The flash... II

Progeny

TW: mention of grave injuries, anxiety and panic attacks, blood, violence, paralysis and weapons

The red, flickering light was giving Barry a headache. And loud noise was worsening it. The collected façade he had put on crumbled as the rapid beeping of the monitor next to him melted in with sound of the alarm, creating a strident and discordant cacophony.

His heart was hammering against his ribs, preventing his lungs from inhaling the needed amount of air. Barry could feel his entire body vibrate with anxiety. Every muscle, every bone, every single cell that composed his anatomy was palpitating. Barry felt small yet powerful shocks of electricity travel from a finger to another, as he clenched his jaw so hard that he could hear his teeth scraping against one another.

Barry knew what it meant, the siren and the scarlet light. He knew it too well. Last time it rang he ended up trapped in a hospital bed, poked by five different needles and attached to as many monitors. He was almost completely sure he couldn't feel his legs properly.

But that wasn't the source of his worry. Surprisingly.

The source of the despicable feeling itching under his skin was Oliver.
Oliver who had run out at the hideous sound.
Oliver who was currently speeding through the city's busy streets with murderous intents clouding his mind.
Oliver who was out there, risking his life for him. Because of him.

Oliver was a talented fighter. A skilled archer. He was cunning, intelligent, observant. He was a quick thinker, witty and reflective. But Zoom? Barry was used to confront metahumans. One could say he was used to confront Zoom. Sure he wasn't good at it, but he was used to it. But Zoom was fast. In all its meanings. He could reach what Barry considered impossible goals. He was cruel, malicious, villainous. He was pure evil.
Zoom was a monster.

"Cisco!"
His voice scratched its way out.
"Cisco!"
His friend barged into the room. Barry was trying to get out of the bed, clearly struggling to do so. Cisco hurried towards him with a wheelchair. He put his arm around his friend torso and rapidly transferred him to the chair. Caitlin was protesting in the background, but her words were a blur to Barry. All he could hear was the alarm and his thoughts, running almost as fast as him.

It was excruciatingly upsetting waiting by the computers. Not a red dot moving through the city's map. Not a signal from the satellite. Not a sign from the com-link. An anguished silence embraced the room. Everyone stayed immobile in their positions. Cisco's grip on the wheelchair loosened. Iris hand remained on the keyboard. Joe didn't dare to move from the doorway.

Nothing happened. It was as if time had stopped running. The world had stopped. Not ever air moved around them. Everything was frighteningly still.

The horrendous quietness squeezed Barry's lungs. He abruptly clenched the wheels of the chair and sprinted towards the desk. He not so gently shoved Iris and Caitlin away and feverishly started typing something, anything that could possibly give him a sign that Oliver was at least still alive.

Joe stepped away from the entrance and approached carefully his son. He had raised him, he had been blessed with the chance to see Barry at his highest and cursed with opportunity to console him through his lowest.
But that. That psychotic reaction. That unhinged behaviour. He had never seen him like that. Joe was pretty sure he had never witnessed anyone act like that.

"Bear" he tried to say in a calming manner.
The boy turned towards him, his eyes darted frenetically around the room as he panted heavily. He looked mad.
"Don't"
Joe had never heard Barry's voice sound do shrill and aggressive. Until then he had firmly believed Barry was incapable of such rage.
He was a traumatised kid, he had developed quite severe anger issues in high school. He had lashed out at Joe before. But never like that.

His voice had been harsh, it had dripped with fury before. But never like that. It had never been so violent, so bitter. It had never been so rabid and infuriated.

Joe wasn't given the time to react. Barry had already turned back to the screens and was once again typing incoherent numbers, hoping that would solve something.

Perhaps it did. They couldn't be sure. But something happened.

"Is that?" Caitlin mumbled to herself.
"It's impossible"
The others turned to her out of confusion.
"What?" Iris spoke for the first time since the call she made days before. Everyone turned to the young doctor.
"When" she stuttered out slowly.
"When Zoom first appeared, Cisco and I decided to upgrade the S.T.A.R labs' satellite to possibly be able to trace speedsters. We use it on Barry and of course Zoom. But"
She then paused. Caitlin was never one for dramatic, long movie-like pauses.
And it was quite obvious she wasn't starting a new habit now.

"But what Caitlin" Barry harshly commanded.
"But the speedster it has traced just now... it isn't zoom"

Barry's heart jump to his throat and then sink down to his stomach. He physically felt the blood drain from his face. For the first time after the lightning and the coma, Barry wished he wasn't gifted with that power. For the first time in over a year, Barry considered his speed a curse. Not a gift, not a casualty, a curse.
How he wished he had never gone back to his lab that night. How he desired to be that he still had one life. One simple, boring, normal life.

But he didn't. He had gone back to his lab that night. He had a second fast, dynamic, adrenaline inducing life. And he was sitting on a wheelchair in the middle of the former most important laboratories of the state, trying to suppress his anxiety while his breath shortened  for perhaps the fifth time that day.

"Bear" the soft whisper that shattered the silence forcefully pulled Barry out of his hurricane of thoughts.
"Ollie"
Barry's tried to move but he was paralysed. Quite literally.

Before he could process that, Oliver sprinted away from the door.
"There's another one" he ranted
"Another speedster. A girl. A young one, not older than 14. She- she was, I don't know, terrifying.
She appeared out of nowhere, she seemed to have history with Zoom. But he didn't. She said something like "know me yet". It was all a blur. She was incredibly quick and violent.
She called herself the flash"

The team wasn't granted the time to respond or react.

"Because I am" an orphic voice claimed. A thin, short unknown figure was leaning against the wall. The delicate features that picked under the vibrant red mask appeared slightly battered. A dried streak of dark vermillion blood stained her left nostril, melting in with the purpurin bruise under her chin.
The white and scarlet leather hugged her body like a second skin.

She had a snarky smirk plastered on her face, in great contrast with the look in her eyes. Soft, melancholic. Stunned even.

She suddenly took her mask off, moving the reddish hair out of her sight. She seemed awfully familiar. But Barry didn't know why. He couldn't recognise her. She was like a itch one can't scratch.

Then she spoke again. Voice low, almost a whisper.
"I'm Nora Queen-Allen, and I'm your daughter from 20 years in the future."

A/N hi lovelies!! Again not my best work. I'll probably edit it in the future. Till then hope you enjoy it. Have a great weekend!!!