"Hello, sir. I have a proposition for you," the old man spoke.
"And who are you? What kind of proposition do you have? " Barry asked, narrowing his eyes. A job offer as soon as he came to this world? That's too good to be true.
"My name is Ozpin, and you, my friend, are a being of extraordinary power. A power that can do a world of good with a guiding hand." the old man said, a cane in one hand, the other extended towards Barry.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Before I tell you any more I need to know your name."
"My name is Barry Allen. I'm the fastest man alive," Barry said, extending his hand and gripping Ozpin's.
Ozpin took a moment to evaluate Barry, seemingly sizing him up. Ozpin must have deemed Barry trustworthy.
"Well, Mr. Allen, that woman you fought is something called a Maiden. She is a being of great power and has just escaped custody."
"Do you want me to bring her back?" Barry asked, eyebrows raised, "Do you have any facilities designed to hold her?"
"No, she's long gone by now and no, we don't have facilities designed to hold her," Ozpin said.
"So what do you need me for?" Barry asked confusedly.
"I'm going to be honest with you, Mr. Allen, the world is in danger. You can help save it."
The idea of an endangered planet made Barry think of his childhood heroes from his mother's old comic books. "I'd love to help but I need more details before I commit to anything."
"That's understandable. I'll explain everything. Come with me," Ozpin said, gesturing to an out of the way alley.
Upon waking, Roman heard a loud mechanical clicking, not unlike a socket wrench. He opened his eyes and found Neo hard at work attaching something to his body.
"Neo? What are you doing?" Roman asked with an edge in his voice.
Not looking towards him, Neo held a finger up and tightened one last thing before standing up and turning to him, extending her hand. Roman lifted his own and found no pain present. His eyes were pulled to his arm and he found a metal bar running along the outside. Grabbing Neo's hand, she strained to pull him up. Roman, however, was able to sit up as easily as blinking. Roman looked over his body found metal around his ribs and two metal bars on the inside and outside of his legs. He turned on the bed, his movements accompanied by the mechanical whirring and his feet touched the ground. Roman stood up with no trouble and stretched.
"Neo, where the hell did you find this?" Roman asked, admiring the marvel of technology. How something so simple looking could relieve all of his pain was beyond him.
Neo ran her finger across her throat.
"Oh."
Barry leaned against a wall, his mind processing what he's been told. "So you're telling me," Barry started slowly, "That gods are real, you reincarnate every time you die, there are four powerful relics hidden underneath schools, and that there's some woman named Salem that can control those monsters called Grimm?"
"That's the gist of it," Ozpin said.
"Okay," Barry said, mostly unphased by these revelations, the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, the Turtle, and himself coming to the front of his mind.
"You don't care? Most people I've told this to have been shocked," Ozpin asked in a manner suggesting he was suspicious of Barry.
"I've seen weirder," Barry said,
"Such as?"
"There's a bulletproof man who can fly, shoot lasers from his eyes, lift buildings, and I've traveled to the future and met myself," Barry said.
"The future?" Ozpin asked, eyebrows raised, "What was it like?"
"It was awful. The Turtle had enslaved everyone in Central City, and myself and I were the only forms of resistance," Barry said before quickly shutting his mouth and looking away. He had said too much.
"You've lost me, Mr. Allen. The Turtle? Central City?"
"I- uh, I didn't mean this planet's future. This may sound weird but I'm from another planet," Barry said, bringing his eyes back to Ozpin.
"Another planet?" Ozpin breathed, looking at Barry with wide eyes, before looking away and muttering, "Could the gods have-?"
Sticking his hands into his pockets, Barry was reminded of the existence of his wallet and became aware of his basic needs. "Before I commit to helping you, I need some things in return."
"I'm sure we can work that out. What did you have in mind?" Ozpin asked.
"I need a roof over my head, I need an identity, and I need a stable income," Barry said, listing his demands off on his fingers.
"That can be arranged quite easily," Ozpin said
"One last thing. I want to operate out in the open, help people whenever I can, not stick to shadows and secrets like your group," Barry said.
"Be a superhero?" Ozpin asked with a small smile on his face before continuing, "If that's what you want, I doubt any of us could stop you. Now, Mr. Allen, I want you to meet my associates. Come with me."
Ozpin slowly started in the direction of the safe zone, Barry walked beside him and whispered into his ear, "So how many times have you reincarnated, exactly?"
A sad smile flashed across his face before he replied, "Too many to count. Now, if you don't mind me asking you a personal question, how did you get to be so fast? It's clearly not a Semblance," Ozpin said, looking straight into Barry's eyes with a sparkle in his own.
"Electrified chemicals," Barry said shortly.
"Fascinating. You'll have to tell me the full story sometime," Ozpin said, before asking, "Are there any drawbacks to these powers?"
"A few. Using these powers burns a lot of energy so I have to eat a lot. My shoes burnt up whenever I ran before I made these boots," Barry said, motioning to his yellow footwear. "When I read at super-speed, the information doesn't stay in my head for too long. Worst of all, if I run too fast I'll travel through time."
"You must be starving then," Ozpin said.
At that moment, Barry's stomach growled in a way that would make a Grimm jealous. "I am, now that I'm thinking about it."
Ozpin gave a small smile. "I'm sure that we have something in the safe zone."
