In Time | The Flash

Chapter Two | Trillium

"No artist tolerates reality."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

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CHAPTER TWO

>>> Trillium's P.O.V. <<<

"I'm giving you a chance to undo all the evil I've done. Don't you want that chance?"

Central City has become obsessed with superheroes over the past year. Now, I can't say I blame them. The Flash is pretty cool. So is that hooded fella from Starling. They inspire people, they make them feel safe.

I can't say I blame them for loving their heroes at all. I would know; I'm one of them.

My name is Trillium Penrose, and it's been eighteen months since my transformation. The night the Particle Accellorator exploded changed everything, but none as much as the Meta's that roam the city. Metahumans, that's what Team Flash calls the new people created by Dr. Harrison Well's accident. Thankfully, in my family, I'm the only person who was affected. My half-sister, Aspen, and her daughter, Persephone, haven't been affected.

But that's what Team Flash is for. Me, Cisco Ramone, Caitlin Snow, Dr. Wells, and Barry Allen: we make up this rag-tag group of supers. Well, technically Barry and I are the only supers, but we would be nowhere without Dr. Wells, Caitlin, and Cisco.

Over the past few months, we've put away a lot of bad Metas, mainly keeping them in the Particle Accelerator below S.T.A.R. Labs. No one really thinks it's the best idea, but it's the best we have until we can figure out a way to make prisons Meta-proof.

However, today, that's not our biggest problem. Our problem today is Dr. Harrison Wells himself, but his real name is Eobard Thawne. We found the mummified body of the real Dr. Wells, and Caitlin says that he's been dead as long as Barry's father's been in prison, wrongfully, for killing his wife.

We've found the Time Vault where Thawne kept his yellow suit, we've talked to the AI computer Gideon that Barry creates in the future, and we saw the articles from the future. It's lead us to one conclusion: this man is the Man in Yellow, the Reverse-Flash a time-traveling speedster who killed Nora Allen and has been manipulating us all from the start.

We set a trap, using Cisco as bait, to lure Dr. Wells into the lab and have him confess to the murder of Nora Allen to help get Henry Allen out of prison. Well, that didn't work. Not only didn't he confess, he substituted himself for a Meta named Hannibal Bates, who can transform into anyone he touches. Bates was killed, and Wells got away, and he kidnapped Eddie Thawne, Iris' boyfriend.

Skip past a Meta-gorilla named Grodd, Iris West finding out about Team Flash and Barry's little secret, the Metahumans escaping while we were moving them out of the degrading Particle Accelerator, and finding Eddie, we now have Eobard Thawne in a cell. It took getting the Arrow and Firestorm involved, but the four of us took Thawne down.

Now, the rest of us watch from the Cortex as Barry talks to Thawne through bullet-proof glass. He's just told Barry how he came back in time to kill him, but after he lost his speed, he was forced to create his arch enemy in order to get home. He's given Barry a gift. Help Thawne get home, and Barry can go back in time and save his mother.

I cross my arms over my denim overalls and scowl at the monitor that shows us Eobard Thawne. "He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

Cisco scoffs beside me, and we see Barry run into the Cortex. Caitlin Snow gives him a soft look, asking, "You okay?"

Barry looks at her and sighs, "No. If I let him go back to his time, I get to save my mom. If I don't, we have to babysit him for the rest of his life and Mom still dies."

Dr. Martin Stein, one half of Firestorm, speaks first. "This is a rare opportunity to go back in time and right a wrong and save your mother's life...Quite the paradox Harrison has presented you with, Mr. Allen."

Caitlin walks to Ronnie's side, saying, "A chance to save someone you love? Seems pretty cut and dry to me."

"At first blush, Dr. Snow, it would appear so, but this gift has unparalleled risk. Barry, the night your mother died, the night you saved yourself from being killed, that event altered the timeline you were already on and changed the course of history."

Cisco speaks up from my right, "So, what you're saying is that we're living in a parallel universe?"

Barry's eyes light up, "Just like when I time-traveled before."

Joe West exclaims, "But--But he only changed one day that time."

Stein breathes a laugh as he says, "Exactly. Now, imagine fifteen years of compounded experiences. One different decision, no matter how big or small, impacts everything that follows. Moments upon moments, choices upon choices. No relationships, nothing would be as it is today, and you'd never know the difference because you'd never remember any of it."

A look of realization crosses each of our faces. I look to my right at Cisco, knowing that there's someone that each of us would've gone back and saved if we could.

Barry says, "So, if I go back and save my mom, my dad doesn't go to prison. I never live with Joe and Iris."

Cisco speaks up, "You might never meet me. Or Caitlin or Ronnie."

"Or me," I mutter. "And I might've never been able to control my powers. I might've hurt my sister...or my niece."

Barry gives me a look of sympathy as Stein says, "Truth is, there's no real way of knowing what your life will be. What any of our lives will be."

As Joe starts to speak, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pull it out, seeing the Metahuman app going crazy with news reports, live footage, and frantic texts. "Uh, guys?" I say aloud, catching everyone's attention. "This is facinating, but it's gonna have to wait."

"What's wrong?" Cisco asks, looking over my shoulder. "Another Meta?"

I swipe through the photos, seeing a large building in downtown Central City going up in emerald flames. Energy bursts and coming from the broken windows in waves. People around it are screaming and running for cover. Fires are breaking out along the streets. "That looks an awful lot like the Bouelevard Building my sister's always trying to fight her mother for," I mumble.

In the rubble of the building, I see the frame of a small-figured woman. I squint my eyes as the news crew attempts to get closer, and the figure in the green fires comes into view.

I gasp and cover my mouth, eyes growing wide. "Oh my god. That's my sister."

END CHAPTER TWO