Chapter 1

Nine Months Before

Everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when an event occurs that changed their life. They're usually bad events that people remember in the most vivid manner. They remember what they were wearing, what was on TV, what was on the radio, what they could smell, what they were doing, what time it was. Everything down to the very last detail. Sage Moreaux wasn't an exception to this.

The day started off normally, of course that's how all days start no matter how the rest of the day was to shape up. The sky was a shade of blue so bright that, coupled with the sun, it made Sage's eyes hurt when she peered out the window. She recoiled, blinking rapidly to try and adjust to the onslaught of bright light. Once they adjusted she noticed that the sky was cloudless. It was a nice, beautiful day. A smile curled upon her lips. It was a bike day for sure.

"Sage, are you up?" Iris West's voice was muffled through the other side of the wooden door. "I have to run to work but I made some breakfast for you."

Crossing the room, Sage wrenched open the door and peered up at her cousin. "You didn't 'make' eggs again, did you?" she asked, making a face. "Because the last time you did that you made them blow up. …And I'm still not sure how you managed that one."

Iris rolled her eyes; the action contradicted the smile on her face. "You're in the clear. Its oatmeal and toast and juice. I would have done more but I'm going to be late."

"And I'm glad you didn't," Sage said, "you know I hate it when you and Uncle Joe lavish on me. I've been here for a while now. I pay rent—"

"Which we keep telling you we don't want," Iris interrupted, "You're family!"

"—and I intend to live like a proper college student like everyone else," Sage continued, waving away her words. She paused and then added with a cheeky grin, "Only with better housing."

Iris laughed. "But other than that you're a totally normal junior at CCU," she agreed.

"Exactly." Sage nodded. "Hey, have you heard from Barry yet? Wasn't he supposed to come back from that trip last night?"

"Yeah, he got back late. Enjoyed his time from what I heard. He's taking us to see that atom smasher…thing tonight," Iris replied. "We're supposed to meet up at his office around seven."

"As fun as standing around and watching something turn on doesn't sound," Sage said with a teasing tone attached to her words, "I can't go anyway. I have homework and stuff. So tell Barfolomew I said hi and I'll catch up with him tomorrow. We can hang out and see a movie or something."

"I'm holding you to that," Iris replied. "So how's the IT thing going?"

Sage shrugged. "It's just a work study position so it's not like it's horrible. My extent of computer knowledge goes as far as restarting the computer to fix a problem, making it go back to an old restore point, and running a virus scan. That's as much as they trust me with, anyway. But afterwards some of us were going to study together so tell Uncle Joe I may not get back until about nine or ten. Eleven at the latest."

"I'll have a caramel coffee waiting for you if you stop by Jitters."

Sage beamed. "See, this is why you're my favorite cousin."

Iris bid her cousin goodbye and walked down the hall, disappearing around the corner. Sage closed the door to her room and went over to her closet to pick out clothes for the day. As she scanned the bright and dark colored clothes hanging on the hangers, her mind turned over to Bartholomew Allen, or Barry as he preferred to be called.

She had known Barry since she was young but only saw him a few times out of the year when she came to Central City to visit her cousin and uncle. Her visits were sporadic but much anticipated all the same. It was a welcomed change: the West family actually smiled and had fun; back at her house, if she laughed too loud, she was swiftly punished for it. And not everyone's uncle let them ride around in their cop car and mess with handcuffs and teach them some self defense despite their mom forbidding it. Heck, she had a better idea of the law due to her visits to the police department where she and Iris would play Cops and Robbers while Barry sat and sulked.

Granted, she understood his reasoning. It wasn't every day that someone's mother was murdered and their father was taken into custody and put under a life sentence due to being the suspected murderer. She wasn't even sure how Barry came out as level-headed as he was at twenty-five-years-old but it was better than the sulking version of him that plagued her earlier visits. He wasn't fun so she tried to get him to lighten up as much as she could, mainly by teasing him and calling him names – "Barfolomew" being her favorite – but she tried to get him talking about his interests too. Boring science stuff but she tried. After all, he didn't have his own family to talk with anymore.

She always thought he would outgrow his science obsession but that quickly morphed into an odd fascination with forensics. Odd to her, a sort of coping mechanism for him. At least that's what Uncle Joe used to tell her. Whenever she sneered at how "weird" he was being, he simply stated that it most likely had to do with the death of his mother. She didn't get it then, being only seven at the time of his mother's death, but now that she was older Barry Allen finally made sense to her.

Until he started talking, that is.

Sage yanked a jean jacket off of its hanger and looked it over. She glanced out the window, nodded, and then grabbed a t-shirt and jeans and ran for the bathroom. She took a quick shower – nearly killing herself from slipping on the wet floor – and rushed down the stairs for breakfast. She ate a few bites of the oatmeal, glad that Iris went with instant that time, took a few bites of toast, downed her juice, grabbed her helmet off of the coat rack by the door and rushed down the stairs.

She smiled at the sight of her motorcycle sitting in the driveway, waiting to be taken out for a ride. Of course her mother didn't want her to have it but she was over 600 miles away and her father owned a motorcycle dealership for crying out loud! Of course she wouldn't be stuck with a normal car when she grew up around the motorized bikes that made her eyes widen since she could comprehend what they were and what they could do.

She swung her leg over the seat and settled down until her feet touched the ground. She checked to make sure she was in neutral and everything was where it needed to be so as not to take off or mess up the engine. Once she was balanced and holding the brake down, she stuck and twisted the key in the ignition, and pushed the engine switch, smiling at the machine roaring to life. She pulled the helmet down over her head, making sure it was snug, double checked that her gloves were on properly and her boots were tied. She pulled the clutch in, shifted to first gear, kicked up the kickstand, let the clutch out, and started forward. She twisted the throttle a little bit to give it gas, lifted her feet, and turned out of the driveway and onto the road.

