Chapter 34: Phantoms

7.4K 223 101
                                    

**Haven's suit is in the comments at the end of the chapter**

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A half hour later, we had learned who Jay was and his reasoning for being here. Barry didn't trust him in the slightest, but the energy I felt emanating from the man held nothing but pure honesty. There was some anger, sure, but not directed towards us. That being the case, I had been able to convince Barry to keep Jay out of the pipeline. Besides, if what the man said was true, then we were going to need his help.

Although Jay was the Flash of his world, he no longer had his speed. Apparently, that was due in part to this mysterious metahuman, Zoom. We'd heard the name from two different people now, and each time the same wary shiver ran down my spine.

According to Jay, Zoom had stolen Jay's speed right before Jay had been sucked into the singularity that had somehow created a connection between his world and ours. Professor Stein had opted on calling it Earth-2, and we'd stuck with the name, finding it the easiest to work with. Anyways, without his speed, Jay was unable to return to Earth-2 and had spent the last six months learning who each of us were. That was why he was only now contacting us, because he was finally certain of who we were. Well, almost all of us.

"So, which one of us don't you know?" I asked Jay curiously as I swiveled back and forth in my chair.

Caitlin and I were off in a side room performing some basic tests on Jay to see if we could possibly regenerate his speed, while Cisco, Professor Stein, and Barry worked on figuring out this breach theory in the main space of the cortex. Iris had left to finish up a story she was working on at Central City Picture News, and Joe had gone back to the station to meet his new partner. I wondered if anyone could rise to the incomparable standards Eddie had left behind.

"Well... You, actually," Jay stated evenly.

I was slightly taken aback. Jay knew that Barry was the Flash, the biggest secret Barry kept, yet this guy didn't even know my name? It hurt a little to think that I was so invisible that this man, who had been intensely tracking every member of the team for the past few months, didn't even know the most basic thing about me. Then again, shouldn't I be happy that I was that good at keeping my identity and my connections a secret? The mixed viewpoints left me confused on what to feel.

I decided to swallow my wounded pride for the moment and act like the mature person I was supposed to be. "Well, since you know everyone else, I suppose I should properly introduce myself. I'm Haven Knight. But most people would know my alter ego, Eclipse."

I expected him to simply offer a pleasant smile and maybe an 'it's nice to meet you,' but what I was met with was anything but reassuring.

Jay looked as if he'd seen a ghost. Or, more accurately, as if he was staring at the face of death. Was my name offending to him in some way? What had I said wrong?

"You... You're Eclipse?" he repeated my words, as if he was having a tough time believing his own ears. I nodded my head slowly, my brow arching in bewilderment as I waited for an explanation. Jay looked back and forth between me and Caitlin for a couple seconds before he was able to respond. "There was an Eclipse on my Earth, too."

"Oh... Uh, cool?" I said uncertainly. That didn't seem like something he should be that freaked about... There had to be more to this Earth-2 Eclipse.

There was.

"Not really," Jay countered, understanding my puzzled expression. I waited patiently as the man prepared what I assumed would be a somewhat lengthy story. "Years ago, when I first became the Flash, another hero emerged from the dark matter released from the particle accelerator. She called herself Eclipse. She had the ability to run at speeds greater than I was capable of reaching, and she could manipulate darkness."

Paralyzer || Barry Allen (The Flash) FanfictionWhere stories live. Discover now