Remarkable - Barry Allen

Chapter 4

"I don't know what I'd do without you."

Winnie could still hear her best friend's voice rattle around her head. Had she known what she did now, she would've never let go of Danny that night. But that's what she had done and now he was dead.

Yet, despite the laws of nature, he was there. He was two metres away from her.

His blond hair was shorter than she was used to. He hadn't worn it that short since he was a freshman and his mom still decided the length of his haircuts. His mouth wasn't in the familiar crooked grin she'd grown so fond of and his eyes didn't sparkle like they usually did.

But his face lit up when their gazes met, his mouth curving into a wide smile that made her feel like she was finally home.

Winnie couldn't help herself, the only thing she could focus on was the haunting tone of his soothing voice in her mind and the pull of her heart.

She ran to him.

Winnie didn't ask why or how it was possible. No. All she wanted... all she needed was to wrap her arms around him and let his warmth sink into her, erasing the lifeless cold that had made itself a constant in her nightmares.

That wasn't what Barry had in mind when he grabbed her hand, yanking her back before she could reach the blond.

"How are you here?" he said, his voice slow and even, likely having taken much thought in his choice of words

Winnie glanced at Danny once more, before turning to her boyfriend. She sent him a questioning look, her mouth curved downward and her eyes wide as if she were a puppy pleading.

He pulled her closer to him, shaking his head in a swift and stern manner. The speedster didn't know what to make of the situation yet and though her instincts told her that she should already have been hugging Danny, she trusted Barry more than anything.

She tightened her grip on his hand, trying to let the circular movement of Barry's thumb help her keep still.

"That... is a very long story." Danny laughed, a sound Winnie's soul so desperately craved. 

Joe seemingly had the same frame of mind as Barry, his hand hovered over his gun, "We have time."

"Well, you see-"

"Your world is in danger, Barry Allen."

Winnie turned, surprised to see a shadowy figure emerge from the dark hallway that led into the cortex.

"Stay right where you are!" Joe yelled, pulling out his gun and aiming it at the newcomer.

It didn't take long for her initial shock to turn to confusion and even less time for that confusion to take shape as anxiety as she could feel Barry tense up.

The man held up his hands, calmly replying "Please, let me explain. I mean you no harm."

Barry was the first to speak up, "How do you know my name?"

Winnie held her breath, finding it hard to breathe in the uneasy atmosphere that had taken hold of the room. Barry's question lingered in the air and after a few seconds, settled into her thoughts.

"Is this another Reverse Flash? How does he know? What else does he know?"

She wasn't able to stop the flurry of follow up questions that crashed into her head one after the other. All of which, she didn't have answers to. Everything was happening at once, Barry's dad leaving town; everyone finding out about her and Barry; the Flash supposedly disappearing in the future, meaning Barry would be disappearing and leaving her; Danny somehow being alive; and now this stranger knew exactly who Barry was and how to find him. It was overwhelming, to say the least. She felt suffocated...