Episode 1 - Pilot

Joe would come and get Barry after school everyday and would take him to the precinct until he finished his shift. Barry felt safe at the precinct, he could be himself, he did not have to be afraid of how people would act around him, they understood what happened, and they accepted him as their own. Barry would sometimes do his school work there and if he got stuck on something Joe or one of the other officers, even captain Singh would sometimes help him. He became part of their daily life so much so that he became the little brother of the precinct, they loved him.

This happened for years and Barry loved every second of it, so did everyone else at the precinct. He hoped this was what he was going to be when he was older. And after years of studying and working hard, Atchaco helped him with some problems, him helping her with what she needed so she could become a lawyer and follow in her late father's footsteps. Later they got older and got their jobs. Together they would get justice for the victim's families and put the criminals in prison. Though the thought that he was doing it for justice for his father always lingered in his mind, and unlike Joe, Atchaco stood with him, she believed him, and that's all Barry needed to not lose hope.

Though everyday of Barry's life was basically the same, he still loved it, he would get up, wash and change then go get the bus to work, arriving late every single day without fail, let's just say it is not possible for him to be on time, it doesn't matter how hard he tries. He gets his work done quickly and better than any CSI before him, so he never lost his job. When he had finished with his cases he would look at the mind map for his mother's case, with a solme expression and determination to find the real killer, to find out who the man in the yellow suit really is.

They had so much evidence pointing to his father, but they didn't have the most crucial evidence, correction they were told it but never believed it, they could not believe in the impossible when it was right under their noses, they lived in a world with Superman and Batman and yet they could not believe in him, yet they could not believe the truth, the one that Barry saw, not the one they chose to believe so people would not think that they were insane.

After Barry does his work he goes to see his father in prison, like he had done since he was about 12, when he was finally allowed to do so. He makes the calm journey, by bus, to Iron Heights prison, where his father is locked up. He makes his way through the door, everyone staring at him as he walks to the front desk. The guard looks up and smiles at him, handing him a sheet of paper and saying a sign. When Barry hands it back to him, he says you know where to go and Barry walks into the sad room, some people happy, others sad, some just angry or alone.

Barry turns and faces his father, sitting roughly down on the prison seat in front of him. He smiles at him, he wants to hug him and tell him that everything will be okay when he knows that everything will be. His father is looking a bit grim, but then again being in a maximum security prison for the past 19 years for a crime he didn't commit I think people can pass on his looks. His face is a bit distorted for the glass looks like it has not been cleaned in a while.

Barry leans forward in his seat and grabs the plastic phone quickly so he can spend all his time in this heep speaking to his aging and stressed filled father. "Hey Slugger." Henry says forcing a laugh but Barry can tell that he has no lost hope, that he is not like the other prisoners yet.

"You have been calling me since I was 9." Barry laughs at his father. The air is filled with an eerie silence and Barry sighs deeply, losing the glimmer in his eyes as it filled with tears, like what happens at nearly every visit and his growing tired of it, but he cannot do anything about it, he cannot go yet and Barry knows that, it is why he is doing what he is doing not that anyone is happy with it. "You know that I know that you are innocent." Barry says breaking the silence which had made him think of the reasons, the dreaded reasons that he never wanted himself remembering.

"You believing in me is all that I need." Henry replies, happy that his son has not lost hope in him when everyone else had, he could always count on his son, always.

"You know I am going to get you out of here." Barry says having a hard time holding back his tears for his father.

"This again, son." Henry replies, angry at his son. "How many times have I told you, drop it. Stop wasting your life for me, a man that is not going anywhere."

"Please don't say that. I am not wasting my life doing this, I want the truth for you and that is what I am going to get, I cannot just go about my life having fun when... when I know that an innocent man is sitting here, an innocent man who is my father is sitting here and the killer is on the loose. I can't. I just can't"

"Son listen to me. I know you mean well with everything you do, I know that what you are doing is good, but you have only been able to do this because of one thing." Barry looks up at his father. "You are running on good luck son, and soon that good luck will run out and the bad luck will come and bite you, and it will bite you hard. So hard that you won't know what hit you until the pain comes and you will not be able to run anymore. So a piece of advice would be to quit while you are still a head. Me sitting here means you can have a life, you can have more than a life if you don't try and get me out, just believe in me and stop what you are doing." Barry looks at his father, tears running down the sides of his cheeks as Henry is escorted back to his cell.

