Chapter 45: Think Negative

"Dawn… I know you must be exhausted, but you said you saw Don?" Lian whispered to her friend who was now lying in Sophie's bed; The only comfortable one. Beside Dawn was Lian and Sophie who sat worried for their friend who they had found in the shower's Seizing in such a horrific way. The only reason they went to check on her was because she had been in the showers for just over two hours so they were terrified for how long Dawn was in such a dire situation.

Dawn wiped the sweat from her brow as she led under the pile of blankets, "this is all so unnecessary with all these blankets; I feel fine… better than ever even." She muttered, clearly exhausted.

Lian looked over to the other side of the bed, where Sophie sat in her wheelchair, she raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Dawn as if to say, "is she even listening?"

Sophie leaned forward and took one of Dawn's hands that had just escaped the blankets, "Dawn, what happened? Where is Don? Is he okay?"

"Do you think Bat-Burger is open? I've never been but I REALLY want to try the Jokerized Fries. I know it's always been a controversial name in the fast-food industry BUT Don always told me that they are weirdly tangy and spicy and way too moreish." Dawn rambled on.

"She's definitely not here, is she?" Lian said to Sophie.

Sophie shook her head and looked back to Dawn, "Dawn, you mentioned Don. Your twin brother. Can you tell me where you last saw him?"

Dawn looked blankly at Sophie and nodded her head, "Yes."

"Okay, brilliant!" Sophie smiled softly, "where did you last see him?"

"Well, Miss Sophie Daniels; The last time I saw my twin brother, Donald Wallace Allen, was while I was in what is called 'The Speedforce' which is a living thing in some strange way that apparently gives me my powers. It also has a negative version of itself, like an evil twin… oooooooh so spooky." Dawn rambled again.

"The Speedforce?" Sophie asked Lian, "Did Don mention any of this to you?"

"No, why would he?" Lian questioned.

"Well," Sophie hesitated, "you did kiss him before he left so I thought that maybe he told you more of his plan; maybe he knew about the speedforce."

"Whaaaaat?" Dawn elongated, "You kissed Don? Blegh That's disgusting."

Sophie chuckled at Dawn's worrying theatrics; she couldn't help herself.

Lian sighed, "Dawn, how do we get Don out of this 'Speedforce'?" she asked her friend.

"Oh no no no he's not in The Speedforce," Dawn answered, "he is in The Negative Speedforce, which is why I need to save him. Something grabbed him and pulled him away and he was so terrified, jeez, you should have seen the look on his face. I was SO worried for him but…" Dawn cut herself off as she held in her laughter, "the last time he had that face was when I made him scream on Halloween when I dressed as a clown and jumped out at him!" she burst into laughter… But she quickly stopped as soon as she started. Not even within a quarter of a second, she was out of the bed she was trapped under, she blurred towards one of the walls and began drawing all over them by tapping the brick with her fingers at an incredible speed.

"What the fuck is she doing now?" Lian exasperated. "Dawn?" She asked louder, "how do we find Don? It's not a difficult question to answer."

"Lian," Sophie sharply whispered with a cold stare, "whatever this 'Speedforce' is has clearly messed with her head. We have to be patient; and look, she is clearly giving us an answer."

Lian looked on the wall to see that Dawn was writing an extremely long scientific formula, with words, numbers, diagrams, and letters that she had never seen before.

Dawn continued for close to five minutes more until she finally finished the last of her formula with a flick of her wrist and a very loud and very relieved sigh. "Finally!"

The blonde girl turned back to her friends and gave an awkward smile, "that was stuck in my head and for some reason, I needed to get it out… and uh… I'm fine now." She laughed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sophie asked as she moved towards her friend, "you had us so worried about you."

"I'm sorry…" Dawn apologized meekly.

"And your speed is back?" Lian asked as she sat up from her chair beside the bed.

Dawn's eyes grew watery and crystal-like as the tears welled up in her eyes. She could hold back the proud and happy smile she had building up, so she released it with a choke of a happy laugh, "yeah," she giggled, "I'm just… I'm just so okay."

Lian wrapped her arms around her friend who embraced her in return, "I'm glad." She whispered

"Me too," Sophie added.

When Lian pulled away from Dawn, the speedster looked at her with a questioning look. "So, you kissed my brother?"

Lian released an awkward laugh, "ah."

Dawn gave Lian an extremely sharp stare which made Lian look away and awkwardly scratch her face, "Um… technically he kissed me half the time…." She stammered.

Sophie's eyes bounced between the two girls for a few moments before a cackle of laughter released from her mouth. The other two girls looked at Sophie who continued to laugh, "what?" Lian asked brashly. Dawn began to stifle a laugh.

"What?" Lian seethed awkwardly, "it's not funny! So what if I kissed him?"

"No it's not that," Sophie laughed.

"Then what is it?" Lian questioned.

Sophie found a pause in her laughter where she was able to reply, "It's just," she chuckled, "Dawn wrote whatever the fuck that is" she continued as she pointed at the writing on the wall, "and all you two are concerned about is you kissing Don," she laughed again.

