Not a City of Angels

Chapter Five

Cooper was on the clock at the Central City Police Department when the explosion occurred.

For a moment, he thought it was all part of the elaborate dream he experienced the other day when him and Blaine went out to a bar and left Lily with a sitter. They got completely wasted.

But the pounding in his head told him differently.

No, he was sober now. This was really happening.

Hedidn't know how long he stood there, staring at lights emitted from the Particle Accelerator just blocks away.

It crossed his mind that it was almost pretty. The orange and yellow reflection of fire against the blue and gray steel buildings were a bright contrast, accented by the clouds of black smoke, almost unseen in the night sky. It covered up stars and was occasionally lit up by lightning from the storm.

It was only the screams of people in the streets that brought him back to reality.

Blaine and Lily.

They had been watching the Particle Accelerator turn on from Blaine's new apartment, just a street away from S.T.A.R. Labs in the expensive business district. Their parents' inheritance had really paid off...

He ran.

He sprinted the few blocks, racing as fast his lungs would allow him.

People were swarming everywhere, and he pushed and squirmed to get to the spot where Blaine's apartment building was, using his police badge as an excuse.

The air was thick with smoke and the police were already closing off the area around the building.

"Blaine! Blaine!" He found himself screaming his name, his voice hoarse and high pitched.

"Blaine! Lily!" He pushed forward even further, despite the force of the crowd pushing him backwards.

Everywhere, other police and firefighters were trying to get people away from the building and under control.

His screams were lost in the ruckus of people all around him, calling out names, crying, screaming.

"Blaine!" He called out desperately again as another police officer pushed him backwards, one that he recognized as his partner, Eddie Thawne, who had followed him out the door. When he refused to be budged, Eddie, so hopelessly confused and concerned, had to forcibly put his hands on his shoulders and shift his back.

Just as he was about to push back against his partner, he saw it and all the fight was knocked out of him.

There were people lying on the ground, fallen from the observatory deck.

He stopped screaming. He stopped panicking. He stopped trying.

He vomited on the sidewalk.

An otherworldly calm settled over him and he just knew.

It felt like the earth was still shaking, to Cooper, but on a lower level than before. It was like he was trying to block all things out, but the only thing he could not was the acceptance. His kid brother and sister were lost.