ALL THE KING'S MEN | BARRY ALLEN

21. REAR VIEW

❛ chapter twenty one! ❜

twenty one | rear view—zayn

     Cold lights bathe the dusty medical bay—where I stand, still trying to comprehend what future Barry has just said to me after an extensive and private conversation with his counterpart from the past in this very same room. He made me tell him everything about what it means to be a Guardian while I kept thinking and hoping he explained the reason why he'd turned me into his prisoner for forty eight hours and why what's left of Team Flash are so cold to me—to the point of not speaking a single word to me, all they did was observe me with wary eyes that glimmered with mistrust and disapproval instead—now everything is pretty clear, kind of.

       "I still don't understand, though," it's all I can say, my mind drawing a blank as I violate the stillness of the room which stores furniture covered by large sheets of plastic by lifting part of the plastic that covers the bed so that I can sit down and assimilate all this. My eyes fall on the man in the bright red suit, "I'm not the Violett Hale you crossed paths with?"

       "Your Barry told me a few things about you and how you've been helping the team, the way you care and worry for their wellbeing," he states, his deep melodic voice—which I happen to be infatuated with—bouncing in the room, "you clearly don't behave like the Violett I know, you're. . .different," he stays quiet for a moment, letting us soak in silence; he then looks at me with pain and a visible shimmer of sadness in his eyes when the tells me that the Violett Hale they met almost eight years ago was no other than Savitar's left hand.

       "Savitar's executioner..." I fade, involuntarily running my fingers through my dark hair as I try to comprehend, "how's that even possible—why would I do that?"

      "I don't know," he simply replies. Me teaming up with Killer Frost and Savitar to see all this people suffer, to see him suffer, I still can't wrap my head around that idea, "You became apart of the team and made everyone believe you were actually helping but the only thing you did was getting a better insight of the team under Savitar's orders," he tells me in a low voice and I still don't know how to react so I just remain in my seat somewhat paralyzed, "one day you just betrayed us."

      "I couldn't do that. I couldn't side with the monster I'm supposed to help defeating. You are my friends," I rise and step closer.

      "Like I said, you don't behave like the Violett Hale that came into our team, a lot of things are different. For starters, she'd never risk her life like you have in order to protect the team," I conclude that the two Barry's have shared not just a few things, he knows quite a lot about me, "she wasn't a Guardian either and by what you told us, the Speed Force actually recognizes you as one. Barry is witness of that, even the way we met is different," he says, even though he says I'm not like the woman he met, he still studies my my face, every move I make, every word and the way I say it as if waiting for my 'façade' to break, "it's like you're another person."