Lian looked behind Dawn to see the almost alien writing and then focused her gaze on the speedster, "wait, why are you laughing then?"

Dawn stopped her little giggle, "Sophie's laughter is just contagious… sorry."

The archer sighed while running a hand down her face in frustration.

"Just so you both know," Dawn spoke, "I have no idea what any of this means," she revealed as she pointed her thumb behind her. Sophie moved herself to get a good view of the wall and scanned her eyes over it, "At least some of it is in English."

"I think I translated that in my head," Sophie spoke, "I'm pretty sure The Speedforce gave me this equation."

"So what is it?" Lian asked, "is it telling you to run faster or something? Or is it just a longer version of Jesse Quicks formula?"

Dawn's eyes widened, "wait, you might be onto something!" she answered enthusiastically as she opened her holo-communicator and took a picture of it. The screen filtered through hundreds of files until Jesse Quicks speed-formula appeared on the screen. "They are similar, but the one I wrote has so much more to it – it's not just giving me access to speed… it's telling me how to time travel?"

"Time travel?!" Lian questioned loudly.

"Impulse did come from the future," Sophie replied, "it is possible."

"Well, he didn't come from the future; he came from a future.." Sophie answered.

"How does that work?" Lian asked, "is it like Back to The Future or Avengers: Endgame? Which version are we going with?"

"The Eobard Thawne version," Dawn replied, "you can change some things but not everything."

Lian sighed in confusion, "I'm glad that I just shoot a bow and arrow. It's so much simpler. I just have to deal with guns instead of Cosmic science-y weirdness."

"So just to clarify," Sophie spoke up, looking at the wall still, "using what you have written, you're going to be able to time-travel? Can't you just run super-fast like the Reverse-Flash?"

Dawn paused in a moment of thought, "I guess there is a reason that the Speedforce wants me to use this instead of breaking the time-barrier like he does. According to what my father told me, the only reason Thawne can travel through time unaffected is because of the Negative Speedforce. Maybe this protects me?" she theorized as she looked at the writing once more. "I'm coming Don… this time I'll save you." She whispered to herself.


"I would have thought that Barry Allen's son wouldn't be so… dense," the white-haired man sighed as he rubbed his temples in frustration.

Don, out of breath, removed his red cowl from his head and took deep breaths, he had never been so exhausted; "Is it like this every time you run? To feel such weight?"

Eobard stepped forward from behind his console and handed Donald a simple cup of water, "There is a fundamental difference between the positive and negative speedforce - that the sooner you learn and understand, the sooner you will be able to use it to its utmost potential."

The teen took hold of the cup and gulped it down all in one before releasing an exasperated, "and what's the difference?"

"The positive speedforce, it gives you your powers willingly. All of your 'Flash Family' were chosen and continue to be chosen because it trusts all of you to use it responsibly. But the Negative Speedforce, you have to take its power by force. You have to earn it, and you have to feed it." Eobard lectured.

"Feed it?" Don asked, "I understand earning it but what do you want me to do? Bring it to the family dinner for Taco Tuesday?"

"No my child," Thawn almost released a laugh. "You need to feed it negative emotions. It's in the name."

"Riiiiiight," Don said, stepping from the treadmill. If that sentence didn't set off alarm bells in his head, Don didn't know what will; "It sounds rather risky doing that, don't you think?" the teenager asked.

"There is a risk with everything you do in life, it might as well be a risk worth taking," Eobard answered, "you took that cup from me and drank its contents, I could have poisoned it but you risked it for the reward, did you not?"

Don tipped the cup upside down where a remaining droplet of water fell and splashed against the white tiled floor. He then raised an eyebrow to his current mentor, "you didn't actually poison me, right?"

"If I were to kill you, Donald Allen, I would have done so instead of revealing these secrets to you." Eobard shrugged and walked back to the console he was at prior, "now, step on that treadmill and we shall give it one more try for today. You need to make at least some progress."

The blonde-haired speedster sighed and placed the cup by his feet before moving back to the treadmill, "don't blame me if you make me wear this machine out," Don replied. "So do you want me to feed the negative speedforce this time? Do you want aeroplane noises as I do so?"

"In a sense," Thawn answered, "I want you to think about all of the bad moments in your life. Think about all the times something has gone wrong, or where someone else has made you furious. Think about the loss and hatred that you have for all the people who have hurt you and your family over your lifetime."

