Paralyzer || Barry Allen (The Flash) Fanfiction

Chapter 23: The Unexpected

My first instinct was to jump at the offer without a second thought. I mean, the opportunity to bring Haven back? To have it as though she had never left in the first place? It was practically the answer to every hope I'd had since her death.

Still, there was something keeping me from agreeing to the terms and conditions right away.

Sure, I'd have Haven again, but would she even want to be back? Would she be the same person or would she act differently as if she was someone else? I didn't know what effects the Lazarus Pit had on its users, and I wasn't sure whether Haven would even agree to something like this if she knew it was possible. The news had been sprung on me so abruptly, and I was having trouble sorting my emotions on the matter.

"Barry. Did you hear me?" Oliver asked as he took a step closer. I nodded my head subconsciously, though my eyes remaining fixated on the corner of the room as my mind was lost in its own thoughts. "Then why aren't you saying anything?"

I snapped myself out of my thinking and returned my focus back to the two men in front of me. I struggled with the words for a bit as I figured out how to convey my feelings properly.

"It's just that... Ever since she passed all I've wanted is for her to come back, I didn't care what it would take. But... Well, now that I know that it's an actual possibility, I'm just not sure what bringing her back from the dead would do to her mentally. I mean, wouldn't it be hard for her to process that she was dead for an entire week basically and now she's just suddenly alive? That's a lot for someone to take in."

Oliver looked at me with complete confusion, disbelief even. I knew he had been expecting me to jump at the opportunity without questioning the cons of such an action, but, in the end, this wasn't really my choice. This was going to affect someone else's fate based solely on my approval or disapproval. I needed to think it over.

As for Bruce, the man stood there nodding his head thoughtfully in understanding. It looked as if he had already expected something of this scenario, of my doubts for using the Lazarus Pit, and had already formulated an explanation. Almost as if he'd thought this time and time again. Maybe he had.

"I understand your concern," Bruce began as he started to pace the floor, "because I was once faced with the same dilemma. My situation, however, involved two people who were gone for much longer than your friend. As for your apprehensions of the cons of using the Pit, you are right to question its effects on the mind. Although the Lazarus Pit is an incredible phenomenon, it doesn't come without possible side effects. For almost every being entering the pool's liquid there is the chance that they will be marked temporarily insane — some longer than others. There have even been some cases of permanent insanity, though it's rare.

"And, then, there's the increased strength," Bruce continued. How were there more side effects?! "Of course, it's only temporary, but, without someone who has a matched strength to restrain her, things could get rather ugly."

Well, now I knew the pros and the cons of using the Pit. And I still didn't know what I was going to do. There weren't many downsides, but the few that there were were pretty bad. Increased strength may not sound like much for a normal human, yet I had a feeling it would apply not only to Haven's regular human strength but somehow provide a boost in her powers as well. That is, if she still had any powers.

What still gnawed at me the most, though, was the insanity factor. Sure, Bruce had said that, in most cases, the effect was only temporary. Then again, there had been some cases where it had been permanent, and who knew if Haven would be one of those rare instances or not. Even if she wasn't, how long would the temporary insanity last? Days? Months? Years? It was still a gamble.