I do not own anything, just my OC. x
The curtains remained closed, the door locked for the majority of the day. Dirty dishes remained on the sink, waiting for someone to clean them and place them on the cabinets. The apartment was silent most of the time, sometimes the radio could be heard with the news, and sometimes cries in the night would wake the neighbors.
It´s been three months since the whole incident on Central City, the incident that made her lose everything she had. Her heart was shattered, an immense pain still filled the woman living on the apartment 23 in the big city of New York.
People knew her like Emily, Emily Burke, a 30 year old woman who would only leave her apartment when she ran out of food and rarely, to get her clothes washed on the laundry next to the building.
"Ms. Burke, do you have the check for this month ready?" An old man knocked on her door, placing his ear close to the wood.
There was no answer back. Assuming there was no one home, the man decided to stop by later. Truth is, Danielle was lying on her bed, her eyes bright red where she had been up all night, crying until the sun was set on the blue sky.
One of her hands was holding a bottle of whiskey while the other was holding the baby blue blanket close to her chest. The smell of her baby still remained on it, making Danielle not let go of it.
She still remembered the day she decided to leave, it was the very next day when everything happened. She didn't say goodbye, not telling her family about her decision. Her phone was even left on the old house to stop anyone from contacting her or locating her. It was a tough decision she had to make, but it was better for her to be on her own than having to deal with people constantly on her back.
The clock marked 09:06 a.m. She was starting to feel hungry, not having eaten since the day before. She would rarely eat, in truth, or a simple cookie would fill her. Danielle knew she needed to eat, she knew that if she continued this way, she was going to end up getting sick.
"Morning, Ms. Burke." The eight year old boy who lived with his mother in front of her apartment greeted her once she was outside.
"Hello, Evan. Aren't you supposed to be at school?"
"Mom said she need to get some milk but she hasn't returned." Danielle could feel her blood boil.
Evelyn, the boy's mother, was a young 23 year old girl who got pregnant at a young age. Her parents helped her with some money to pay the rent of the apartment and to get food for the young boy but she would always spend that money going out with her friends and coming back home with a different man every weekend.
"Are you alone?" The blonde boy nodded, his hands moving the car he was playing with. "Would you like to come with me to the store? We can make pancakes once we're back."
"Yes!"
Danielle smiled at the boy. She couldn't understand how a woman who gets the chance of having her son by her side decides to abandon him so much and not pay attention to him when others, like her, lose their kids and would do anything to have them back. It wasn't fair, Danielle thought.
The store was on the corner of the street, not so far away from the building. The cart was full with different types of food, she knew the fridge needed to be restocked. She decided to let the boy grab whatever he liked and to her surprise, he decided to take an apple.
"Are you sure that's what you want? You can grab a candy if you want."
"I like apples, they're my favorite."
She said nothing else but paid for everything. Evan helped her carry the grocery bags back to the apartment and just like promised, they both began to make pancakes once the groceries were unpacked.
"Evan? Evan! Evan, where are you?" The voice of the young woman called for the boy from outside in the hallway.
Danielle motioned the boy to keep on eating his pancakes as she walked to the door just to see the woman looking all around the place for her son.
"Evelyn," Danielle called and the shorter woman looked at her. "Evan is here with me, he's fine."
"What? Why is he there?! He's supposed to be at his home." Evelyn pushed Danielle to the side and entered the apartment, going to Evan and pulling the boy from the seat by his arm. "Let's go home, now."
"Why did you leave him alone?" Danielle stood in front of the door, not letting the woman go. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is for a boy that's only 8 years?"
"That's none of your business."
"You're right, it's not, but I'm not letting this continue." The younger woman scoffed and Danielle walked closer to her. "Having a child is a blessing that not many women get. You have Evan and you rather go out to get drunk without thinking of your son. If you can't raise him on your own then get help but don't let the poor kid suffer the way he is."
"What do you know about parenthood, huh? You don't have kids so you don't get to tell me what's right or what's wrong."
