Peter had gotten home with no problems, though Tony had been awfully quiet on the trip home, something that was somewhat unsettling.
The evening couldn't have gone slower for Peter, he found himself unable to sleep, thinking about the mysterious man from earlier. He wanted morning to break so he could head to the airfield, which the more he thought about, the weird the location choice seemed.
Nevertheless, morning some came, Peter darted out the front door before May had even gotten up, leaving a note about heading out early before he caught the earliest bus towards the airport.
The ride was long, but Peter found himself drifting in and out of sleep as his body screamed for an energy recharge that he'd been unable to get during the nightly hours. Soon a gentle hand on his shoulder shook him awake, the bus driver asking him to leave as they'd reached the airport.
A brief thank you he was off the bus and spent a fair few minutes (more than he'd like to admit) looking for the right entrance. When he found one he made his way to the nearest receptionist and flashed the plastic card August had given him the night before.
"Oh, hang on one moment." She smiled, a little taken aback by the card. She typed away on the computer for a moment and then stood up and leaned over the the counter. "You'll want to head up those stairs, follow the hallway to the end and then take the elevator down, someone is waiting for you there." She explained, pulling a a bag from under her desk and handing it to him. "And I was requested to give this to you on arrival."
"Um, thank you." He said, unsure how to handle the situation. But he accepted the bag and followed the lady's instructions to the elevator. Thankfully there was only one button, down. When he reached the bottom floor, he was indeed greeted by someone.
August.
"You're here."
"Well, I did say I'd be here." He said, ushering the boy out the two glass doors onto the large open concrete layout. August leading him to a hanger and most importantly a small computer set up in there.
"What's all this for?" Peter asked, August reawakening the screens.
"To measure your vitals and speed." He said, leaning against the table to the monitors resided on.
"I thought you were going to give me answers."
"And sometimes it's easier to experience those answers than me just tell you." He smiled, "It's also more fun."
"Okay, what are you intending to have me do?"
"Get you to put those on for starters." He said, nodding to the bag that Peter hadn't had the chance to look in. A brief moment of silence before Peter placed the bag down and pulled out a suit and electronics.
"Do I have to wear this?" Peter said, looking at August in dismay at the rather...unflattering one piece.
"Only if you don't want to set all of your clothes alight."
"One piece it is." Peter said, heading to a small room off to one side he'd spotted. A few moments later, coming out a little more willing to burn his clothes as he fidgeted in the suit.
"And, you'll need these." August said, strapping a helmet on and wiring up a harness around his chest.
"Okay, seriously what is this for. Because I think you're taking the-"
"Calm down." August said, leading the boy to the open hanger doors, staring down the airstrip. "You're going to run. Down there."
"Down the airstrip?" Peter squeaked, the long stretch of lights and white paint linign the runway.
"Don't worry, it's not in use." August said, leaving Peter at the doorway and returning to the computers.
"But wh-"
"Just run." He sighed, Peter taking a deep breath, looking down the runway, shaking out his hands and a brief jog on spot before he crouched down, ready to bound off the start.
He took a second to close his eyes, feel the breeze and then he found himself taking his first step, and his second. At first it just felt like normal, like he was late for the bus and leaving school.
But, it soon didn't feel like just another jog. He could feel energy surging through his limbs, a tingle of tension for just a brief moment at a time. The air burning past his skin, like he was being hit with a thousand mile winds all at once, yet was cutting through it like it was nothing. He could sparks scratching past is skin, it didn't hurt, but he could feel the heat, and he could see the yellow beams radiating from his hands and arms.
The world seemed slow once more, not as slow as last night, but slower than normal, the sounds were like being underwater, blurred and disjointed. A quick glance back was all he really needed to be sold though, he expected to see the hanger no further than when he'd started, but it was so small now, so far away. He'd run for what felt like a second or two, how'd he get so far.
However, he'd failed to realise how long that glance back was, the end of the runway crept up and Peter in a flail attempted to come a halt, sending him flying over and rolling over the ground before coming to a halt. A small groan later, he lifted his head and the realisation came flooding back as he leapt to his feet in excitement.
He ran back to the hanger, still falling at the end of his run, but at least this time he managed to remain on his feet. Even if his hands were supporting him.
"Told you, way more fun." August chimed, swivelling around in his fancy...old and worn office chair.
"I just ran down a runway...in like, a few seconds. How?" Peter chirped, trying to contain his excitement, he could still feel the energy running through his veins, dashing small paces in...well in a flash. "This is so cool!"
"That's joys of having the speed force running through your veins." August said, finally capturing the kids attention for longer than a second.
"Speed force?"
"Yeah, it's where the super speed comes from. All speedsters are connected to it. It's where our power comes from."
"You mean there are other's who can do this as well?"
"Peter, only speedsters can move in flashtime."
"Um...I have no idea what your saying..." Peter said, suddenly overcome with confusion.
"Yesterday. When everything seemed frozen, that's flashtime. Where you're moving so fast that everything around you just...stops." August explained, and the moment he finished Peter had already realised what he was saying.
"You're a speedster as well?"
"Yep, though I think we got ours in very different manners."
"What do you mean?"
"That device, in your shoulder." August began, turning back to his screens, Peter lightly jogging to him to peer over his shoulder. He pulled up a blueprint for the chip. "It's a power dampener."
"Power dampener?"
"It takes away your powers, or at least suppresses them. They haven't actually been developed here so as to where it came from is beyond me. But this had been pinging signals off for close to 10 years now." He said, looking up at Peter who felt his heart sink.
"But I'm-"
"15. Yep. That means this device was put in you as a child. Meaning you were born with the connection to the speed force."
"Does that mean my parents...knew?" Peter mumbled, turning away, only met with silence from August. "I had superspeed my whole life...and never knew."
"You wouldn't be the first." August said under his breath, closing down the blueprint, a set of numbers coming through onto the screen, Peter looking over his shoulder as the monitor beeped.
"What's that?"
"You're recorded time, running from here to end of the strip." August said, almost a little disappointed.
"How fast did I go?" Peter asked, trying to distract himself from the power dampener.
"0.017 seconds."
"No way. It didn't feel like that."
"Maybe, but it's a hell of a lot slower than when we first met." August mumbled, Peter only just hearing.
"How fast was I then?" He said, August flinching, clearly not expecting Peter to have heard him.
"At that time we were both running at the the speed of sound, more or less. Four times the speed ran down there at."
"Wait...four times, where did all that speed go?"
"I don't know." He said, rubbing his lips for a second, "Gideon, why might a speedster suddenly lose speed like that." He said to the computers, Peter taking a moment to assess who he was speaking to. Then a blue holographic head blipped onto the screen.
"Peter is an unusual case. Considering his powers flooded back shortly after undergoing surgery." The voice said, looking the kid and then back to August. "My theory is that his abilities went into overtime to burn off the anaesthesia. Since then, it's likely settled to normal levels."
"So it was just a burst of energy..." Peter droned, a little disappointed he wouldn't be running so fast again.
"I wouldn't count on it." August said, Gideon's face disappearing from the screen. "We know you can run at that speed...we just have to get you back up to there."
"How?"
"Training. I'll train you." August offered. "If you're up for it."
