Chapter 25: The Truth

Caitlin came to visit that afternoon and came to warn me about the chewing out Barry was planning to give me.

"He was like: 'When I said anyone can be a hero I meant helping people, not throwing yourself in front of a gun!'" Caitlin smirked.

"But that's not even fair!" I protested, "Me and Cara were at the store when Brynn showed up. I was just making the best of a bad situation?" I ended uncertainly. Had I done the right thing? Or was I just 'playing hero' like everyone seemed to think?

"Really? Well, maybe I should tell him to get the full story from Joe before coming to chew you out." Caitlin said, smiling, "In that case it could be considered self-defence gone wrong?"

"It didn't really go wrong," I said in an admittedly whiny voice, "Cara got out safely which was the plan all along. And Brynn didn't actually shoot me on purpose."

"You keep saying 'Brynn', but Joe says the robber was wearing a ski mask. So…?" Caitlin says gently.

"I tried to use my powers to convince him not to do it," I said, slightly guiltily, "and I accidentally let slip his name which was partly why he shot me – I know him from my English class at school."

"Have the police talked to you yet?" She asked, "Identifying the guy could be really important because as far as I know they haven't caught him yet."

"Yeah, I will." I said, feeling like talking was taking up much more effort than I expected this morning. I was tired and being brave by actually putting myself into a conversation was surprisingly draining.

"Guns," she said in disgust, which is probably the strongest negative reaction I've seen from her so far, "I don't know why the government hasn't made regulations for them yet."

"Yeah," I say, agreeing, but not needing to add much.

She seemed to sense my tiredness and smiled gently, the bed swaying slightly as she got up, "Well, now I know you're really okay and getting better, I shouldn't keep you too long. I'm just glad not to lose another person I care about."

I said nothing, giving her a tentative smile, and wondered who she'd lost that had turned her eyes into impenetrable wells of lonely brownish depth. I get the feeling that she didn't just 'care' about them, but I resisted the temptation to look inside her head. It's not polite. I told myself.

Later, the woman from earlier came in, what was her name?

Iris. She's Barry's wife, right?

"Hi, Juliet, right?" She said, "I don't think we met properly earlier; I'm Iris West-Allen."

She was wearing a thin black pencil skirt with a beautiful red blouse and small hoop earrings. She carried a purse with a small notebook and pen.

"Yeah," I said, not really sure why she was here and what to do with her sudden assertiveness. I fidgeted a little with the sheet that was covering my legs, then stopped, trying to seem less nervous.

"I just wanted to ask you some questions for a series of stories I'm working on. I'm an investigative journalist and I've always been fascinated by metahumans and their stories. People often think of them as these invincible villains, but I'd like to show everyone that in reality, they're just like everyone else with a few extra abilities." She said in a steady stream, as if she was getting somewhere, but I didn't know where.

"Okay, I guess…" I trailed off, still uncertain, but hoping she really believed that and wasn't going to make me look bad. I'd heard some reporters faked sympathy, only to write a scathing article condemning the person.

"So, let's just start with some simple background stuff. You go to school, right?" She said, flipping open her notepad.

"Yes, Central City High, but probably only until the end of this year." I would normally be reluctant to tell a veritable stranger this, but I had seen her with the Flash before at S.T.A.R Labs so I guess she could be trusted. I twisted the sheet a bit around my hands.

"I went there! Is Ms Jones still teaching?" She said with and smile, looking up from her notebook for a second.

"Yes! She only does Math, but apparently she was the assistant principal at one point." I say, feeling more relaxed because it feels less like an interrogation. I have Ms Jones for math every Friday morning and her strictness always stuck in my mind. The one time I accidentally read her mind, she seemed quite kind. You don't find that often.

"She was the assistant principal when I was at school. It's nice to know she's still bossing kids around. Anyway, you said only til the end of this year?"

"Yeah, after the incident a few weeks ago they- they didn't feel they were equipped to deal with my 'special needs'." I say, embarrassed. I didn't really plan on telling anyone this but, now that I thought about it, why shouldn't I? It's not like everyone wouldn't find out eventually. I just hoped they wouldn't judge me.

"What? That's stupid!" Iris says, warmth colouring her voice, "How did that happen?"

A little bit surprised, I explained, "I got called to the assistant principal's office and she told me that as long as I didn't act up, the school would take me until the end of the year. To be honest, I think it was just because I was a meta and they didn't feel they could control me if I freaked out." I finished, looking at the floor.

"That is stupid! Just because the law doesn't specify discrimination to do with metahuman abilities doesn't give them the right to-" She cut herself off, "Sorry, that wasn't very professional of me. You mentioned an incident?"

We continued, and I basically told her everything from start to finish. I don't really know how it happened but talking about it suddenly didn't seem as hard when she was directing the conversation. My hands unknotted from the sheet and came to rest comfortably by my sides. When I told her not to include my full name in the article, she wasn't upset, and she didn't mind when I told her not to include some personal parts either. All in all, it was kind of nice to let it all out and tell the truth for once. I just hope the story turns out just as well.

Author's Note:

Sorry this is so late! I had a ton of work and then I met a friend, then I went out for dinner. All in all it's been a pretty eventful day!

Anyway, this is the second last chapter and I don't know whether to be excited or freaked out. Have I ended it right? Well, I guess you'll find out next week...speaking of, I'd better get a move on with my next story or I wont have anything to post on Saturdays!

See you next time for the final episode of Illusionist!

Trix