In A Blink ➳ Barry Allen/The Flash

16.

chapter sixteen ; beginning the domino effect

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Natalie was pulled from sleep but refused to believe she was waking up, turning and clutching her pillow closer to her body. Her body tired but her mind awake, Natalie just laid there on her first day off from work, the thoughts flooding through her brain of the past few days. The clouds in the park, Jeff Midler's hanging body, seeing her brother again, the kiss.

Natalie couldn't stop the smile that spread on her face as she laid on her back and stared at the ceiling, remembering every detail. Her train of thoughts were interrupted by a loud beeping going off in her room. Realizing it was the smoke alarm, Natalie immediately sat up and rushed to the door and started to yell for her brother, "Chris! Chris, wake up!"

"Oh god. False alarm! Nat, It's a false ala-" Chris yelled back while Natalie stopped in mid-run towards the guest bedroom where her brother was staying. "Oh I'm in so much trouble," he mumbled before he shouted again, "How do we shut these things off?"

"Chris where are you?" Nat shouted as she covered her ears, the noise of the alarms starting to bother her.

"I'm in the kitchen."

As Natalie made her way down to the kitchen, clanging of metal against metal rang and the crisp smell of something burning filled her nose, making her move faster, "Something is burning. That is not a false alarm!"

When she got to the kitchen, she saw Chris standing in the middle of chaos. An array of contents from the fridge were spread out on the counter, two pans, both blackened, sat on the stove, grey smoke billowing from them, and Chris, flour covering his hands and smudged on his face.

Chris looked around him as Natalie stood in shock, "I tried to make mom's French toast."

Natalie shook her head and ran to the stove, turning off all of the burners, removing the pans and placing them on holders. As she placed some of the contents in the fridge, Chris grabbed a broom and chair and was about to hit the smoke alarm in the kitchen.

"Chris, don't you dare. Wash your hands and face, go grab my phone, and bring it here," Nat demanded and Chris obeyed.

As Natalie cleaned up some spilled milk and egg yolks, Chris returned with her phone.

Nat wiped her hands on a towel and called Caitlin, "Come on, come on. Pick up- Caitlin?"

Caitlin's voice rang through the phone as Natalie covered her exposed ear to try and drown out the alarms, "Nat, now isn't really the time- What is that noise?"

"I told you to stay away from me," a distant, gruff, but familiar voice sounded through the phone.

"And I will, but there's someone else who wants to talk to you," a distant voice, Barry's voice said.

Natalie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, wondering what was happening on the other side of the phone and why Barry was there. But she ignored it, focusing on her own problem.

"Look I need help, the smoke alarms-"

Another woman's voice sounded from the phone, "Martin! Do you know who I am?"

"Caitlin what's going on-"

Caitlin audibly huffed. "Call Cisco. I have to go," and with that she hung up.

Natalie pulled back from her phone as Chris went to the sink and tried to scrub the pans. Taking a deep sigh, Natalie did as Caitlin said and called Cisco.

Luckily, Cisco picked up right before it went to voicemail, "Whatever it is, I'm not really in the mood. And what's going on over there?"

"Cisco, the smoke alarms-" Natalie headed towards the front door to try and hear better, "My brother, he tried to make breakfast and it didn't go well, but the smoke made all of the alarms in the house go off and I don't know how to turn them off."