten, but there was something off about her the way she looked at him was menacing.
"Thank you." She spoke softly in a sing-song voice letting go of Barry's hand.
For a brief moment the world went black and he stumbled a couple of steps before his vision came back. While he was disoriented the girl had run off using this as the perfect time to escape. He felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. All the girl had done was speak and something had changed.
"Barry are you okay? You heart rate just went through the roof." Caitlin urged him for a reply.
"Yeah." He mumbled. Only it didn't come out as he tried to say it, instead he sang the word. This caused him to freeze a confused expression coming over his face. "Did that just happen?" The question he asked was the answer as his next words came out in a smooth melody.
"Dude why are you singing?" Cisco questioned.
"I don't know." Barry continued trying to say the words normal but no matter how hard he tried it didn't work. "She did something to me."
"Okay you need to come back to the lab so we can figure this out." Caitlin told him, her tone was hesitant, and Barry swore he could hear Snart laughing in the background.
With a sigh Barry sped back to the lab stopping the cortex to pull his cowl off a frown plastered across his lips. He didn't say anything eyeing the people in the room, his gaze landed on Snart who was lounging in a chair a smirk on his face. He raised his eyebrows as if expecting him to speak.
"What is wrong with me?" Barry questioned, he tried to groan but the words came out sounding soft and clear.
"Well definitely not your voice man, Caitlin told me you could sing but whoa." Cisco commented, an impressed look coming to his face. "Uh have you tried to stop it?"
Barry didn't say anything but gave him a 'are you kidding me?' look.
"Okay I'm going to run some tests." Caitlin motioned for him to follow her into the medical lab. "You're going to have to tell me what happened." She told him, as Barry took a seat on the hospital bed. He sat there for a moment frowning, knowing the second he opened his mouth to talk he'd start singing again.
"I found a young girl in the theatre, she was there all alone. I tried to help her, but when she spoke her voice started this. Then she ran off." He sang grimacing when he finished. Caitlin nodded sticking a needle into Barry's arm starting to draw blood. Once she finished she shooed Barry out so she could run the tests, sending him back over to Cisco and Snart.
"What did she look like?" Cisco questioned.
"She was young, nine or ten. Blonde hair curly hair, I didn't see to much it was dark and when we got outside she did this to me before I could really see her." He told him, as casually as he could while being forced to sing.
"I'll go through the system and see if there are any reports of missing kids lately." Cisco replied.
"You won't find anything." Snart stated from his seat eyeing the two. "It wasn't a kid."
"Barry described a kid." Cisco argued.
"And I'm saying it's not a kid." Snart drawled. "I've seen the girl before, she used to act at the theatre."
"How do you know this?" Barry cursed as the words once came out as yet another melody. Snart just looked at him for a moment before sighing.
"I enjoy some good theatre, so shoot me for it." He replied sarcastically. "But it's not a kid, it's an adult. She has some sort of hormone issue that stopped her growing at a young age. They used to cast her in everything because she could act as a kid but had the experience and maturity of an adult." He informed them. "From what I saw she mostly did musicals."
It all clicked into place with his last statement, and Barry turned to Cisco motioning towards the computer wanting him to start researching to see if they could find this girl.
"Do you know her name?" Cisco questioned. "And man I can't believe you like plays that's just...weird."
"Sarah something. It's not weird I have class, I'd rather watch a play then see some stupid movie." He replied with a sneer.
"Still weird." Cisco muttered under his breath as he started to search through the data base. "I think I found her. Sarah Teux, known for her childlike figure, twenty-nine years old. Get this, the night of the Particle Accelerator exploded there was a show going on and apparently the blast caused a stage light to fall on her. Does this look like who you saw Barry?"
"Yes." Barry sang, as Cisco pulled a headshot up onto the computer. The Speedster just let out a groan and buried his face in his hands, listening to Snart laughing at his embarrassment behind him.
"You know you should fight crime like this Scarlet. Nothing says scary more than a man who sings like a boy." Len quipped only adding to theSpeedsters embarrassment. But truthfully Len was impressed, he didn't expect that Barry could sing, especially not as good as it turned out he could.
"Shut up Snart." He replied with a low vibrato, but it only made things worse.
It took seven hours before Barry could speak normally again, seven hours of Len bugging the kid about it. He found it fun to get him flustered, and he made it so easy to do. The kid pretty much walked straight into all of Len's jokes, and the way he blushed each time sent a wave of pride through Len. The Flash may have been some cocky hero, but Barry Allen was a complete awkward gangly mess half the time. Yet for some reason Len couldn't get the sound of Barry's voice out of his head. That had been two days ago, and he still found his mind drifting back to that sound.
"Hey Len you in there?" Shawna commented with a snicker as they pulled up outside of a Big Belly Burger. "You've been quiet, even more so than usual."
"It's called thinking, you should try it sometime." Len replied dryly. He wasn't to pleased that he was being escorted to get food. But since Fielder was still looking for him, Lisa would barely let him leave the house without another Rogue.
"Just for that I'm making you buy my meal." She told him, stepping out of the passenger side of the black Lexus. He would have complained but he figured he would have ended up being the one paying anyway.
