Episode 4 The Flash Fanfic

Chapter 10

Astrid sat in her old office back on the 97th floor at Sutherland Labs trying to process all that had happened. They had all barely been back in Central City for an hour now, and Oliver, Felicity and John had decided to stick around for a little while longer. Astrid could hear them chatting quietly with Barry and Caitlin outside of her office.

She stared in front of her, but saw Cisco standing at her doorway, from the corner of her eye. She did not turn to him. He didn't say a word as he didn't know what to say to her.

"I shot my father." She told him. "I know in the end that it wasn't him... but that's the way that I will always see it."

"Don't think like that. He... that thing... was going to kill you. You protected yourself." Cisco tried to comfort her but she continued to stare blankly across the room.
"Your assistant Jane has come up. She wanted to speak with you. It's about retrieving your father's body from Smallville." Cisco told her.

The three words 'your father's body' made her flinch but she responded nonetheless. "Deal with it for me, Cisco... Please." She told him, without an ounce of emotion to her tone.

But Cisco did not leave. "Felicity said that I should tell you something."
Astrid shifted her gaze towards him but her tone did not waver. "What is it?"
"I have sort of been seeing her..." Cisco told her. "It's only been a week or so but..."
Astrid was puzzled. "Seeing Felicity? But she likes Barry?"

"No... I have been seeing Jane, your assistant." Cisco clarified. "But on that, I think Barry and Felicity are going to start dating."

Astrid glared at Cisco, but paused before she spoke again. "Okay... go sort out that thing... that... go retrieve my..." she couldn't finish her own sentence, but the look on her face meant that she wanted Cisco to leave her immediately. So he did.

A day later, back in Smallville, Lionel Luthor traced through the underground Daemonite tunnels, analyzing the trails of alien corpses that Oliver and Barry's teams had left behind. He had already sent Robert Sutherland's body back to Central City for Astrid. Lionel had his own reasons to be there.

He found it, locked away in a room that had been left untouched. A machine that had pipes leading to the surfaces all over Smallville. He understood that he was safe underground. He felt bad that his son Lex would be left to suffer the consequences of his next actions. But he knew what was to come. The future would outweigh that burden. He turned the dials and then pressed the start button.

Lionel had seen in his premonitions the aftermath of what these actions would do. Smallville will be quarantined from other towns. All those who dwell within its borders will age faster while the smoke cloud was up. To all those living in the town, time would appear to go as normal. But to the rest of the world one year would approximate to five years in Smallville. Just until the smoke cleared.

Above the surface, multiple people breathed in the thick green cloud. Lex in his room at Luthor Corp. Young Clarke and his parents at their farm. There was not one resident, aside from Lionel Luthor, who was not affected. They all began couging, some grew really sick, though none died.

The next day, back at Sutherland Labs, Astrid sat in her father's office. No, it was no longer his office, it was hers. She had spent the fast few months refusing to claim it as her own, but after replaying his words about him making it her legacy, she had finally brought herself to sit in his chair.

The sight of Cisco and Jane together had motivated her to leave the room and his office was the closest room to escape to. Oliver knocked on the door and so she invited him in. "I noticed you walk out when you saw Cisco and Jane together."

"Yep. I didn't feel like watching them make fools of themselves. I also don't approve of Cisco bringing her up here to our floor. She could just stumble over Barry's secret... over your secret... Hell! Over all of our secrets..."

Oliver nodded. "But you also couldn't take the feeling, that you felt, when you saw the two of them together," he added.
Astrid stood to her feet and leant against the desk next to him. She thought back to the knot in her stomach at seeing Cisco with someone else, other than her. She nodded. Oliver was right.

"So back in Smallville, when you and I were trapped..." Oliver began, "Stop me if I am wrong but there was something there. Something that has been there for a very long time. Something that I know you have been trying to hold back from, because of your feelings for Cisco. I know that there was something between us... that there still is. I want you to know that you and I are a lot alike. You're not alo..."

Astrid didn't allow for Oliver to finish his sentence. This time she did not hesitate. She kissed him, and he kissed her back.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to walk in on you guys... But there is something that you both need to see... and it is bad!" Felicity had walked in the room.

The two of them parted awkwardly and looked over at Felicity who made them follow her into the main room where the television was broadcasting an emergency news report.

"...Emergency crew and the military are warning everybody to stay out of Smallville after a mysterious green smoke has come out from the ground and has intoxicated the entire town. The town is under strict quarantine at the moment and all roads leading in and out of town are being closed off. Theory has it that it was a side effect from the Meteor Shower that struck only six months ago... More news is to come as we receive constant updates on the situation..."

"Astrid," Barry said as he approached her, holding out his phone, "It's Joe. He said he needed to talk to you and its important."

Astrid took Barry's phone and placed it next to her ear. "Joe, is everything ok?"
"Thank god, I finally reached you. Barry explained to me why you haven't been answering any phone calls. Are you ok?" Joe asked from the other end of the call.

"Joe, if this is why you have called, I am not really in the mood to discuss what happened..." Astrid began.
"No...No, that's not the reason at all... I need to talk to you without anyone overhearing our phone call..." Joe said urgently.

Astrid took the phone back into her father's office and closed the door.
"Ok, Joe. What is going on? This doesn't sound good."
She could hear Joe taking a deep breath and trying to find the right words, "Do you remember those articles that you found about the time of Barry's birth?" Joe asked her.

"Yeah, I do. Something about a doctor delivering a set of twins and..."
"...And giving one away? That is the one. Astrid, I did some digging around and it turns out that Barry was a twin. He has a twin brother, who is still alive." Joe finished.

"That's great news, Joe! We should find this twin and reunite them." Astrid was relieved to hear this.
"No... Astrid, you don't get it. We already know the twin. This will crush Barry. Eddie Thawn, my partner who is dating Iris, is Barry's twin brother."

"Oh!"