.:3:.

Grinning to himself, Barry leapt over a low brick wall, zipping off in the distance as his feet landed on the ground. This was the best way he knew how to spend a day-off, just running around, going wherever the wind would take him. He could go wherever he wanted to within seconds; if he felt like Deep Dish Pizza he could race off to Chicago, wanted to look at fine art, he could zip to New York and check out the Guggenheim, if he wanted good pizza, Coast City was the place to be.

It was the best thing that his powers ever could have given him; the chance to be free, the chance to help other people, the chance to be something more than just Barry Allen 'the guy whose father killed his mother' or Barry Allen 'the nerd', 'the geek', 'the homo'—though that was mostly from High School where the jock types were always picking on him. (Which he thought was a bit strange, so what if he liked to be in drama and musical theatre, he was on the football, basketball, and soccer teams, too. His penchant for being late to nearly everything made juggling it a bit easier). But now he was something more than that. He was a beacon of hope for Central City and while there were those that didn't particularly believe in him, there were his friends; Caitlin, Cisco, Cadence, and Wells…and his family, Joe and Iris, who all believed in what he was doing.

No matter what the capacity of their involvement in the whole thing was.

As Barry continued to run, racing around street corner after street corner, shooting through Central City like a bullet, he couldn't outrun the guilt that was steadily creeping up on him. Iris and Eddie were the only ones around him that didn't know his identity. Hell, everyone in the Arrow Cave knew who he was, which was more than he had hoped would, but they had managed to help him greatly in their last big fight.

You're just trying to keep her safe, Barry reminded himself as he took another lap around the Marina. He even managed to smile a little as he snagged the extra hot dog that was on a man's plate as he moved to through it in a nearby trashcan. The startled look on the man's face as he had the audacity to look around and even under his tray for the missing dog. The worst thing that could happen would be if she found out who I was and knew I was lying to her this whole time. If she finds out who I am and was put in danger because of those that are trying to go after me.

If anything happened to her…if there was a chance that he could give up everything to make sure she was safe…he would do that. Then as it happened with every piece of misfortune in his life, an image of Eddie popped in his head. Detective Thawne. Detective Pretty Boy. The guy that was the foil in his own five year plan of finally working up the nerve to tell Iris how he felt. (It was the new norm; people getting married in their 30s right?) The guy that managed to single-handedly swoop in and fall into the protector role that Barry had been for most of his life. All because he had fallen into a coma.

Okay, so that coma made him what he was that day, but without that coma...without his powers, would he have any sense of the confidence that he had in doing what he did? Distracted by his thoughts, Barry nearly ran into a brick wall of a doctor's office—how ironic—before he twisted and raced out of the city limits, moving at such blinding speeds that when fields, streams, and mountains whizzed by he had no idea how far he had gone. It was the best he could do to run away from his past pain and worries. He was always running away from it, distancing himself the best he could but as soon as he moved to catch his breath it all came back, harsher and darker than ever.

Oliver would never allow that to happen; any fear or anxiety that came through him—if the Arrow ever felt those emotions—he probably beat out of himself before it would consume him in any way, shape, or form. Roy as he knew was a kind of an apprentice to Oliver and still managed to have instances where he let his inexperience to overcome him. But he and Oliver worked well together as a team and his time living on the streets and dealing with petty crime had worked hard to overcome his past grievances though that experience also helped him in battle. Then Cadence had the sort of experience he wouldn't wish on anyone, but she was confident in what she was doing and he had seen how hard she had worked to save Central City by his side, her emotion within her powers made her that much stronger.

He wished he was as good as the rest of them were in their abilities and how they felt within their own abilities. But he was the newest one to deal with the new things that were thrown his way and all of the help he got from STAR Labs was more than enough to show that they were there for him, especially as they were the ones that caused the accident and the fallout of Central City in the first place.

Even with all of those people behind him, with the confidence and pride they be stilled in him, he wasn't always one hundred percent with his decisions. That's how running helped him, even before being able to move faster than anyone else alive, he went running to clear his head. Now, he had the added perk of whatever scenery he wanted.

"Barrrryyyy Alllennnnn…"

The voice that wafted around him as dry as dead leaves swirling in the fall wind jolted him to a stop. The sudden shift of going over four hundred miles an hour caused him to trip forward and roll across the ground in a haphazard tuck. Arms and legs flailing he continued to roll across the ground until he finally came to a stop on his back. Groaning, he waited for his healing powers to kick in as he coughed on the clot of dirt and grass that managed to work its way into his mouth. He coughed—choked really—and looked down at his grass stained clothes, slowly lifting his head.

