Moving Forward

March 2034

Author's Note: Sorry it took me forever to continue this story, have been really busy continuing Zero Hour and working on Daughter's Nightmare. Hope you guys are still around.

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It might still be early, not even noon just yet; but the day was going as good as it could be. There was not a crime in sight, and it was a beautiful and an unusually warm March day. With all the cases done and closed at the station, Barry found himself free to spend some personal time with the people he cared about which meant, for today, to accept a coffee invitation with the young Lindy Carter. The young seventeen years old lady was enjoying the last day of her school's spring break.

Zipping his old beige jacket all the way to the top and putting his hands in his pockets, since while it might be warm for this period of the year, they were still in March, Barry smiled to himself. Walking side by side with the young Lindy, as she needed to make a quick stop at the bank before heading to CCJitters, Barry just felt so old suddenly as his mind drifted back to his younger days. Did he really push that girl around in a stroller a few times? The CSI director could remember that like it was yesterday; he could still remember this moment in his life where the thought of having kids on his own seemed like a reality far far away. Now, his twins were in elementary school, and his little Olivia was about to start kindergarten in the fall.

Walking slightly ahead of the hero, Lindy was wearing a dark blue pair of jeans and a long black coat with white stripes going in various directions. The young woman only had one year left before going to college, and she was already thinking about her application she would need to complete later this year.

Accelerating the pace, Barry caught up with the woman and moved past her as they reached Central City Gold Bank so he could open up the door to his deceased friend's daughter. Lindy smiled, and her cheek reddened a tad at the small gesture.

"You're still going to apply to med school?" Asked Barry when Lindy moved past him.

"Yeah, I am," she confirmed, nodding, while swiftly analysing her surrounding inside the building and starting to head toward a waiting line, "I just need to keep my grades up next year."

The bank wasn't too busy today; only a dozen people or so were presently there and distributed between three lines waiting to be served.

"I'm not worried about you, you're smart," confidently said Barry who really believed his words. This girl had been at the top of almost all of her classes during her high school; she was going to do great.

The only thing he used to be preoccupied about was to see Lindy taking a path driven by her desire to prove she could do just as much good in his world than her dad. But the hero eventually concluded that Lindy would always find a way to help others and not only because of her dad but because that's just the kind of person she was.

"Your father would be proud," quietly continued Barry, left wondering for a second if he really said it out loud or if he kept the thought in his hand.

The way Lindy rose her right hand to touch her necklace that managed to sneak out on his own from under her black coat proved she heard the comment. The jewellery was composed of a bright blue aquamarine stone locked in the second loop of a standing infinity sign and had been a gift from her mother when Lindy reached 16 years old. Apparently, the necklace was a little something Amanda received from Matthew not too long after they got engaged. It was probably the most treasured possession Lindy had and one she was carrying around her neck more often than not, even when it was just hiding underneath her shirt.

As the waiting line moved and the duo found themselves second in priority to be served, distractedly talking to one another, they didn't notice three hooded men entering the room. In the next instant, metallic sound of shackles being manipulated filled the room, quickly followed by terrified whispers. Turning on his feet and tensing up from head to toe, Barry let the electricity gathered in his body as he instinctively moved his right feet in front of his young friend. While the hero was protectively positioning himself in front of Amanda's daughter, the men, armed men, rose their weapons to the ceiling and fired a warning shot.