Danielle felt like slapping the woman but the kid was still there and she didn't want him to see that happening. "I had a son, born no more than three months ago but I lost him. Died in my arms. I would give anything to see him grow up the way yours is doing. Don't waste this chance life is giving you. Next time I see Evan outside of his own house, I'm calling the cops and have you arrested in no time."
Danielle moved to the side to let the woman get out of the house. She felt tears forming on her eyes, but she fought to not let them travel down her cheeks. The memory of that moment still replayed on her mind every time she closed her eyes, reason why she didn't get much sleep lately.
The clock on the wall now marked 12:17 p.m. Perhaps it was time to get back to Central City, check on her family and hopefully, move on.
…
The city once again reminded her of the pain and tragedy she had suffered. From the death of her mother to the death of her son and fiancé. The sky was, as always, bright blue with few clouds around to decorate it. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed STAR Labs on the background. She tried to ignore it, going back to the book she bought on the train station before the train took off.
The train finally started to slow down, they arrived to the CC station. She was the last one to get off, still rethinking her choice.
"Where to, ma'am?" The taxi driver asked once Danielle was inside.
"To the CCPD, please."
The taxi driver nodded and began to take off. The traffic was heavy, which was odd in the city. "The city is still being rebuilt after the incident." The driver explained. "But that's not stopping the mayor on doing a Flash Day."
"A Flash day?"
"Haven't you heard of The Flash?" 'You have no idea' she thought but simply shook her head. "He saved Central City about three months ago. Many people didn't believe in him but I did, since the beginning. The guy's a real hero, if you ask me. I'm glad the mayor decided to make a day dedicated to him. But he wants to make this big and special, that's why plans are starting since now."
Danielle nodded in agreement, not saying any other thing. After some other 10 minutes, they finally were able to arrive to the CCPD. She paid to the taxi driver and stood in the front of the place, placing some dark shades to help cover her face.
Getting inside, she took a peek to see if Joe was anywhere in sight, but he wasn't. Deciding to check on Barry's lab, she walked upstairs and was surprised to see it empty. Probably out doing police work, she thought, walking to the big window. Her eyes scanned the park that was visible along with other building. But she caught a glimpse of what seemed like a blue lightning running on a far street. She had to blink several times but whatever she saw, it was no longer there.
"Danielle?" Barry's voice made her turn around and forget about what she saw.
No one said a thing until Danielle walked to him and both hugged each other. Barry couldn't believe she was finally back after these months. She hid her face on his shoulder as he hold her close to him.
"I'm sorry, Barry. I'm sorry for leaving without saying anything." She finally spoke, her voice cracking a bit.
"Where were you?"
"I was on New York City, found a small apartment near the big apple. I just...I couldn't stay here. I needed some space, time for myself away from the city and everyone. It's been hard."
"We were all having a bad time, but we were all so worried about you. No note, no message, nothing. Just gone like that."
"I didn't want you to contact me or go after me. But it's obvious I had to come back eventually sooner or later. I—I know I need help and I'm not being able to hold it all together on my own."
"You didn't have to, that's why we're here." Barry cleaned a tear falling down Danielle's face. "Everything is so different now. With you gone, Caitlin started working at Mercury Labs and Cisco is doing some works here and there with the CCPD. There's no more team, no more Flash."
"I heard they're doing a Flash Day."
"Some idea the mayor had. Central City still needs to be rebuilt, it was in ruins after…well, after the singularity appeared."
"Yeah, I remember that day clearly." Her words were almost a whisper but Barry heard them clearly. "So if you're not The Flash anymore, who is there to save Central City?"
"The cops are doing a good job. There hasn't been any meta-humans to deal with, just normal criminals." Barry walked to the window Danielle was standing before not so long ago. "This city is celebrating The Flash but the truth is they should be celebrating you and Ronnie. You were the real heroes that day, I was just running like I always do."
