Love At First Sight (A SuperFlash Story)

Chapter 1: The Scientist

"This door was made out of expanded reinforced titanium," John said. "How did they knock it down?"

"We're not sure yet," replied Quintin. "Maybe they used a forklift or a crane because there are no signs of explosives. I'm guessing there was at least three or four of them."

"They must have been fast. You can see how quick they were to be in and out," John suggested.

"This is your company, Oliver. Any idea what they were breaking in for?" asked Quintin.

"No clue," Oliver replied.

A man with a tablet walked over. "Here's what we caught on camera," he said.
Only one man was shown on camera. He picked up a barrel and threw it at the security camera.

"Actually it was only one guy," a man said. "For once in my life I'm actually on time."

"Great. Who the hell are you?" Quintin asked.

"I'm Barry Allen. I'm a forensic scientist for the Central City Police Department. I'm with the Crime Scene Investigation unit," the man answered.

"And what are you doing here?" Oliver asked.

"We've had some similar unexplained cases in Central City so I got permission from my Captain to come up here when I heard about your robbery," said Barry.

"And you think somebody, with super strength, ripped through that door like it was nothing?" Quintin asked.

"Yeah," Barry said.

Quintin laughed. "Oh, wait, you're serious?"

Barry ignored him and continued. "Breaking someone's neck requires at least 1,250 foot pounds of torque." He pulls up an image of one of the victims on his tablet and hands it to Oliver. "The bruising pattern on the guard's neck suggests the killer used only one hand." He looks at Oliver. "I'm guessing you have no idea how hard it is to break someone's neck."

"What? Oh, uh, no I don't," Oliver said.

The man with his tablet comes back. "We're going to need a list of your inventory to figure out what Superman took, Mr. Queen." Quintin laughs.

Barry looks down. His face starts turning red. He takes a deep breath, and then looks back up. "Actually, I think I know what was stolen," he said. "Follow me." He leads them over to where it looks like some piece of machinery had been ripped out of the ground. "An industrial centrifuge. Here you can see the sets of the broken bolts where the thief just rips it out of the ground."

"And what exactly is a centrifuge?" John asked.

The woman by John's side spoke up. "An industrial centrifuge is a machine used for fluid/particle separation. The centrifuge is used to separate heterogeneous mixtures into components varying by density. Solid-liquid separation, liquid-liquid separation, and liquid-liquid-solid separation."

"And the lighter objects move to the top," Barry added.

"Yeah! Um, what did you say your name was?" the woman asked.

"Barry. Allen."

"Felicity. Smoak."

What? thought Oliver.

Barry points to some cracks in the ground. "You see those cracks in the ground? Those are footsteps. They show only one guy. It's just a theory I've created and it's backed by a lot of evidence.

"Felicity, come here," Quintin said.

"What's up?" asked Felicity.

"You might want to tell the Green Arrow about this." Quintin answered.

"Will do," Felicity replied.

Barry spoke up. "Where should I set up my equipment?"

"Over here is good," Felicity answered.

Felicity helps him set up his equipment and Barry gets to work. He starts by trying to get something off the footprint the thief left behind.

"I got you," Barry said as he picks something off the footprint. He bring it over to some machine and puts it in there. He looks at Felicity. "Have you seen him before? The Green Arrow?"

"Who? Oh, uh, no I havent," Felicity said.

"I have once," Barry replied. He was, green." Barry's machine beeps. "That's weird," he said. "A special kind of soil came back."

Oliver and John walk in and Barry's computer beeps.
"Uh-oh," Barry said.

"What?" John asked.

"So we found the exact truck the thief used to steal the centrifuge," Felicity replied.

"Where is it?" asked Oliver.

"It was used to...rob a blood bank?"

John looks a Barry. "Didn't you say you were working on a similar case?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," Barry said.

"John, come here." Oliver led him away from Barry and Felicity. "I want you look into Barry. He's hiding something, " Oliver said.

"Way ahead of you," John replied.

"One more day until Dr. Harrison Wells, the founder of STAR Labs, turns on the STAR Labs particle accelerator." A computer screen was on and it showed the channel 52 news.

"I can't wait!" Barry exclaimed. "It will change the way that we think."

"Did you know there has been an increase in thunder storms since someone tried to control the weather and their machine failed?" Felicity asked.

"That's because their data was wrong," Barry said.

Oliver walks in. "You know about wrong then, don't you?" Oliver asked. "You lied, Barry. Your bosses don't know your here and you aren't a CSI. Why are you here?"

Barry sighs. "When I was 11, my mother was murdered. My dad has been serving a life sentence for her murder but he didn't kill her. I don't even know why I'm telling you this because just like everyone else, you're not gonna believe me."

Barry tries to leave, but Oliver pushes him back.

"Keep talking," Oliver commanded.

"One night, when I was 11, I woke up because I heard screaming coming from downstairs," Barry said. "I looked at my fish tank, and the water was just like floating in the air. I went downstairs and I saw some red and yellow tornado or something in our house. Inside the tornado, was a man. My dad went to fight it when I was suddenly 30 blocks away from our house. When I got home, they were putting my father in a police car." Barry sighs. "I'm pretty sure the man in the tornado killed my mom. What I saw that night, was real. Ever since then, whenever I heard about something impossible, I go investigate. That's why I look into cases like this. That's why I'm here. I think that I could find out who really killed my mother if I could just make sense if one of these unexplainable cases and I'd be able to free my dad. I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm gonna go."

Barry leaves to go pack up his equipment and catch a train back home. Oliver doesn't stop him.