Chapter Three

Light and Darkness

We both headed into Jitters. Barry went because Iris, obviously, works there. And I followed because Lucas is addicted to coffee, and Jitters is the best coffee place in Central City. Once Barry hit eyes with Iris, I spotted Lucas. I ran to him and gave him a hug.

"Leilah! You're awake!" he exclaimed. I smiled and hugged him even tighter, "Yeah, I just got up..." I replied. Lucas smiled and handed me his coffee. I looked at him skeptically and gasped exaggeratedly, "Oh my goodness graciousness! Is Lucas Storme actually giving me his coffee?!" Lucas laughed, "Hey, you just got up from a nine month coma, I think you need it." he told me.

I smiled and sipped the coffee, but that's when everything went serious, "Leilah... you scared the hell out of me... They contacted me at work, and I tried to call you, but- but you weren't answering. And you always answer my calls. I got to the hospital as fast as I could... You kept dying in front of me Leilah. They told me you weren't breathing, that your heart kept stopping..."

I held Lucas's hand, "Hey, hey..." I took his fingers and guided them to my wrist, "Do you feel this? It's my pulse. That means I'm fine. My heart is beating at it's normal rate... I swear, I'm fine..." I said. "Leilah..." Lucas got interrupted, "Hey, Lei, we have to head to the station, we have a lot of work to catch up on..." Barry told me. I sighed and nodded, "Okay..." I replied.

I sat up and looked at Lucas, "Don't worry, I'll be fine... Now you go on home. You've been gone from Gotham for 9 months, I think you have some explaining to do at work..." I said. Lucas looked sad, "But—" I held my hand up. But something weird happened.

A flash of light just busted through Jitters. What the hell?! I thought. I ignored it and kissed Lucas's cheek and waved goodbye.

Joe hugged Barry and then put a hand on my shoulder, "You two scared the hell out of me!" Joe remarked. A police officer came up to me, "Yeap, you took quite the nap there, kid. And you two still look twelve!" I laughed and so did Barry.

I looked around, the station hasn't changed, and the lab probably hasn't either. Which reminds me... I went up into the lab.

I walked around the area, and observed it. Some of the things were dusty, and probably some needed replacement. I headed back downstairs to see a guy about to hold a gun. "Hey!" I shouted. I felt a gust of wind, and I stuck my hand out, and another weird thing happened.

The light thing didn't happen, but everything went dark for three seconds. And Barry was at another area very quickly. I ran to him, and I saw Barry freaking out a bit. "Uh-I-um, I'm fine..." he told Iris, who probably asked him if he was okay.

I gave him a look and he looked back at me, "I just, need some air. But I'll call you tonight, alright?" Barry went out the back door, and I followed swiftly.

Just in time, I saw Barry holding his hand in front of his face, it was shaking...

No... it wasn't shaking... It was vibrating... "What's happening to you..?" I asked.

Barry took off in a run, going to one side very quickly. Then ended up crashing against a police car, breaking the glass in a matter of 1 second. "Barry... we have to get to STAR, now!" I told him. He looked at me and smirked, picking me up bridal style and started running.

I felt a thrill with the wind in my hair, but that soon stopped when we ended up in the back of a van, I coughed and panted, "Awesome..." we said in sync.

They went ahead to test Barry, and I was next to Caitlin and Dr. Wells, "You don't actually believe he can run that fast, do you?" she asked Dr. Wells. "Well, I believe anything is possible, and in a few minutes, maybe you will too..." he told Caitlin.

I looked at Dr. Wells, "Not to sound like a self centered bitch, but what about me?" I asked. The both looked in my direction, "I was struck by that lightning too, and if I'm positive, everything has been going pretty badly today, just saying..." I said. Dr. Wells nodded, "I assure you, Leilah, we will run tests on you as well..." Harrison said.

I nodded and stood up, seeing Barry in a ridiculous outfit, "What is this blasphemy?" I asked laughing. "It's a little snug..." Barry said, ignoring my comment. Cisco smiled, "Well at least you'll be running so fast no one will see you in it..." he tried comforting.

"Or if I don't post the picture I just took of you... But I think that's not likely. And I have 8k followers on Instagram~" I cooed going back to sit down under the tent.

Cisco sat next to me, I was observing Barry deeply as he was talking to Caitlin, "So you like him, huh?" Cisco asked. "What the hell?!" I jumped, with a slight squeal. I put my hand on my chest, "Don't do that!" I told him. Cisco put his hands up in surrender. I rolled my eyes.