The two of them made their way down the ruined road, eventually arriving back at the series of tents that acted as a command center. Ozpin pointed Barry towards a tent. Walking over and opening the flap, the smell of food assaulted Barry's nose. A long line of people was waiting for food to be served. Once he finally found himself with a bowl of soup in his hands he returned to Ozpin, who ushered him towards a group of three people. Barry started to approach but something caught his eye before he reached them. Tired adults trying to comfort a group of far too many children all crying for their parents. It was heartbreaking, and reminded Barry of himself. Many of these children would grow up without their parents. Grow up to be like him. No hope, afraid of what tomorrow might bring.
Barry realized he was standing in front of the group and forced these thoughts out of his head. He was unsurprised to see Qrow. Beside him stood a man with shredded clothes that completely failed to cover the fact that half of his upper body was robotic, and a blonde-haired woman wearing a cape stood with her back to Barry.
Ozpin began to speak, "Qrow, James, Glynda. This is Barry Allen, he's the newest member of our… cabal."
"What?! You'd just let a random kid in on all of our secrets like that?!" James shouted.
"Ozpin, are you sure this is wise?" Glynda said.
"He saved my life, went toe-to-toe with a maiden and expected nothing in return. That's all that needed to be said." Ozpin.
"I'm not sure he can be trusted. He was stalking Henry Arc until he found a kid," Qrow said.
Every head turned to Barry with looks ranging from inquisitive to horrified.
Barry was quick to mount his own defense, "He's making that sound worse than it is! That kid was scared, I was taking him back here!"
"That may be true, but why were you stalking Henry Arc?" Qrow asked, a scowl on his face.
"This is strange, but… he looks exactly like my father. The only difference between them is that my father is in prison and he's here," Barry said sadly.
"What's your father doing in prison?" Qrow asked.
"Framed for murdering my mother. It's what inspired me to become a CSI," Barry said, looking towards the ground and his shoulders falling.
"You're a cop?" James asked.
"Yeah, are you?" Barry asked, hoping he could find someone to relate to in this world.
"Not exactly, military general. What department do you work for?"
Barry wasn't sure if it was wise to tell the others of his secret origin, so he looked to Ozpin, who nodded.
"Central City PD," Barry said.
"Central City?" James asked, "I've never heard of it."
"You wouldn't have," Barry said, taking a deep breath before saying, "I'm from another planet."
James, Glynda, and Qrow took a moment to process the information before Glynda asked, "So what makes you qualified to join our group, Mr. Allen?"
Suddenly, Barry was everywhere
"This makes me qualified," He said, each word originating from a different angle.
"So you can teleport?" James asked, his faith in Barry dropping.
"What? No, I was moving at super speed," Barry said.
"You're fast enough to be invisible to the naked eye?" Glynda asked.
Barry nodded.
"So what kind of training do you have?" James asked.
"I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Sun City University, majoring in organic chemistry and minoring in criminology," Barry said.
"No, no, combat training," James said.
"Basic police things," Barry said.
"That won't do. You need some real training," James said.
Barry was opening his mouth to reply when a voice from behind said, "Excuse me?"
Turning around, Barry found Ruby looking up at him.
"I, uh, I wanted to thank you for saving my friend," Ruby said, "I wasn't fast enough… and you were. So... thank you."
"No need to thank me. I'm just doing the right thing," Barry said, a small smile crossing his face for a brief moment.
Ozpin put his hand on Barry's shoulder and said "Why don't you go with James? Go get everything set up?"
1 MONTH LATER, MISTRAL
It had taken a lot of string-pulling, but Ironwood had been able to falsify records, making Barry a certified CSI from Atlas who was transferring to Mistral. Barry walked down the street and turned left, entering the police department. Entering this brand new building made him remember his first day at CCPD, a meek twenty-one-year-old who was only interested in a single case, but eventually, he understood that others needed justice as well. Barry was knocked out of his daydream when he bumped into someone and he stumbled back. The person cried out and fell to the ground.
"I'm sorry about that, I should have been paying attention," Barry said, offering his hand to the fallen officer.
"It's fine," the blue-haired woman said, taking Barry's hand and standing up, "I've never seen you around here."
"You wouldn't have, I'm the new CSI. Just transferred from Atlas. Name's Barry Allen," he said.
"I heard we were getting a transfer," the woman said, extending her own hand, and said, "Nice to meet you, Barry Allen, I'm Detective Eileen Azure."
Barry took her hand and said, "Likewise, where should I go?"
"Up the stairs, first door to your left is the crime lab, office in the back is the director's office. He'll tell you more," Eileen said.
"Thanks, I'll see you around," Barry said, walking towards the staircase and starting up, skipping stairs.
Barry made it to the top of the stairs and turned to his left, opening the door. Walking in, Barry could feel everyone's eyes on him. He ignored this and continued on his way to the door of the director's office. Barry saw a vaguely human shape behind the opaque glass panel in the door. Barry raised his hand to knock on the door but stopped himself. Barry quickly straightened his tie and jacket and smoothed out his shirt. After running his hands through his hair, Barry rapped on the glass three times.
The shape behind the glass jerked up and called, "Come in!"
Barry grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, all the while thinking, Welcome to your new life, Barry Allen.
Massive thanks to Quantum_Tarantino and Sgt Chrysalis for editing this chapter.
