Forward ϟ The Flash

Chapter 25: Seeing Double

This was beginning to become a regular occurrence for Rose. Funerals. Of all the things to go to on a regular basis, it had to be when a loved one died. This time, it was for Henry, his heart shredded by Zoom.

Barry held an umbrella up above the both of them as they stared down at Henry's headstone, next to Nora's. The preacher tried to provide words of comfort as the rain beat down on them, "And comfort us today with the word of your promise as we return our brother to the earth, and leave us with the hope that, one day, we'll meet again."

Once the preacher walked away, Barry was left to say a few words. "Um... my father's..." He paused, swallowing a lump in his throat. Rose took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I can't do this right now."

"It's okay, Barry," Iris told him as Rose pulled him closer to her side. She was scared to let him go. After everything that happened on a night that was supposed to be a celebration of his father's return, she couldn't bear to have him be away from her in case something happened and the next person they lost was him. With Zoom, there was no guarantee that Barry wouldn't get hurt trying to stop him. That scared her more than anything.

Joe stepped up. "Henry Allen. Henry suffered two great losses in his life. He lost his wife, Nora, and he lost Barry. He suffered guilt, embarrassment, ridicule, shame, and everything that comes with being blamed for a crime he didn't commit. Henry Allen was proof that love can get you through the darkest of days, and that love will keep him alive in all of our hearts."

Barry passed off the umbrella to Rose as he went to go and place a flower, a red rose, on his father's casket. Even in the rain, the sun still shone brightly down on him as he kneeled next to it and made a promise, "I'm gonna find him, Dad. I promise you I'm gonna take from him what he took from you."

..............................

Rose wrapped her arms tight around her body as she watched the quiet street. She couldn't be inside. Not for mourning her friend, Barry's father. She felt like she felt everyone down even though none of this was her fault. The guilt of not doing more still ate at her as she watched everyone's faces so she had to step out. She sat on the porch steps in the cold and let the chill keep her mind off Henry.

"Hey," she turned around as the front door clicked shut as Barry came to out. "What are you doing out here?"

"Sorry. I- It was suffocating in there. What are you doing out here?" she asked as he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"I was getting the same feeling," he sat down next to her. After a moment's pause, he continued, "When I was in the Speed Force, I felt like I'd finally come to grips with her death, with not saving her when I went back. And then the moment... where I'm finally at the place I can move on, my father's taken from me. How am I ever supposed to find peace with that?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure, but you'll have to. Death, even tragic ones, are apart of our lives now. We can't let it tear us apart." She took his hand into her's. "We have to stick together through them. That's the only way we are going to find peace."

"I just miss him so much already," his voice cracked. Rose brought Barry's hand up to her lips and placed a soft kiss on his knuckles. A blue streak of lightning flashed by, going down the street. Barry's eyes widened. "Zoom."

She screamed at him as he raced off to catch his father's killer, "Barry!"

..............................

"So Zoom wants to race you?" Jesse asked Barry. Rose shook her head. A race? It felt far too childish for a man that was a mass murderer to prove something.