Soothsayer ⚡ Barry Allen

Red-Eyed Demon

I could barely keep my eyes open by the time the door shut, already haven given into sleep. Barry came through the doorway, the weight of his eyes on me encouraging me to fight it just a little longer. For a minute he just stared at me, and for all the times I'd done it to him, I let him with a dazed grin.

I threw my arm behind me and patted his spot, giggling as he shimmied out of his street clothes before jumping over me, bouncing beside me as I laughed and turned to spoon him. "Sorry I took so long," he yawned, wiggling back into a comfortable spot against my chest. "There're some new metas' running around, had to do a lot of forensics."

"No running?" I hummed, running my fingers through his hair.

"Not really. We won't have any solid leads until the morning." I kissed his temple and loved the smile that pulled on his lips. "Today was one of my relaxing days," he yawned again.

"And that's why you're so worn out?" I inquired lightly. Barry reached up and held my wrist, slowly running his fingers over my skin.

"Science is hard work, man," he breathed. "Lots and lots of math." I chuckled and curled into his back, resting my head against his.

"I'll take your word for it." I streched my fingers over his chest, feeling his usual, mostly rapid heartbeat under my fingers, placing a gentle kiss to his neck. "Se agapó, ta matiá mou."

"I love you, too," he mumbled, relaxing impossibly further into me. I sighed and closed my eyes, completly ready for sleep's hold. At the very least, I was expecting it to be a bit gentler.

I was layed out on the floor, the air around me freezing and the just noticable struggle to breathe told me one thing. I'd been slammed, quite literally, through the Speed Force; I had the wind knocked out of me. Unable to pull myself from this dream, I peeled myself off the floor, heading to where gusts of wind constantly came from. The only consistancy they held was the fact they didn't stop.

I stumbled over to a doorway and paused, my eyes widening at the sight before me. A woman kneeled in the middle of a blue and red tornado, a small child screaming for her a small distance away. Not even thinking, I called and ran for the boy, ready to pull him away from this...confusing event, when a strong hand forced me against the wall.

The image hurt my eyes, but I couldn't look away, the man in a yellow suit with glowing red eyes held me in place, his whole body vibrating. "You don't belong here," he grumbled, voice wavering as an exact copy of this man held someone else against the opposite wall, finding him holding an equally blurry Flash. He held out his hand flat, like the way Barry had demonstrated phasing to me, aiming for my chest.

I pushed off his blurry chest, somehow managing to break the Speed Force dream. It took me a few seconds to come to myself, my hands against Barry's chest, my heart racing within my own. "Hey, Dromi, you're okay," he spoke quickly, his tone contrastingly calm. "You're okay." I took a deep breath and relaxed my arms, allowing him to pull me into his chest. I breathed slowly, coming back to myself with the sensation of his fingers trailing through my hair. "You're safe."

I closed my eyes, instantly recalling the panic on the Flash's face when he saw me there. Other than him, the only thing from that dream I could place was Barry's yellow dragon. I barely got a quick look at the little boy, but when Barry pulled back to look at me now, I could pick out the similarities between their two faces. My brain jumped to the obvious conclusion, but I didn't want to believe it. Had I really just seen the night his mother died? "Do you wanna talk about it?"

I opened my mouth to say no, but no sound came, so I closed it and took a deep breath, taking his hand and tightly entwining our fingers. "When I was in the League..." I cautiously started, instantly noticing the shift in how he observed me. "What they did to me was unspeakable. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. But it wasn't all bad... It was like...they were preparing me. I don't know what for, but it's still lingering."

"Andy," Barry breathed, instantly drawing my eyes up to his. "Nothing and no one can stop me from loving you." Resting a hand on the side of my face, he kissed my forehead. "Whatever you're working through, we'll handle togther."

"Together," I nodded, kissing his hand and resting our knuckles between my eyes. "I wouldn't want it any other way." Barry released a deep breath and tightened his hold on me, ressurecting the feeling of security that came with his presence.

⚡

I mostly didn't want her in the shack, not after the Flash was one of her targets, but I also didn't want Barry to walk in on the middle of this. I could let it pass with the accidental Snart meditation -- I didn't need to be thinking on him -- but this was far more serious, and quite frankly, more personal. I took a deep breath and relaxed on the roof, reaching out to Talia with the insufficient hope that she'd pick up. "I didn't expect to hear from you, Andromeda Cane."

"Just Andy's fine," I breathed, opening my eyes and finding Talia behind me, turning to face her before speaking again. "I know after everything, I might even owe you guys one--"

"You owe the League nothing," she quickly interjected, her face stern. She said nothing more, so I took that as my cue to speak.

"I had a dream last night," I explained, jumping straight to my point. "The more I think about it, the less it feels like a dream. I need to know if what I saw was real." Talia studied my face a second before nodding, no interjections to be made. "There's a friend of mine who says a night that something terrible happened to him, impossible things took place. From childhood, he's known my face and name, and I need to know if this is why."

There was confusion on her face so I stepped forward and continued elaborating. "I could feel the Speed Force in the air in that dream, I was nearly choking on the amount of energy. If you can't tell me whether or not it was real, tell me this. Is there more than one Speedster running around?"

Her face tightened back up to a displeased scowl, and I could tell she had an answer for me, just not the one I'd want. "Like I told you at the temple, the Speed Force doesn't exist in just one person. Across time, there will be several Speedster anomolies, some friend, some foe. Not everyone uses the Speed Force's gifts for uses as pure as your own."

I took a deep breath and nodded, confirming my thoughts easily. "I honestly didn't think you'd come," I mumbled, having no more questions that she could answer.

"You held my life in your hands, Andromeda Cane," Talia reminded as she took a step forward. "You protected it with both hands behind your back. I cannot fault you for doing the same for another." Holding out a palm to me, I set the back of my hand in her grasp, the feel of her skin no stronger than Barry's had been, all those months ago. "I will be with you, from our deaths and beyond."

I took a breath and nodded with a hesitant smile, her image fading seconds after. She had left me to my own thoughts, and they were just checking themselves off, one by one. What I'd seen was real, I'd been to the night Barry's mother had died. Barry's yellow dragon was real, and very much another Speed Force weilder. I only hoped my training would be enough to stand up to that speed demon, because I certainly couldn't do anything when I was paralyzed by fear.