In Time | The Flash

Chapter Nine | Aspen

"Darkness must pass
A new day will come
And when the sun shines
It will shine out the clearer."

- J.R.R. Tolkien

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CHAPTER NINE

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

"So, how old is your daughter?"

It doesn't take us too long to get to the elementary school, but along the way, Barry continues to talk kindly to me, keeping my mind off the events of earlier in the day. We talk about his job with the CCPD, my job with the Society of Animals, how he got his powers the night the particle accelerator exploded, and how I have been hiding mine for the past eighteen months. We even talk about Trillium and how she's helped Barry countless times, times she never told me about. And suddenly, the past year and a half starts to make so much more sense.

I smile as I reply, "She's eight. She started second grade this year."

Barry grins, his eyes glued to the road in front of us. "She sounds sweet, from what Tril has told us. Spunky, too."

I chuckle, reaching up to grasp the intricate metal ring that hangs around my neck. "She gets that from her dad."

Barry's voice softens as he asks, "Is he still...in the picture?"

I shake my head. "He died the night Seph was born. Robbery gone wrong. It was just a stupid mistake, and he didn't reach for his wallet fast enough...It makes this time of year hard." I stop talking, trying to control the magic that starts to collect in my hands again.

Barry gets the idea and mutters a soft, "I'm sorry, I didn't know," before changing the subject. "How long have you lived in Central City? Tril is originally from New Mexico. Are you from there, too?"

I wipe my eyes and laugh. "No, Tril and I have different moms. After Dad divorced my mother, Aeri Sado, he moved from Toronto to New Mexico and married Tril's mom, Lilakai Yazzie. Lily's a pediatrician on one of the big Navajo reservations near Glorieta. I spent summers there with Dad, Lily, and my sister. I'm originally from the Toronto area, but I spent most of my life in New Mexico and Maryland, where my mother moved after the divorce. She worked in D.C. as an district attorney. That's where I met Vlad, my fiancé, and Glory, my...best friend and girlfriend after Vlad died."

Barry turns to me, surprised. "So, you have a girlfriend now? Totally not judging, by the way. Just curious."

I chuckle at the horrified look on his face from what he's just said and shake my head. "Glory got cancer when we were in high school. She died while we were in college."

Barry looks at me with a look I can only describe as someone who has gone through similar events. "I'm so sorry, Aspen. I had no idea."

I take a deep breath in. "It's okay, really. I'm okay. She's in a better place now, they both are. It always gets better, in time, but when I say it like that, it sounds like I'm some sort of cursed person."

"You're not cursed," Barry replies. "I lost my mom when I was eleven, and my dad went to prison, wrongfully, for her murder. It was only last year when I found out that Thawne was the one who killed her." He shakes his head, scoffing. "I let the man who killed my mother and imprisoned my father make me into the Flash. Still think you're cursed?"

I reach out for his hand over the armrest of the car. "I'm sorry about your mom, Barry. I know she'd be proud of you." Barry gives me a teary smile, and I pull my hand away. "After I got my degree in business, I moved my daughter and I from Maryland to Central City. My dad passed away a few months later, and he left his entire fortune to my sister, Lily, and I, much to my mother's dismay. I used it to open by business. Tril used hers to go to school. We've been here for a few years now. Trillium came around the same time to study art at the University of Central City. Unfortunately, my mother followed us."

Barry notices my change of tone as he pulls into the school parking lot. "She's the one who took your building from you, right?"

"That's only the most recent thing. I think she's connected me to her divorce somehow. She blames me, even though I was only three. I had nothing to do with their split up; she made sure of that. She was a cruel woman who my father just couldn't live with. They fought all the time. And now she's mad because I got half of the fortune he made with his public speaking career."

"She sounds horrible."

"She is. She's my Eobard Thawne."

Barry and I get out of the car, and I adjust my skirt as a teacher comes running from the building. Three police officers are following right behind her. She has a look of complete terror on her face. "Thank god, Ms. Penrose! I have been trying to get a hold of you all day, but no one knew where you were! I called your house, your office, but nothing!"

I reach out and grasp the worried hands of the elderly lady who acts as Seph's drama teacher. "What's wrong, Rose? What's going on?"

The dark brown eyes of the woman stare into mine as she replies, "We...We had a lunch break a few hours ago, but Persephone never came back! They had their lunch on the playground. I left for just a few seconds to get more bottled water, but when I came back, she was gone! Just...disappeared. I looked everywhere. I sent all the children home. I called the police, they came and they're already looking for her."

I turn, terrified, to the first police officer. "We'll find her, Ma'am. Is there anything you can tell us about where she might've gone? Is there anyone she knows that might have taken her?"

The questions blur into background noise in my mind. I hear only my own thoughts, running at a million miles an hour. I stumble backwards, and Barry reaches out, quicker than he should, to make sure I don't fall. I barely hear him tell the police officer to give them a second. The teacher and the officers walk off, and more police cars pull up to the school. The entrance is taped off, the yellow band labeling the school as a crime scene. Officers convene around one of the patrol cars, laying out a map of the surrounding areas.

The only thing I can feel now is an empty ache in my chest. My baby's gone.

Barry steps in front of my line of sight, making it impossible for me to see what's going on. I can't see past his eyes staring directly into mine. He places his hands on my shoulders, reassuring me with, "Hey, look at me. Don't look at them." I tear my eyes away from the crying drama teacher and look into Barry's green eyes. "We are going to find her. If I have to run over every inch of the city, we'll find her. You have superheroes at your side, okay?"

I nod, unable to speak. I lean my head against his chest, trying to control my breathing and tears. Barry slowly wraps his arms around my back, resting his chin on my elvish braided hair. I try to focus on the erratic heartbeat under my ear instead of my own thoughts.

"We'll find her. I won't stop until we do."

END CHAPTER NINE