Hi again. I almost gave up on the story, but I'm back. Yay for that! Here is another chapter, and this time, it's not a fill in chapter, I'm actually going to write about something slightly interesting (woah). Enjoy reading!

DISCLAIMER: All characters, lines, plots and places that that have been taken from the hit TV series The Flash belong to the CW writers of 'The Flash' and Warner Brothers. All I own are my own original characters. This disclaimer applies to all chapters within this story.

Xx

Chapter 12

"Oshi!" I call, my voice echoing through my apartment, "where are you?"

I'm wearing my navy bike pants, a light blue sports singlet and my old grey sneakers, ready to hit the streets and run away from my problems.

Not literally, I mean, I'll probably end up in this depressing apartment in a few hours, but I plan on avoiding this mess until I can actually do something about it.

The Streak had run off last night, promising something about making a plan and saving Tilly. The problem with that was, I am not involved at all.

I don't even know that speedy kid's name, and he's gone out of his way to help me with my rapidly expanding problems... Mainly the one involving a certain creep with the ability to manipulate crows.

Heck, the Streak will probably end up risking his life for Tilly, and I'll still be sitting at home trying to falsely convince myself that this whole situation isn't happening.

I hate this feeling.

I wish I could help...

I want to be stronger.

Therefore, I am going for a run.

Sure, it probably won't help much, but it'll distract me enough to make me feel less like a complete and utter failure.

I reach for the door handle, Oshi's blue leash dangling over my shoulder.

Click.

The door opens and Oshi emerges from behind the kitchen bench. She bounds excitedly towards me, patiently waiting in front of the door.

Recently, I have been too busy to get back into my old routine of taking Oshi for a walk once a day, but today that hopefully changes.

Oshi seems hopeful too.

I clip on Oshi's lead and glare spitefully at the stairs. The one and only perk of being in that wheelchair was the ability to access the elevator without being fined.

Groaning loudly, I begin to waddle my way down the stairs, Oshi racing in front of me.

Once we make it to the bottom of the stairs, I already feel tired and ready to give up on life.

"And that's my workout for today..." I say to no one.

Oshi dances playfully at my feet, and I can't help but feel bad. I have only been taking her out once a week recently. She deserves this, my laziness shouldn't be impacting her as much as it has been.

Walking out of the apartment, we reach the streets, and after a few foreboding steps; I break into a jog.

After about 15 minutes of jogging without rest, Oshi is panting and I feel like I'm about to collapse and explode on the pavement. I take that as a sign that we should stop.

My jog slows into a walk, and I realise that I have no idea where I am.

This week has really been a week for getting lost in Central City.

I need to stop assuming that when I go out without my car I will make it home, because recently, I have been given reason to doubt that.

Flap.

Surely not. I'm just hearing things.

Flap.

Oshi's ears perk up, her eyes lock onto something moving above our heads.

Flap.

I tuck my chin into my chest, refusing to look up and confirm my assumption. God please have mercy on my soul.

Tap.

A few suspenseful moments pass, and nothing horribly catastrophic has occurred.

What?

I look up at the street light, straining my eyes to look at the crow from so high above. The bird's shadow is cast into the pavement behind me, the sun glaring down on it's black feathers.

Further straining my eyes, I search for a glimpse of it's eyes. Finally, I see them. They are beady and black, curiously peering down at me with its head cocked to the side.

A normal crow.

I shake my head as it spreads it's wings and flies away.

I probably will need that therapist after all...

Xx

I had planned on running to avoid my problems, and it worked for a while. However, eventually my thoughts caught up with me, and I find myself blaming myself even more than I had been before.

I had begun running again, Oshi trailing slightly behind me. A song of haunting words continue to chorus through my mind.

You're a coward.

You're unable.

You're a let down.

You're unstable.

No matter how many times I try to sing the most annoyingly catchy songs to replace that tune in my head, those discouraging words continue to flow.

I run faster.

You're a coward.

The air starts to come in uneven, rigid breaths.

You're unable.

I break into a sprint.

You're a let down.

My mind races a million miles per hour.

You're unstable.

I can feel tears pricking my eyes.

Suddenly, my hand holding Oshi's lead is pulled violent backwards. My entire body follows and I almost trip over my feet at the sudden tug from Oshi's end of the lead. I look back at Oshi.

She has stopped, her firm grip on the ground had held strong and blocked the flow of my running as the lead tied us together.

She looks up at me, her breathing almost as rigid as mine.

"What?" I ask her, knowing she won't reply.

Oshi continues to glare at me.

I look around me and up at the sky. I'm not far from my apartment now, the giant wrecks of STAR labs in the distance had helped me navigate my way through the streets to a familiar location.

I'm now standing on the pavement, a road to my left and a bunch of stacked up stores on my right. The sun above me had moved from the centre of the sky to a position signalling the afternoon.