Donald paused, gave Eobard Thawne a sharp stare, and then closed his eyes. His first thought was of his sister, he wasn't there for her when he needed him. And then he thought of his family, his father, mother, cousins, grandparents… all of them most likely gone apart from him. And then he thought of The Man of Light - the reason for so much suffering in the world… the reason for so much suffering inflicted upon him. Donald Allen began to run. He began with a light jog, to feel the energy that surrounded him like he normally would but as per instruction, he focused on the negative. He turned his jog into a run and yellow lightning began to crackle around him. Eobard Thawne watched with hope this time, "Focus Allen! Focus on the negative! The hate, the spite, the jealousy! All of it!" he called out over the crackle of lightning and the sound of thunderous footsteps. Jealousy is the word that sealed his fate at that very moment. A brief flash of red lightning surrounded Don as he thought of the person who frustrated him the most, the person who was in the way of what he wanted to be. The red lighting returned around him for a second time before he shook these thoughts away from his mind, the lightning imploded into him forcing him into the air. Don impacted against the wall, leaving a slight imprint of scorch marks where he landed.

"You did it," Eobard muttered, "You accessed the negative speedforce," he uncharacteristically cheered.

Donald rubbed the back of his head and groaned in pain, his mind was dazed and a mess. But the worse thing was the brief moment that he used the Negative Speedforce felt even better than it usually did. Eobard stood before him with a handheld out to him, "you did well today boy," he praised, "you'll be a natural."

"Naturally," Don joked as he winced in pain from being pulled up to his feet by Thawne. "Eobard," he then began, "this Negative Speedforce… it's not going to change who I am, is it?" he asked.

Eobard raised an eyebrow quizzingly before confidently proclaiming, "not one part of you will change."

"But I felt like a different person for that moment, it was as if everything I felt and thought was just so raw and unfiltered."

"Because that is who you are my boy," Eobard answered, "If you didn't have those feelings then you would not be able to do this task. The only reason that you can is that you want to save those you love with such passion that you're willing to make sacrifices. That is how you save people. There is never an easy way out and you obviously understand this in a way that your father and your cousin never did."

Don pondered for a few moments about the words he had just heard before he felt his teacher's hand on his shoulder, "You're doing this for your family so do not worry, it is a noble cause," Thawne spoke calmly, "now go and get some rest and eat some food, you deserve it."

Don gave Eobard a small smile and a nod before making his way to the exit of the lab. The door's retracted into the walls and the teenage speedster looked over his shoulder back to Thawne, "I know you've done terrible things in your life, but there is good in you Eobard." and then he walked out and turned the corner, disappearing from Eobard's view.

Soon enough the teen made his way to his room, his rather large room, but it was filled with next to nothing. Thawne had provided a bed, a washroom, a couch, a computer system, and a game's console from Don's period to help if he ever felt homesick… The Reverse-Flash even provided a family photo that apparently came from The Flash Museum. Don took hold of the framed photo and looked at all of his family, and then he wondered what secrets they all had. Did his father ever resent Wally for taking over his place as The Flash, or did Jay hate the fact he was replaced by someone who wasn't even related to him? And why did Bart distance himself from him and Dawn as they grew older? It didn't make any sense to him, it was as if he cast himself out from the family and only interacted with them when he needed to. Don then felt a ping of hatred in his heart and the frame shattered as red lightning cascaded around it. The speedster sighed as he still held a portion of the shattered frame with the picture still staying in his hands - but his sister was now burned out from the photo. He put the picture back on the desk he picked it up from and stepped over the remnants of the plastic, and dropped himself face-first onto the bed in his room.

"I'm doing this to save everyone," Don said to himself, "to save them all."

"I'm not the bad guy here."


A/N: Hey everyone, I'm really sorry for the massive gap between chapters yet again, but life get's ahead of me sometimes - and the reason for this time was because I got a new job and have been dealing with this whole pandemic business at the same time which I'm sure you can all understand. And I have read your reviews and I'm really happy some of you have such strong opinions and thoughts with my story! I'll address some of them here:

Anon:

1. You'll get more of a reaction to it soon!

2. Yes you will learn more about Rose's past at some point - I might even make it a separate story but I'll only do that if I have to. (I will finish the Lian story I have at some point!)

Also if this is the same person; Thank you for reminding me about the 3 year anniversary! Seriously I didn't think I had been going for that long! Hopefully you managed to break that record! And also, thank you for the kind words friend

Guest: Guest, I'm a big fan of those reviews, you might be the biggest Flash fan I have ever seen. I have to say, I think (and hope) that you're in for a treat with this mini-arc with Don/Dawn/Eobard. I wanna address the Dawn thing, you're right about pretty much everything with Dawn and the speedforce here which is awesome. But "The very first" thing is something I wrote because this time (and in this continuity because the YJ universe hasn't really touched the Speedforce at all) she just simply is, as this is a story about the speedsters Don and Dawn and I want to give them a reason why they are special compared to the others. I haven't addressed how Wally came back or why because I hopefully believe the show will answer that. You really don't have to worry about her becoming a Canon-Sue though, she isn't automatically god-tier at using her amped-up powers and will have a lot of learning and a lot of shit to go through to even be as good as Barry or Wally or Bart would be in their prime, she is still a teen after all.

All-in-all, hopefully I manage to finish this story this year but I either keep getting distracted or I come up with new ideas to include into the story. Even so, thank you all so much for reading - especially if you have been someone from the start! ~FP