"No... Of course I don't like him. Why would I like him? Does it look like I like him, I thought so." I answered quickly. Cisco raised an eyebrow, and I sighed, "Okay, fine... Maybe a little... But even if I did, there's no point. He's in love with Iris..." I said sadly.

Then I saw it, I saw Barry run. And It was amazing, he was gone in a flash...

"He just passed 200 miles per hour!" Cisco said. "That's impossible..." Caitlin droned. I smiled, "Amazing..."

Barry got injured, and he was kind of sleeping right now, so it was the perfect chance to test on me. They put me in a room full of lights. Not enough to blind me, but enough to make my sight a little bit blurry.

I had no idea what to do. So I did what I did before, I held my hand out. Then, I saw it, clear. Something was emitting from my hand. Darkness.

The darkness covered every single light out there, and the room went black. My eyes winded. Then, I put out my other hand, one light was uncovered, enough to show shadows.

If I can control light and dark... there should be one more thing I could do... but what is it..? I thought. I looked at my shadow, and realization hit me.

I closed my eyes, and took a breath before walking toward my shadow. Then, I was in it. I looked at my body, dark and covered. I was a shadow. I closed my eyes (or what felt like my eyes) again and walked forward. And I was in human form again.

I took my hand out, and the darkness went away, the light broke through them. I sighed in content, "Awesome..." I heard Cisco say from outside.

Barry finally woke up, and we saw Caitlin telling him what had happened, "It looks like you had a distal radius fracture..." she said, showing him his x-ray on the tablet. "Had?" he asked. I handed him the other tablet, "It's healed. In three hours..." I told him.

"How is that even possible?" he asked, super confused. "We don't know... yet." Caitlin said.

"You really need to learn how to stop..." Cisco said. "What happened out there today?" Harrison asked, "You were moving pretty well and then something caused you to lose focus..." I didn't know if that was a question or a statement.

"I started remembering something... When I was eleven, my mother was murdered..." everything went silent. Everything went sad, and serious... I didn't like it.

"It was late... a sound woke me up, and I came downstairs and... I saw what looked like a ball of lightning. Inside the lightning, there was a man. He killed my mom... They arrested my dad, he's still in Iron Heights for her murder. Everyone, the cops, the shrinks... They all told me what I saw was impossible, but what if the man I saw was like me?"

"Well, I can assure you, you and Leilah are one of a kind..." Harrison confirmed. I nodded.

I walked away, and headed back to my apartment.

I was at home, on my laptop, getting myself filled in with Felicity, watching YouTube videos and doing other things when I got a text.

Barffolemyew (Barry) : There's another one...

I furrowed my eyebrows...

The Queen of Darkness : Another one? Of what?

Barffolemyew (Barry) : A person with powers... Like us...

The Queen of Darkness : That's impossible! Didn't Dr. Wells say that we were the only ones?!

Barffolemyew (Barry) : Well he was lying then. And Iris has a boyfriend...

The Queen of Darkness : Wait, what? Who?

Barffolemyew (Barry) : Eddie... Thawne...

The Queen of Darkness : Her dad's PARTNER?

I ignored the next text he gave me, and got up, changing my clothes immediately before heading getting on my bike and driving to STAR. I came in to see Barry, Cisco and Caitlin together. I walked over to them and Barry gave a soft smile to me.

Was that my heart? Why is it beating so fast? Is this what liking someone is supposed to feel like?!

I hate it.

"I've been going over unsolved cases for the last nine months and there's been a sharp increase in unexplained deaths and missing people. Your meta-humans have been busy... I'm not blaming you... I know guys didn't mean for this to happen... I know you all lost something..." I saw how he looked at Caitlin.

My breath hitched, "But I need your help to catch Mardon and anyone else like him... But I can't do it without you..." he said. Cisco nodded, "If we're gonna do this... I have something that might help..."

Cisco guided us to an outfit that was the same size for Barry, "Something I've been playing with... Designed to replace the turnouts that fire fighter traditionally wear... I was thinking that if STAR Labs did something nice for the community, people wouldn't hate Dr. Wells so much..."

"How is it gonna help me?" Barry asked. "It's heat and abrasive resistant, so it should withstand your moving at high velocity speed... And the aerodynamic design should help you maintain control. Plus, it comes with a built in sensor so we can keep track of your vitals and stay in contact with you from here..." Cisco said.