He made his way into the restaurant, tucking his hands into the pocket on his leather jacket as he walked. Normally Len was a bit pickier about his food, he was one of those people who preferred to eat at five-star restaurants. But he had a soft spot for Big Belly Burger, when he was young he would save up his money from working to take Lisa out to one every Friday, it gave her something to to look forward glanced at the menu trying to decide what he wanted, but his attention was drawn away when he heard a familiar voice a head of his ordering.
"Yeah can I get a number six combo? Supersized please. Thank you." Barry spoke kindly to the woman taking his order, oblivious to the fact Len was behind him.
A smirk crawled to Len's lips, the kid really needed to be more aware of his surroundings. Len considered trying to scare him, but apart of him got the feeling sneaking up on the Speedster wasn't the brightest of ideas.
"You know Barry I didn't take you as the type to like things supersized." Len drawled, watching as the man in front of him tensed up. Slowly Barry turned to face them a surprised look coming across his face.
"Snart!" He choked out. "What are you doing here?" Barry questioned, taking in the woman beside him and swallowing hard. He hoped Shawna wouldn't recognize him out of suit, but she seemed blissfully unaware.
"I'm getting food." He replied as though it was obvious, which it was.
"Are you going to introduce me to your friend Len?" Shawna questioned with a friendly smile. It was weird to see her being so laid back.
"Shawna meet Barry, Barry meet Shawna." Len continued in an amused tone, watching as Barry stammered over his words.
"Oh, uh, hi nice to meet you." He replied giving her a sheepish smile, which she took as him just being shy.
"I can help the next person." The woman behind the counter called out and Len and Shawna went to make their order.
Len watched as Barry lingered waiting for his food to be finished and brought up front. Every once in awhile he'd glance over at them and catch Lens gaze before quickly averting his eyes. He could tell the kid was probably having a melt down in his head. Barry nearly ran to the counter when his food was done, trying to make a quick escape. But Shawna got to him before he could leave.
"Hey you should sit with us, I'd love to get to hear how you and Len know each other." She offered with a smile.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Barry tried to object, but the woman was persistent.
"Nonsense, come on just five minutes?" She questioned.
"I-Uh.." Barry looked at Snart with an expression that just said 'Help me'. But Len just smirked at the kid and shrugged.
"She's not going to take no for an answer." He told him, heading towards a table near the back of the restaurant.
He didn't know why he was going along with Shawna's antics, apart of him wanted to say it because he loved seeing Barry squirm. But another part actually enjoyed the Speedster's company, but that was something he would never admit to. His blue eyes watched Barry carefully as Shawna pretty much steered him over the to table, the younger man taking a seat across from Len and beside Shawna. Barry slowly took a sip of his soda, eying Len across the table not sure what exactly to do at this point.
"So how do you guys know each other?" Shawna questioned breaking the silence.
"Oh we uh.." Barry started trying to come up with something on the spot but he was blanking. Thankfully Len cut in with such a smooth reply he could have fooled even Barry.
"Through mutual friends." Len replied cooly bringing a fry to his lips. "We met at a party, isn't that right?"
"Right! Yeah that's how we met, it was just a small party turns out we knew a few of the same people." Barry continued. "We ended up talking for a while, we've run into each other a few times around town since then."
"Oh that sounds nice, so Barry do you have any hobbies?" Shawna questioned taking a bite of her burger, trying to make small talk.
"No not really."
"Oh don't be modest Barry, you're a singer." Len replied smirking across the table, his blue eyes meeting Barry's green ones as a flush came toSpeedsters cheeks
"You sing?" Shawna piped up. "What kind of singing?"
"Oh uh, nothing to exciting." Barry tried to wean his way off the subject by taking a gulp of his drink.
"Have you done any musicals or anything?" She continued, obviously wanting to stick to this topic. Barry sent a glare across the table to Len who was just looking a little too proud of himself.
"Yeah, I did a few back in highschool." He admitted, biting his lip out of habit.
That was news to Len, he didn't know too much about Barry before the lightning strike. The idea of Barry singing and dancing on stage was hard to wrap his mind around. His gaze flickered down to the kids lips as he took a bite and he cursed in his head. He found himself admiring Barry's lips while he was focused on talking to Shawna, after a lingering glance he brought his gaze back to his food.
"Oh what ones?" She pushed grinning at him.
"I did Hairspray, The Last Five Years, and West Side Story." He continued shifting his gaze to Len. He got the strangest feeling that the Older man would be holding this conversation against him later.
"That sounds good, have you thought about doing any more?" She continued.
"No, I'm to busy these days." Barry felt his phone vibrate, and let out a sigh of relief when he read the text from Iris. "Sorry, I have to go. It was nice meeting you Shawna."
Len watched as Barry stood up and turned to leave, giving Len a small nod as a 'goodbye', before he was out of there with his food bag tucked under his arm.
"I like him, he's cute." Shawna commented between bites of her burger.
"Don't you have a boyfriend?" Len replied lazily.
"I was just admiring him from a distance. Plus I wasn't thinking about me." She gave him an evil grin. "You on the other hand-"
"No." Len muttered with a sigh.
"Oh come on Len you two were pretty much eyefucking each other across the table. Plus dating someone would be good for you. You're so grumpy all the time maybe if you got laid you'd be more relaxed."
"Shawna, shut up."
So I was going over my story chapters and apparently FF has been deleting the dashes I put in to separate the sections of a chapter. I just went through all them to add the horizontal line to help clear things up! Sorry for the inconvenience. ~R
