Aflame: The Flash (1)

11.3

11.3 i failed this city

—REWRITTEN—

I'm sitting on Barry's treadmill thinking about the particle accelerator explosion. Barry walks into the room and sits down next to me, but keeps a respectable distance away from me. "You okay?" He asks.

"Yeah," I say.

"What's actually bothering you?" He asks.

I sigh. "I just. He's hiding things Barry. I thought I knew him, but I don't."

"Look, I know he hid the particle accelerator explosion from you but-"

"It's not just about that," I say, cutting him off. "Hartley- He told me, that- that Dad is hiding things from us. Something big."

"And you believe him?" Barry asks.

"I know Hartley can be a dick, but his intentions, they don't seem bad. Just because he's going after Dad doesn't mean he has bad intentions. Maybe a bad way of reaching his goal, but he's not all that bad," I say.

Barry sighs. "I think you're reading too much into this. Hartley was out there willing to risk people's lives. You can't trust him," Barry tells me. But was he really risking other people's lives? He only targeted one person, Dad.

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My phone rings. "Hello?"

"Hartley escaped," Cait says through the phone.

"Okay. I'll be right there," I say and then teleport to the pipelines.

When I get there I see Cisco on the ground passed out. I walk over to him and then grab him by his arm. I hold him on my shoulder and then teleport him into the Cortex, so Caitlin can check him out. We lay him down and then Cait checks him out. We wait for him to wake up. I sit down on a chair next to him, talking my foot in anticipation of his awake.

He finally opens his eyes as Barry says, "Hey. Welcome back, Mr. Ramon."

I am immediately on his side as he tries to sit up. "Ooh. Oh, man. Caitlin?"

"Hey," I say. "She's fine."

"You need to rest. You have a concussion," Cait tells him. "You're lucky."

"Please tell me you got him," Cisco says as I shake my head.

"I guess the attack on his family's company was a fake out so we'd catch him," Barry says.

"And give him direct access to S.T.A.R. Labs," Cait adds.

"Why?" Barry asks.

"I should've known he was up to something. This is my fault," Cisco says as I roll my eyes.

"Hey, we messed up too. We all let him in here," I say. "We shouldn't have even left."

"This is no one's fault but mine," Dad says rolling in. "I earned the blame. I'm not interested in sharing it. Hartley doesn't think I've paid for my crimes. And he's right. He won stop until I do." He then turns around and starts to wheel out.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"To earn back your trust," He says as he looks at me and Barry, before wheeling out.

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I'm standing in the CCPD next to Barry waiting for Dad's press conference to start. I lean against the wall as Barry is leaning on the door, my shoulder almost touching his. I will it to stay away not wanting our powers going haywire in public.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Dad says into the cameras. "And for those of you that have read the ten-volume report issued by the Norris Commission, well, I commend you on your tenacity. You already know, then, the circumstances that led the explosion of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator... Or rather, you think you do."

I stand up straighter and carefully listen to what he's saying next. "Now, the Commission's finding was that the catastrophe was caused by a chain of events that nobody could have predicted, including myself. The truth is... I was warned there was a chance the particle accelerator might fail. I was warned by a former colleague.... a friend. I chose to ignore the warning and in so doing, I let down all of you. As a new friend pointed out..." He glances at Barry for a split second.

"I failed this city. I failed this city, I failed my loved ones and I failed those who trusted me the most," He says as looks at me. I move my gaze to the ground and he then turns back to the cameras. "By coming forward today... it's my hope I'm taking the first step toward regaining that trust. And your trust as well. Are there any questions?"

"Do you have any intention of rebuilding the particle accelerator?" A reported standing next to Iris asks.

Dad ignores the reporter and turns to Iris. "Miss West, do you have a question for me?" This makes a ghost of a smile appear on my lips. Barry, stands up straighter at the mention of Iris, trying to look at her, making my smile stop growing. Iris on the other hand, looks completely flustered as if she wasn't expecting anyone to notice her.

"I don't believe you answered my colleague's question, Dr.Wells, so I'll ask it again. Do you have any intention of rebuilding the particle accelerator, either now or in the future?" She asks.

"Of course not," Dad answers.

"Thank you for your answer, Doctor," Iris says.

"It's my pleasure," Dad replies and glances over at Me and Barry, when Iris is leaving. He turns to all the other reporters and says, "No further questions."

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Hey guys! So just a heads up, I'm moving so everything's a bit chaotic and the next chapter may not make it in time. I'll try my best to, but if it doesn't then you know why.