I raised my hand, "I wanna go after him too. I may be a little tech girl, but I need to help Barry... You got anything for me?" I asked. Cisco smiled and lead me to another mannequin, it was an outfit that looked like Barry's but black. I smirked, "I'm gonna make a few modifications... that okay?" I asked. Cisco nodded, "Please, go ahead!" he said with a smile.

I grinned and got out some sewing stuff from my backpack, "Thanks... now how do we track Mardon?" I asked. I kept my focus on the suit but still listened.

"I re-tasked STAR Labs' satellite to track meteorological abnormality over Central City. We just got a ping. Atmosphere and pressure just dropped in a matter of seconds! I've tracked it to a farm, just west of the city!" Caitlin remarked.

I smiled, "I'm done with the suit! Imma get changed!" I said. I went to the bathroom to change my suit, I probably would get really cold in the winter, but that's okay. I shoved on some boots and put on a mask that my mother had bought one day. Sighing I went outside again.

"Woah... hello sexy body..." Cisco said. I rolled my eyes, "Shut up Ramone..." I said. I saw Barry in his suit, "You ready?" he asked. I smiled, "Ready as I'll ever be~" I said. Caitlin gave me a Bluetooth, which I gladly put on, "You sure this thing won't fall out or anything?" I asked. Caitlin shook her head, "Nope, it's been Cisco'd!" Cisco called out. I laughed and nodded.

I jumped on Barry's back, clinging onto him like a koala, "Let's go tiger~" I cooed, "Yes Queen~" he replied. I laughed softly, and he took off.

We saw Joe and Eddie, and something about to fly on top of him, I knew that was my signal to let go. I hit the ground hard groaning, and he ran to take the debris away.

"Barry, Leilah, this thing's getting closer! His speeds are 200mph and increasing! Guys can you hear me?!" Cisco said. I got up and rubbed my temple, "Yeah! Loud and clear!" I shouted. "If this keeps up, it could be an F5 tornado!" Cisco told us.

"And it's headed toward the city! How do we stop it?!" Barry asked. "Guys!" I panicked. My eyes widened, "What if you unravel it?!" I asked Barry. "How the hell are you gonna do that?!" Caitlin asked. "I could distract Mardon by flashing lights that can pass the tornado, and Barry can run around it, in the opposite direction. He can cut off it's legs!" I said. Barry agreed, "Your body may not be able to handle those speeds, Barry you'll die. Leilah doesn't even know the extent of her power either. If she uses too much energy, she my die as well." Caitlin said.

"We have to try!" Barry replied. Then, he took off, running around the tornado. I went ahead and flashed the lights at the tornado, making them as bright as possible.

Mardon however, was being persistent, he made Barry slam across the area, slamming into me as well. "It's too strong!" I screamed. The tornado got bigger, "You can do this Barry, Leilah. Barry you were right, I am responsible for all this... So many people have been hurt because of me, and when I looked at you all I saw was another potential victim of my works. And Yes I created this madness, but you two can stop it. You can do this. Now run. Barry, RUN!"

Praise the lord for motivational speeches.

I took that as the chance to distract Mardon again, flashing lights, but still looking at Barry in amazement.

Then, it unraveled. The dust was everywhere, "Barry?!" I screamed. I saw him, panting, and ran over to him and hugged him tightly, "HEY!" we turned around. "I didn't think there was anyone else like me..." Clyde said. I rolled my eyes, "We're not like you... You're a murderer" Barry said. Then we heard gun shots firing. Barry covered me in a tight hug.

But neither of us felt the impact. I looked and saw Mardon on the floor, dead. We both turned around to see Joe holding his gun.

"Barry! Leilah?!" Caitlin said over the Bluetooth. "It's over..." he replied. "We're okay..." I stated.

Barry had given me a hoodie, and I had put my mask in the pocket. I had a regular outfit on, living our double life as forensic scientists... I had looked around, observed everyone. I'm an observer. I studied the barn, the ambulance, the firefighters, who were useless in this situation. And then Barry.

You have to let this feeling go... I told myself. But I was in a constant war with myself.

But, Iris has a boyfriend... Barry has no chances with her anymore...

Are you sure about that? He loves her not you.

Shut up...

Why should I? You know it's true! He will never, ever love you.

Stop it! Just Shut up already!

You are nothing... absolutely nothing...

SHUT UP!

"Leilah?" Barry asked. I jumped, "Huh? Y-yeah what's up?" I asked. "Remember, we can't tell anyone about this... because—" I interrupted him, "Yeah, I know... The more people that know, the more that get hurt... I know..." I said. He nodded, and I walked away.

Get over yourself...