The Yin-Yang Complex

Closer Than Before

Barry collapsed back onto his hotel bed, air rushed out of his lungs. It would have been so much easier and quicker to run, but he wanted to spend time with his brother. The room they had was quaint and it had two small beds only a meter apart. Aside from that all it had was a bathroom and an old Tv. A dim lamp lit up the room from on top of their shared bedside table. Barry looked over at his twin, who was just pulling his shirt down over his back, he winced as he saw the three long gnarly scars that ran down Sebastian's back, "why did he do it?" Barry asked as curiosity and pity overtook him.

Sebastian finished sorting out his shirt and glanced round at his brother with a confused look, "why did who do what?" He asked as he sat down onto his own bed, staring at the lying form of Barry with interest. He had no idea what his brother was talking about. Barry was lying on top of his duvet with his hands under his head.

He sat up and faced his brother, his eyes bore into his twins, he expected truth and nothing less, "why did Mr Smythe give you those scars?"

Sebastian was taken off guard, his eyes widened before hands clenched and his features darkened, he gritted his teeth, "you don't need to know," he replied simply.

"Please tell me," Barry begged before Sebastian could move away, "please, I really want to know,"

Sebastian studied his brother, he looked genuinely concerned and as though he was going to cry if Sebastian didn't tell him, with a groan he felt himself cave to Barry's demand, "he found out where I was spending my weekends," he decided that if he was going to tell Barry, then he might as well have fun with it.

Barry frowned, "where were you spending your weekends?" This something Barry had wanted to know for quite a while, but he never really had dared to ask. He knew if he asked where his brother disappeared off to, then he would end up just getting set in a wild goose chase.

"Well that changed around sometimes, but it was usually at some guys house," a sly smile spread across his face.

Barry was just more confused, "were you with friends?" He didn't understand why Mr Smythe wouldn't like that, it was a pretty normal thing. Then again, Mr Smythe was a horrible control freak with anger issues.

"No, I hadn't usually met the guy before, and if I had, I had probably only met him an hour or so beforehand," he felt his normal smirk spread across his face and Barry's filled with realisation, and then horror.

Barry's face heated up like a tomato, "oh..." he squeaked, wanting desperately to drop the subject, but at least he knew now, though he kinda wished he didn't.

"How do you know about my scars though? I don't recall telling you," Sebastian knew it would have to do with his missing year, he had a few memories back, but he didn't have that one.

"Well I found out during the year you don't remember," Barry explained, Sebastian urged him to go on, "this sounds crazy, I know, but you were sent to Central City with a case to investigate STAR Labs, but at the same time you got mixed up with Findlay Cooper, and he..." Barry had to pause as emotions welled up in his chest, "he killed you, but you still managed to save my life and get Findlay put in prison permanently," Sebastian remained silent. He could feel waves of shock ripple through him. He had died? How was he alive now then? "But before you came to save me, Findlay told me a lot of stuff I wish I had known sooner, Sebastian, did you miss your prom?" He asked his brother. Sebastian's eyes widened in shock as he stared at Barry.

"I did," he had felt so low and depressed that day that he didn't want to spend time with his own peers. They all hated him, it would have just been miserable. So he cheered himself the only way he knew how, he went to see his brother. Barry felt more emotions rising up. If only he had know sooner.

Barry's eyes filled with remorse, "you should-" he stopped, now wasn't the time to lecture, "anyway, you were revived by Charles Clarington and trained to be a deadly Assassin," Sebastian was unsure what to think of that, but it made so much sense, he could tie in his forgotten memories with it, "you helped dad, who was revived with you, to escape and find help from us, but you were recaptured. We didn't see you again until we blew up Charles's base, but you had been put in a helmet that constricted when we tried to remove it. You completely passed out and that's when you lost your memory," Barry could see that Sebastian was struggling to process the information, but he was still managing, "it was then that Caitlin discovered your scars. We knew how you got them because Cisco had visions of you being attacked by a man in a white suit and Joe arresting him," Barry finished his story, but he wanted to find out about Sebastian's past trauma, "he said that you were absolutely terrified, that you felt betrayed and forgotten... is that how it felt?"

Sebastian was no longer smiling, he stared at Barry with haunted eyes, breaking his heart, "I won't lie to you Barry," his voice was no louder than a whisper, "I was petrified," he could feel emotions bubbling to the surface, he didn't know why he was saying this, but it felt good, "I had never felt so much agony, aside from when I was told that dad killed mum, but after a few weeks I came to my senses, I knew dad couldn't have done that, I knew you wouldn't have lied. However, the kind of pain Smythe inflicted on me, I will never forget," he voice shook as he never took his gaze away from Barry's. He had never said that out loud before, and he immediately regretted it, but he knew that he could trust Barry, he had seen him at his worst.

"I know the feeling," Barry mumbled, "I have been betrayed by a lot of my friends, it is so difficult," he put on a sad smile, mirroring Sebastian's.

"Joe was right," Sebastian laughed, lightening the mood, "you really do over share," Barry just rolled his eyes. He shouldn't have left those two alone together.