A/N: So, I'm back! Just so you know, this is set right after season 5 (after Nora + Cicada etc) and I haven't watched season 6 yet so I'm not quite sure how this would fit in but thought you guys'd appreciate the timeline heads up.
Chapter 1: Death Light
The warehouse was silent and damp, mould appearing in black splotches in the corners and crevasses. I hid silently behind a piece of rusty machinery, staring intently at an open space near the centre where the roof had fallen in.
A young man stood there, a deceptive calm freezing his face in an emotionless stillness. In his hands he held a bag that clinked softly as his hands trembled. Despite his frosty face, his knuckles were white as they clutched as it and his feet shuffled from side to side.
I took a breath, trying to quash the nervous feeling that had sprung up in my gut.
Should I be doing this? Cara said he was dangerous but refused to tell me why, apart from that he was a meta and to tell the Flash. I shouldn't be here.
But I couldn't leave now. I had come to watch, and if I left now, the man might see me, and I would be in more danger than I was in already. Barry had been a little cagey about whether he'd show or not, so I'd come just in case someone needed to call 911. Okay, that wasn't entirely accurate; the Flash said he'd look into it. I'd just felt like I wanted to prove something. I don't know what.
If Aunty finds out, she's going to be so mad.
I tried to ignore the thought, firmly telling myself, Nope, no-one is going to find out, so don't think about it.
Suddenly, two girls and three guys walk into the abandoned space, chatting loudly as they waltzed right past my hiding spot without even a glance.
A blond girl looked up at the young man who had been waiting and shrieked, "Johnny! I missed you so much!" before launching herself in his direction with open arms.
He knocked them aside, face twisting with disgust. "Amber, I thought you were with someone else."
Pouting in a childish fashion, Amber complained, "I was, but that was before I knew you were okay. You wouldn't hold that against me, would you?"
Hands on her hips, right beneath the hemline of her vibrant crop top, make-up caked face tilted to one side, she looked like the most manipulative girl I'd ever seen.
"It's not like I was dead. But that would've been easier, right?" Johnny asked, "No, what I'm holding against you, all of you, is how you stole five years of my life!"
"Stole?" Another guy confidently stepped forward, his black hair swept to one side, "We didn't knock you into a coma. That was your own fault for drink-driving."
"My own fault? My own fault?! You guys spiked my drink, then encouraged me to-" Johnny began, anger bringing a flush to his face.
"Oy, don't pin it on us, mate." A dark-skinned guy said, frowning in disapproval at his old friend, "I didn't tell you to challenge me to a race. If you think about it, you were the one who almost killed Amber and Owen. I thought we were here for some fun, not for you to yell at us for your mistakes."
"You smashed into my car and put me in a coma!" Johnny roared, finally losing his patience, "And now you're going to pay!"
Where's the Flash? I thought nervously, edging backwards. I was just curious, but this could get really dangerous.
Abruptly, I had a truly horrible idea.
If I read his mind, and then I'd know when the best time to run would be.
A dozen warnings and moral principles ran through my mind; "it's not polite", "an invasion of privacy", "you hated these powers, don't use them!". But I decided to ignore them. It wasn't like this situation was much different from the one that had hospitalised me six months ago.
I closed my eyes briefly before slowly lowering my barriers. There are seven minds in here. But which one is Johnny's?
"Pay? There's five of us and one of you, don't be an idiot." The second girl came forward, all edges with her black leather jacket and dark eyeliner. Arms crossed with a confident stance she seemed to be the most reasonable of the group, but her thoughts were on a wild party scheduled for tonight.
Not her, move on. I thought to myself and tried to focus on Johnny.
"I'll beam Page last, see if her confidence finally cracks when all her 'friends' are down."
Bingo, I thought, but shivered at the tone of the thought. The hate and disgust felt ugly in my mind, and it made me want to puke. This was a bad idea. This is why you hate your powers. This is why Cara asked the Flash, not you.
But I couldn't stop now.
Then a sudden electric flash of red and the five young adults were gone.
"NO!" Exclaimed Johnny, red faced, and fists clenched.
Thank goodness, I thought, relaxing a little.
The Flash appeared back in the room with a crackle of lightning.
"They deserve what I'm going to give them!" Johnny yelled at the scarlet speedster, "Don't stand in the way of justice!"
"Justice? You call this justice?" Flash said incredulously, "If they wronged you, take them to court. This is just revenge."
"He doesn't understand, no one does! I need to beam him before he stops me-" Johnny's thoughts stabbed through my lowered barriers with such vehemence I winced. I was going to get a wicked headache after this.
Then I realised what was happening.
Johnny had grabbed something out of the bag and was moving to point it towards the Flash. An image appeared in my head – a beam of light coming from a bulb before it shattered, the light shining on a crumpled woman, I somehow instinctively knew, in the way that Johnny did, that the light would inflict the same condition on the next person it shone on.
"FLASH!" I shouted, "Don't let the light hit you!"
The lightbulb, for that was what Johnny had grabbed, began to glow and he tossed it up in the air. The light shone down and missed the scarlet speedster by inches. Both heads turned towards my hiding spot.
Great Caesar's Ghost.
Fast as lightning, the Flash had me and set me outside with the fleeing group of Johnny's old friends. Then he was gone again.
I felt guilty for taking him away from the fight, but relieved that he'd dodged the deadly beam light.
Then panic, starting as a small trickle of dread in the pit of my stomach, rose up inside me.
You've been caught now! They'll tell Aunty Lin and she'll be so mad and there isn't an excuse and – and – I starved of my own mental onslaught with a deep breath. No point worrying now, just take it as it comes.
Sighing, I turned from the warehouse and started trudging for the subway. Better meet Barry at S.T.A.R Labs or there'd just be more trouble.
Author's Note:
Sooooooo, yeah, I figured since I have an outline worked out and a couple of chapters written and ready, I should finally post this. Hopefully it lives up to any expectations, but if not, hopefully you guys enjoy it anyway!
Trix