There was nothing more freeing than being out on the open road.

# # #

"Hey, can I buy you a drink?"

Sage nearly flinched at the loud voice in her ear. She leaned away from the mouth hovering by her face and turned to see a guy smiling at her. Her eyes scanned him, from his gel-encrusted hair to his button down shirt to his jeans. He wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for that obnoxious tattoo on his neck.

"Already got one," she replied, holding up the bottle clenched tightly in her hand. "Thanks."

"Well, let me get you another one. What do you like?"

Sage waved him away, keeping the smile on her face. If it was one thing she learned it was to do her best not to anger him too much. "I'm fine with this one," she replied, crossing one leg over the other. She pulled down the hem of her dress and mentally cursed when she noticed his eyes following her movement. Maybe Iris was right, it was too short.

"Come on, baby. I just want to buy you a drink, that's all." He started to take her hand but she snatched it back. "What's the matter?"

"I don't want another one," she replied, raising her voice to be heard over the thumping music in the club. "I'm fine, really."

The boy's features twisted into a scowl and he shook his head. "I'm just trying to be nice here. Why you gotta treat a guy like that?"

"I just told you I don't want another drink," Sage insisted, reaching her free hand back for her purse. She wanted her mase in hand just in case. "I said no. You can go now."

"Listen, bitch—" The boy started forward but stopped when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Sage looked past him, her eyebrows lifting at the older man.

"Hey, the lady said 'no'," the man said, his fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. "I suggest you go and get yourself out of here before you're forced out." He gave the boy a hard push and then turned his eyes over to Sage, whose lips began to curl up into a smile. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she replied, drumming her fingers against her glass.

"Let me apologize on behalf of my gender. I'd offer you a drink but…" he turned to gesture over his shoulder, "I think he exhausted that plan. So, how about a dance instead?" He tilted his head toward the dance floor while extending his arm.

Sage ducked her head, her smile widening before she looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes. "You know…you don't have to play that sort of game with me," she pointed out. At his confused expression she continued. "Having your buddy come in to make a situation bad just for you to swoop in and 'save' me. I don't need saving." She set her drink down and uncrossed her legs. "But. I do need a dance. Lucky for you, it's something I enjoy." She lightly placed her hand in his palm and led him out to the dance floor, pulling their bodies close as they caught the heavy bass beats of the song.

Sage could still feel his hands on her hips as she walked down the empty street later that night, still feel his lips on her neck, feel his heart beating against his chest. It was a fun night, she had a good time. She only hoped that Iris had gotten her message and came up with a cover for her just in case Joe asked why she was getting back too late from "studying". Surely she and Barry would get home sooner than she would after that thing turned on. Then all she had to do was be sure that Iris was in her room to give her enough time to come back in through the window. Easy.

A harsh cold whipped around her and she shivered, hunching her shoulders. The long sleeves of her dress blocked the cold air but her short hemline did little to save her legs from it. She knew she should have grabbed a jacket on her way home, Central City got frigid this time of year, but she was in a rush and forgot. Plus, she half expected one of the random club guys to walk her home but that didn't exactly work out. Maybe she could ask Iris to come pick her up instead.

She pulled out her phone and began to send another text to her cousin, but then she stopped herself. Iris and Barry were thick as thieves, for all she knew she could be interrupting some special bonding moment they were having. Or a date of some sort. That would be horrible, making them interrupt a date just to bring her a jacket because she was too distracted to get one herself. But then she laughed. Who was she kidding? Barry may have had the biggest crush on Iris but that didn't mean that now, after all this time, he'd do anything about it. And at a science event? Talk about the wrong venue. Switching the contacts to pull up the number for Central City's taxi company—if it was one thing her father instilled in her it was never to drink and drive, she'd at least listen to him about that—her attention was torn away by something…weird.

A bright flash of light lit up the sky, contrasting against the twinkling holiday lights that decorated the surrounding stores. It was then followed by a beam of light shooting straight up, like a portal being opened in The Avengers. Her body froze. She gaped at the unbelievable sight as another gust of wind brought goosebumps to her skin. An orb – a shockwave – pushed past her and made her stomach clench. She had to take a step back to keep her balance.

The hair on her arms stood up. She looked up and saw a flash. She felt heat on the left side of her body and it was followed by an even louder bang than the one before. It sent her flying off her feet. She landed hard on her back, feeling air escape past her teeth. She rolled onto her side, struggling to get air back into her lungs but they burned. More wind brushed over her crumpled body. She began to shiver. Her body hurt. She lay crumpled near a pile of dirty, forgotten snow; the remains of the city's last snow storm. The water seeped through the side of her dress, clinging to her skin. Burning down her side as she fought for air. Darkness seeped into her vision. The explosion echoed around in her head.

She was so weak. So tired…

Everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when an event occurs that changed their life. Sage was wearing her favorite clubbing outfit, she wasn't anywhere near a TV, she lay on the empty streets, her body rife with goosebumps, and it was just half past ten when the particle accelerator exploded.

A/N - And here's the first chapter! Thanks to all those who have reviewed, fav'd, and alerted this story so far! I hope you enjoy this chapter. What do you think of Sage so far? Anyone else super excited for the FlArrow crossover next week? Please leave a review! Thanks for reading!

P.S. Also, to get an idea of what Sage looks like, picture Tinashe Kachingwe. Also, thanks Guest for pointing out my potential minor error!