A lot of time has passed...

I begin to walk again, my legs dragging me along on auto-pilot. My thoughts wonder back to the Streak.

I wonder if he has a plan yet...

He promised me he would see me sometime today before he shows down against Jon Winston.

What if he had come to my apartment just to find I wasn't there?

What if he needed me for something?

What if-

I shake my head, not allowing myself to become overwhelmed.

I need to focus on getting back home before it's too late.

Xx

Pain.

Stairs are a mistake. They should never have been invented.

Why is the elevator only for disabled people? Does that count as racism?

I walk down the short, three door hallway, stopping at the second to pull out my key.

When the door swings open and I step inside, the first thing that I notice is the dark.

The curtains are closed, and I quite clearly remember leaving them open...

Why is it dark?

Bad things happen in the dark...

Ugh, what am I, twelve?

My will to be strong for once overpowers the small shred of logic in my mind screaming at me for being hard headed.

I stride through my apartment towards the windows, ignoring the fact that the curtains are swinging eerily.

I pull the curtains open and the sunlight pours in, lighting up my apartment.

I spin around, expecting my apartment to be it's empty, normal self.

But it's not...

"Uagh!" I jump back, hitting my head hard against the open window.

The Streak winces as he stands lazily in a relaxed position, leaning against my kitchen counter.

"Sorry," his familiar modulated voice echoes weirdly through my house.

"Ow," I rub my head, "my bad, I should have been expecting you. Although, I'm pretty sure you qualify as a creep now... you know, hanging out in my apartment... in the dark," I snark.

He pulls himself up to a standing position, and nods, "fair. I do have a good reason to be here though."

I step closer hesitantly, "you have a plan?"

He nods slowly, "I do. I just came to tell you not to worry. My associates and I have it covered."

My jaw drops.

He is going there to solve my problems, and he isn't even going to let me help him. Sure, the next person would find it heroic, but me; this person right here, ain't having it.

"I'm going with you," I inform him.

He steps back, fumbling slightly, "no, you're not."

I ignore his protest and cross the apartment with fake confidence, grabbing my coat from the hanger by the door and look up at the clock.

"Would you look at the time? It's 5:30, we better get going," I say, mocking him slightly despite the evident nervousness in my voice.

Tilly could die tonight, I have no right to be joking around.

He walks from his place by the kitchen bench to lean on the leather couch and restates firmly, "you're not coming."

I pause, "how do you figure?"

"I can't let you get hurt."

I scoff, "bud, please, this is my mess. I need the satisfaction of at least contributing to the solution. Besides, I'm sure you know what it's like to feel like a failure with all the... uh, whooshing, that you do. I can't cope with that anymore..." emotion somehow seeps through my barriers into my voice, "not again."

He shakes his head and sighs, "I understand... but no. I won't let you get hurt."

He sounds like he's reassuring himself now. Why does he care about me anyway? I'm just another tool to get through to the bad guys... right?

I turn to face him and step closer, "and why is that?"

I take another step forward and a realisation hits me like a brick wall.

This is a person I'm talking to.

A person... with feelings.

He had always stayed distant from me.

Well, there had been those times when he would touch my shoulder for comfort, or that time last night when I moved across the couch to take Oshi from him...

But he trusted me, he trusted me to not look him in the eye, to not dig into his personal stuff. For him, personal included a name.

Still, I trusted him despite all the reasons I had not to. But why?

Most of the time he stayed distant, distant enough so that I couldn't read his emotions. He stayed far enough away so that I couldn't see him as a person...

A person... not just a mask.

I'm close enough now to see the hesitation on his face. For just a moment, I can almost see the thick helmet of emotion shielding his face.

What's that about?

Whoosh.

My hair is flung backwards by a strong gust of wind.

Woah.

I spin around, feeling guilty. The fresh scent of ozone and burning electricity lingers in the air and he leans against the door.

He had trusted me this far not to get too close to him, I had just over stepped a line.

I had been at least a meter away...

I feel the need to apologise, but he starts talking first.

I'm surprised to see a bright smile stretched across his face when he speaks, I suppose I hadn't bothered him as much as I had thought.

"You do know I'm fast... right?" he says smugly, avoiding my earlier question, "I could run you to China right now and leave you there."

I raise my eyebrow, "China? Of all places..."

He shakes his head and laughs.

Laughs?

He's done that around me before... so why am I only thinking this way now?

This guy really needs to stop acting like a human being...

"What I'm trying to say is I can force you to stay behind. So just..." he trails off, a troubled expression on his face, "stay."

Whoosh.

Xx

I had planned to write more than this, but I'm going to immediately start writing the next chapter. Sooo... what do you think? Thanks for reading, enjoy your day.

Much love,

Yaysies536