"But you're the hero they look up to, Bar, the only hero Central City needs." Her hand rested on his shoulder. "I'm taking my life back. I'll go back on working at the hospital and make everything right this time."
"Are you coming back to Joe's house?"
"I don't think so. I already have a house and I rather go back to it. Plus, I'm sure Iris is back with you guys, there won't be much space for me."
"You don't have to do it, going back there. You know everything remains there." He tried to talk her out of it, but she simply shook her head.
"It's my home." She simply said with an unsure sigh.
"Before you go," Barry began as he walked to the other desk, pulling some type of folder out of it. "Joe said that these were brought to you shortly after you left."
Curiously, Danielle grabbed the folder and opened, just to see several papers with the STAR Labs logo. She began reading through them until getting to the last page containing Harrison's signature where he left the whole facility in Danielle's name.
"I—"Her eyes remained glued to the papers as Barry looked above her shoulder. "He left me STAR Labs along with all his inheritance."
"He did?" Barry took the papers from her and sped read all of them. "He did."
"I don't understand, why would he do that? What am I supposed to do with it?" She began pacing around the place, her right hand on her forehead.
"Danielle, there's something else here." Barry held up another paper for her to take it and read it.
"What?!" If it wasn't for the closed doors, the whole building would've been able to hear her. "I never signed any marriage papers."
"But that's your signature." Barry said and she shot him a glare. "I'm just saying."
"I know that's my signature but we never…got married." Danielle sat down on the chair, reading all over again the paper. "The date. It's the day he disappeared."
"Maybe he planned to tell you if his plan was successful." Barry shrugged, taking the seat next to her.
"I should go." Danielle gathered her things once again, even placing the folder on her bag. "Tell Joe I'll stop by sometime soon, but that I'm okay."
"Do you want me to take you home?"
"No, no. It's okay, I'll take a taxi." She placed a kiss on her brother's cheek before hurrying to get out of the police station.
The road back home wasn't that long, the traffic was lighter this time. Her heart was beating really fast, those papers and going back to the house she used to live with Harrison made her feel all kind of emotions. Luckily, they always left a key on one of the potted plants next to the door, so she used it to get inside.
The house was cold. It was obvious no one had been living there for who knows how long. All the lights were off, complete silence. She placed the key and her purse on the table at the entrance and finally turned the lights on. There was some dust gathered on the floor and even on few of the furniture, she had to get rid of it.
Her first stop was by the kitchen, throwing away the rotting food left on the fridge and retrieve her phone from one of the cabinets. It needed to be charged, so she used the charger they would always have on the kitchen counter.
Danielle's feet began to carry her through the hallway of the bedrooms. She wasn't sure if she wanted to do it, but she still opened the door to their bedroom. It remained the same way they left it before moving to the temporary house they used. The closet still guarded Harrison's clothes, all black around.
But there was one place she wouldn't dare to go into: Her son's bedroom. She leaned her forehead on the door, picturing the last time she was there with Harrison, finishing up the last details and leaving the room ready for when the baby was born. She felt like throwing herself into the bed and cry until the next morning, but she was strong and was not going to let that happen.
So with a deep breath, she walked back to the living room with the papers Barry gave her, prepared herself a glass of wine and sat down on the couch, reading all over again the papers and trying to decide what she was going to do now that she owned STAR Labs.
Hello, fellow readers!
Okay, I know I said I was taking a break until Season 2 would be at the mid-season finale but I couldn't help it. The new stuff that's happening on the latest episodes is making me eager to write more of this story and I don't want you guys to wait that much.
This first chapter of Season 2 is just to let you see what happened to Danielle after the singularity appeared and her world was upside down. It's probably not that much but I'm sure interesting stuff is to come.
Since you probably know, I have another story for the Gotham TV show so now I have two ongoing stories. I might take time to write and upload the next chapter but it depends on how bad you guys want me to continue.
Anyway, thanks everyone for taking time to read this story. I hope you guys enjoy this small chapter and see you on the next one! Remember, reviews are always welcomed. x