"What was that?" He muttered.

His question was answered seconds later as his name was called once more in that same, hair raising way that nails on a chalkboard created, "Barrrryyyy Alllennnnn…"

Then there was a flash of red light that zipped by in the corner of his eye. Barry flipped around onto his stomach hoping to find the Man in the Yellow suit standing behind him. He was ready for that fight he had been hoping for once he had the powers, once he knew he could use his powers to find a way to get his father out of jail. But the Man in the Yellow suit, the bane of his existence and the only hateful thought he ever kept in his head, wasn't standing behind him. No. Instead there was a man in a black suit.

He stood a few feet away from Barry, hands clenched into fists, and as Barry watched, the fists opened up to show claw-like hands. Fingertips as razor sharp as steak knives though didn't glint as brilliantly as they were covered by the same black suit.

"What the fu….?" Shocked, he stared up at the costumed figure in front of him.

The first thing he noticed was how the costume was very reminiscent to his own, down to the lightning bolts handing off of the hood that covered his ears. The emblem on the center of its chest was white with a red lightning bolt, mirroring his which was red with a yellow lightning bolt. That wasn't the worst part. No, that wasn't the most horrifying part at all. What made Barry give pause, what made his heart drop to his feet then slam back up into his throat, what made him hold onto his wits as much as he could was the visible part of this Black Flash. Where there should've been eyes of any color—blue, green, brown, hazel, grey, purple—was completely white, as if beacons from a lighthouse, where there should've been a nose were two flat holes, where there should've been colored skin was skin stretched so tightly over the skeleton beneath that Barry could see the lines of the bones in its teeth.

And the skin…the combination of gray and green, much like the zombies he would see in horror movies muddled together. The jaw was even rounded along the chin, pressed in the center, lower jaw hanging open as if the zombie was going to let out a guttural moan in its search for brains. And as Barry continued to watch, the white eyes slowly started to turn red and a sinister expression came onto it already malicious face. The breath it exalted was warm and heavy, sticky and wet, much like blood but even more so stomach churning and as Barry stared, the figure took powerful strides towards him with intended purpose.

Then the voice filled Barry's head, surrounding him to the point that he couldn't identify the source of origin. The Black Flash's mouth was closed. "What iiiiif I told you I knowwwww when you're going to diiiiiiiiiiiie?"

And fear struck Barry with the force of a strong punch to the stomach tears immediately fell from his eyes, he quavered, his chest felt it was on fire and all he could manage was to whimper, "I don't want to die."

Then there was a low rumbling sound and Barry could feel the ground quake beneath him. Clambering to his feet, Barry looked over at the Black Flash and saw he was distracted by the rumbling and shaking around him as well. Then Barry took the piece of advice that always seemed to get him out of any jam. He turned, and ran as fast as he could. Hearing a low boom, over the sound of the rumbling, Barry twisted his head around to find the Black Flash racing after him, his own red streak a darker color than Barry's, trailed behind him like a flag.

Turn around! He screamed at himself. You don't want to trip and fall like you do on the treadmill. This guy was clearly out to get him and Barry did not want to find out what would happen if he did. Gritting his teeth, Barry turned forward and pumped his arms and legs as hard as he could. The two flashes streaked back through and around Central City, over and over again as if playing a harmless game of tag. No matter how many different places Barry managed to squeeze through; alleyways, up fire escapes, through closing garage doors, the Black Flash continued right after him all with the maniac grin on his face with no intention of slowing down. Finally, Barry raced into Starling City and used the urban landscape as a way to lose the Black Flash. With the towering skyscrapers with floor to ceiling windows all around, the reflections of the two flashes caught the Black Flash off-guard. Barry watched over his shoulder as the Black Flash shot off in one direction and Barry went the other.

He didn't stop running until he was back in Central City.

…

..

.

Gasping for air, Barry shot up off the ground and swiveled his head back and forth as if on a pendulum. He was still lying in the middle of the field, arms and legs sprawled out as if he had just decided to take a nap. He continued to suck in as much of that precious air he could get before pushing himself up onto his knees. Blue-green eyes widening, they shifted around the field, watching as the foliage gently bent over in the wind, swaying this way and that as the cool breeze blew.

The Black Flash was nowhere to be found.

A/N: Sorry for the wait on an update, but I hope it was good enough for you guys to want more. I mean, what does the Black Flash want with Barry?

Thanks to Alisha Winchester Collins, Guest, and guest27 for reviewing.

Cheers,

-Riles