Paralyzer || Barry Allen (The Flash) Fanfiction

Chapter 51: Whiplash

I drew in a breath as I walked into the cortex with Grisell at my side. Unfortunately, I could already feel the tension wafting off of everyone, and I knew why.

    They hadn't known how Grisell had escaped or where she had gone.

    Yup. This was going to make convincing them that much more difficult. Great. Just great.

    "Uh... Hi, guys," I began awkwardly, unsure where to even begin.

    Apparently, that was not the place to start.

    "Why is she with you?" Barry demanded as he gestured to the girl by my side. "Did you help her escape?"

    Really, of all the people in the room, it just had to be Barry that spoke first? I was already mad at him, and his accusations only sparked the temper I had barely been managing to keep down while I was around him.

    "Seriously? Are you that ticked off at me that you've become stupid enough to think that I would have purposely set free one of our most powerful prisoners?" I snarled.

    It was usually impossible to feel my own aura, but my rage was released in a powerful wave that actually allowed me to feel the force of my own anger. It was enough to make me jump in shock just slightly before I took up my taut posture once again, facing Barry as I glared at him.

    "Okay, okay. Let's just tone it down a notch, you really angry, super-powered, wonderful people," Cisco chimed in nervously, though he didn't even dare to make a step towards us. No one dared to. They of all people knew not to come between two metahumans as powerful as us when we were angry.

    Of course, that just meant that Barry and I were going to have to settle this on our own terms. Which probably meant a lot of insults were going to be thrown around. Thankfully, we weren't really the physically violent types. Well, at least not towards each other... Towards villains? That was a different story.

    "Why don't you just say it?" Barry snapped. "You can't stand the fact that I'm with Patty now."

    "Wow. How long have you been waiting to rub that in my face?" I scoffed as my hands balled into fists at my sides.

    Barry took a quick step forward, leaving only a foot of space between us. "I don't need your ability to see how much it irritates you to see me near her," Barry growled in a low voice, quiet enough so that we were the only two in the room who could hear. "If you really want me to rub something in your face, then I will. I don't need your power to see that while you're miserable, I'm doing just fine. More than fine, really. Patty is less stubborn than you ever were or ever will be. It makes me wonder why we didn't end things sooner."

    With my own emotions a wreck, I was having no luck reading his to tell whether or not he actually meant his words. Instead, I was left to assume that he wholeheartedly meant what he had said.

    And it stung. No. It hurt more than that. It felt as if he'd stabbed me.

    Like a knife right through the heart.

    I knew my emotions were clearly displayed in my eyes, but I couldn't conceal them.

    I swallowed the lump in my throat. "If you really feel that way, then why is your aura telling me that you're lying?"

    Alright, so it was a complete bluff, but my act was good enough that he didn't call me out on it. And apparently, it was an accurate accusation as his mouth opened and closed a couple times, trying to find the words to say, to counter the allegation, but he came up empty handed. And boy, did that make me even more confused than when I'd first stepped foot in the lab today.