I'm Not The Flash

Everyone Has A Past

Barrys POV

"So," Wyatt asked. I was sitting with him, Brent, and Em eating a sandwich. Well, one of five. "What is being a speedster like?" 

"It's amazing," I said with a smile. "There is no other feeling like it. Your running so fast that everything blurs and time slows down."

"Wait," Brent asked really curious. "Can you time travel?"

"Yes," I said. "But I'm not supposed to do that anymore."

"Says who?" We all looked up and saw Chloe standing in the doorway to their kitchen/dining room. We weren't aware that she had been listening.

"The speed force," I said. Given the confused look on her face, I knew I should elaborate. "It's this place where I get my speed and are connected to all the other speedsters. They write the rules. They've been here since the big bang and will probably be here till the end of time." 

She didn't say anything, she just came in and sat down. I knew I was warming up to her. I glanced at Em who was trying to read me. It made me feel a little uncomfortable. 

"Something bad happened," she said. "You want to fix it or you tried to fix it."

"What?" I asked confused. I knew what she was talking about, but I didn't want to get into it. By the look on her face, she was calling my bluff. "Fine," I said. "I'm only going to tell you because I want you to trust me. This isn't something I go around advertising." I know I've told people before, but I still didn't like talking about it. 

"So when I was 11, my mom was murdered. I ran down the stairs and saw these two blurs of red and yellow. I didn't know what they were at the time, but surprisingly, the red streak was me."

"Wait, what do you mean you?" Brent asked.

"A while back, a few months after I first got my speed, I went back in time to try and save my mom. While there, I saw my 11-year-old self." I was trying my best to explain this, but time travel still confuses even me. The only person who could seem to follow was Chloe. They were nodding but I could tell they were still confused. 

"Anyways, after my dad got pinned for the murder and sent to prison, I moved in with my best friend and her family. They've been fostering me ever since."

"Come on Barry," Wyatt said. "That can't be all."

"Pretty much. Unless you count all the bullies I encountered while growing up. Then there's that," I said. 

"I used to have a bully," Brent said. "He was awful. It wasn't until I got my powers that I finally got the best of him." Em shot him a look saying that that wasn't the whole story. 

He sighed. "Then the government got the best of me." He shook his head and laughed. 

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" I asked. I didn't want to be rude, but I figured I shared my story, it's only fair they share theirs. 

"No not at all," he said. "I was in high school when the particle accelerator went off. I was walking home because I was tutoring some kids in math and it went off. Who knew that Central City High was that close to Star Labs huh?" I could see he was trying to make the best out of it, but it still bothered him. It still bothered everyone. 

"I didn't faint or anything. My brain just felt like it was on fire. I continued walking home, not even realizing what had happened. When I got home, my mom was freaking out. I didn't tell her what happened because of how she was reacting. That was my first mistake."

"First mistake?" I asked. 

"Yeah. A few days later, I figured out what was going on and what I could do," he said. He was going to continue but I cut him off. 

"What can you do?" I asked.

"This," he said. He looked me dead in the eyes with a straight face. His eyes lit up red and I could feel my head starting to spin. I wanted to look away. Everything in me was telling me to look away, but I couldn't. 

"Brent!" Em said slamming her hand on the table. He snapped out of it.

"Sorry, still a work in progress," he said. I rubbed my temples trying to calm my head down.

"What did you just do?" I asked really confused.

"Well before it got too out of hand, I infiltrated your brain. I can attack someone subconsciously. I can make them do what I want. Or I can give them excruciating pain," he said.

"Yeah I got the second part," I said still rubbing my temples. Even though I had speed healing, it still hurt like hell.

"Yeah well, so did my bullies. There were about four of them. They tried to beat me up after school one day, but I let my emotions get the best of me. I used my power on them, and I left them all behind the school. Their ears were bleeding because I couldn't control myself. Apparently, the security camera caught it and they sent it into the police, who contacted the state, who contacted the government, who then showed up at my house that night. My mom and I were eating dinner and when they knocked on the door. My mom answered it and they just burst right by her. They grabbed me and took me away." 

He was going to continue on, but I wouldn't let him. I didn't want him to have to share that horrible time with me. No need to dig those emotions up. "So, is that what happened with the rest of you?" 

"Pretty much," Wyatt said. "I had transferred to CCU when it happened."

"So what can you do?" I asked. 

"Dude, I can freaking fly," he said giggling. 

"What?" I asked. The only two people I knew who could fly were from Krypton. And from another earth. Well, I guess Kara and Clark are in this dimension, at least I think Krypton still exists here. Wyatt then stood up and hovered in the air for a second before touching down again. 

"Bet you've never seen that before," he said sitting back down. 

"You'd be surprised," I said laughing.

"Wait," he said leaning forward. He was really concerned now. "Who else do you know that can fly? I thought I was the only one."

"Don't worry," I said. "They don't live here. They are from another earth. And a different planet."

"You have alien friends!?" Brent asked. I could tell he was a geek just like me. "From another earth? Like the multiverse?"

"Yeah, the theory of the multiverse, it's all true," I said laughing. I hadn't just talked like this in a long time, you know? Like with friends who genuinely want to talk with me.

"Do you mind explaining?" Em asked. "The rest of us here speak English."

"So, imagine infinite versions of earth. One where JFK was never assassinated, one where we're all evil, one where the dinosaurs never went extinct," I was going to continue on, but Brent excitedly cut in. 

"Oh! Like one where the Nazi's never won world war two?" he asked.

"Been there, it sucks," I said. 

"Care to share?" Chloe asked. 

"Right before my wedding, Nazi's from, what we call earth X, crashed it. They took my friends and me back to their earth where they held us in a camp and tried to murder us," I said. My voice trailed off, but Wyatt finished my sentence. 

"Because you were different," he said. I nodded at him.

"Anyway's," I said changing the subject. "Chloe, what about you?"

She stood up and smirked at me. As she walked out of the room, she turned to me. "You wish," she said. I knew eventually she would open up to me, but I didn't want to push it. I know exactly what that can do to a person. 

"Just give her time," Em said. "She'll open up."

"I'm not worried," I said. "So, I think we should talk about the real threat now."

"About that," Brent said. "I have a plan."