When Lightning Strikes

Captain David Singh was a very busy man and being a very busy man meant that he needed work to be completed on time. Unfortunately for him, his team included a very incompetent CSI.

Going through the paperwork at his desk, Singh realised that he still hadn't received the evidence report for a case they had completed two days ago. And who owed him the report? Barry Allen.

He could send an email, but where was the fun in that? He knew the kid tried his best, but sometimes watching Allen squirm as he tried to come up with his newest excuse was the only entertainment Singh could get out of his day.

As he left his office and headed up the stairs, all of the lights around the precinct suddenly flickered before going out completely. Great, another problem to deal with. He could hear the grumbles from nearby officers, but they were all professionals. A little storm or power cut hadn't stopped them from working in the past and it wouldn't stop them now.

Singh reached the lab door just in time to be blinded by a sudden flash of light. He shielded his eyes with the back of his hand as a large crash and the sound of glass shattering could be heard from inside the room.

Blinking a few times to clear the spots that had appeared before his eyes, he looked around the room to take in the damage. There was water all over the floor; pouring in from the broken sky light, mixing with all manner of coloured liquids previously contained in the now shattered test tubes and beakers. He didn't even want to know how much this was going to cost the department to replace.

"Allen?" Singh called into the room. He couldn't see if anyone was inside due the darkness of everything, but he suspected that if the CSI had been there he would have been fretting over the current destruction of his precious lab, not hiding away in the corner.

As he turned to leave the room, what he didn't expect to see was the person in question lying unconscious on a fallen rack of shelves.

"Allen!" He exclaimed, more out of shock than anything else, as he ran over to the young CSI, being mindful of the fallen equipment covering the floor.

A flash of lightning outside lit up the room enough to give him a few seconds to fully take stock of Barry's condition. The man was silent and still, mouth parted slightly but Singh couldn't tell if he was breathing, his face and hands were littered with cuts and grazes and he was covered in broken glass. It was then that it clicked for Singh what the flash of light was that he'd been blinded by only moments ago.

He'd never personally come across a lightning strike victim before, but he knew enough. It was a common belief that touching someone who had been hit by lightning would get you electrocuted, but this was just a myth - one that often increased the risk of death. If he didn't administer first aid right now, Barry was definitely going to die.

Singh leant down and gripped Barry's shoulder with one hand, placing two fingers from the other to Barry's neck. He dared not breath as he waited for any sign of life beneath his fingertips, but there was nothing.

"Barry?" he whispered as he moved his fingers closer to the man's windpipe, praying that he had just been feeling in the wrong place, but again he felt nothing.

He let out a curse before instantly jumping into action. He didn't want to waste any time, not when every second counted. He knew that moving Barry could do more harm than good, but potentially causing more injuries could be considered a lower priority than the fact that Barry was technically dead right now - and he needed a flat surface for the next step.

Crouching down, Singh lifted the arm closest to him and rested it over his shoulder, making room to fit his own arm under Barry's shoulder blades. Next he fit his other arm under Barry's legs and, forgoing any grace or smoothness, he lifted the lifeless CSI, choosing not to dwell on the slight sickly feeling it was giving him to see Barry's head falling back so limply.