Barry goes back to his house after speaking with his father, his mood down a bit. He thinks hard about what he said, so maybe he is right, maybe he is risking everything by doing what he thinks is right, but because it is right he wants to do it, he doesn't mind taking risks, life is all about taking them, this reminds him of Harrison Wells, he is taking a huge risk with his latest project, that reminds him, he has somewhere to be, he is going to the watch the particle accelerator be turned on, something he has waited for his whole life.

He goes to the door and grabs his coat off the rack before running to the bus station. It doesn't take him long to get to Scientific and Technological Advanced Research laboratories, or better known as STAR Labs, the place of tomorrow. Barry races past the huge crowd and all the protesters telling Harrison to stop what he is doing, he stops beside Iris, his adoptive sister who he swore he was going to help. On his other side was Atchaco, her fluffy coat hanging snuggly frame and making Barry jealous.

Suddenly Barry felt someone push past him and he heard Iris yelp, he doesn't know why so he goes on high alert. When he realises that no one is hurt or in danger he clams Iris down and looks around to see why she screamed so suddenly, she sees someone running, holding something which Barry suspects that he had stolen from Iris, so not thinking about anything he runs after them. It doesn't take him long to run him into a corner, the man looks at Barry and runs the other way before he stops suddenly after hearing a cop and seeing the clisen of metal in the moonlight.

Barry feels something drip down his chin and touches it to see a crimson red substance on it, blood. 'Just great, now I have to deal with this,' Barry moans at himself as he walks the other way, back to the precinct rather than the gathering crowd. When he gets back he presses a tissue to his nose and sees Iris walking in through the elevator. "Who's that?" Iris says, indicating to the cop who had stopped the mugger. "Why does he think he is so impressive, he stopped a mugger so what."

"That is Edward Thawne." Barry tells her. "Transferred here not that long ago, doesn't really understand what this place is like, the city he worked at was quite calm, still getting used to here." Barry looks down at Iris and she is smiling, Barry can tell that she likes him. That doesn't matter to him, he can have her, Barry has his eyes set on someone else.

"Oh, so that is detective pretty boy." She says, a huge grin forming on her face, she has a crush on him. When she sees Barry's displeasing look she thinks fast on her feet. "That's what my dad calls him, says he actually keeps score when it comes to arrests." Barry nods, not entiely believing her and what she is saying. Barry just shakes his head and goes back up to his lab at the top of the stairs. It was actually the whole department's lab but seeing as Barry was the only one that used it, it was called Barry's lab.

The first thing Barry did was turn on the news, he didn't matter which channel as nearly all of them were broadcasting about STAR Labs. He smiles when the volume is high enough and takes another look at his mother's case, he had stolen the files ages ago, when he was much younger without Joe knowing, when he had found out he was angry at him but didn't do anything about what he had done, just left it be. He looked at everything, he knew all he needed to know apart from who it was under the mask and who he was fighting in the storm, who were the two supers fighting in the light.

Barry went and picked up his phone, he may have not known but he knew someone who did, Victor Stone, the famous Gotham City football player, his dad worked for STAR Labs in Gotham, used to work in Detroit but moved to Gotham, the gloomy city that lived up to its name. He was about to ring him when he heard blaring from the TV, the newscaster looked terrified, was yelling about something going wrong in STAR Labs, about them trying to shut something down. Barry needed to know to realise that something was seriously wrong, suddenly hearing a crashing sound he looked out the window and saw a mushroom shaped cloud come from the building, he saw lighting everywhere and suddenly realised that the sky light was still open.

He rushed over to the metal chain and tugged at it, rain pouring all over his body, soaking him to the bone and suddenly he felt nothing other than pain. Lighting had crashed through the roof, flowing to Barry through the chain and striking him. Barry yelled in pain as he was thrown across the room and smashed into the chemical rack, all of it spilling all over him, Barry let out a small gasp before completely blacking out. Electricity running all through his body and everything mutating. The only thing that was sparking in his mind was a thought, alone single thought, the fact that his father was right, one day he will run out of luck and it will hurt when he has to repay for all he used, but that was not what annoyed him the most, it was the fact that he might never get to say sorry to Henry, or to tell Atchaco what he really felt, that to him, she was more than the bestest of friends.

----------

Not that long later and Captain Singh came into his lab to see what had happened, to see what all the yelling was about. What he saw made his blood run cold, his skin went pale and without even thinking he phoned an ambulance. He prayed to every god there was that Barry was still alive, that he would not die on him. Especially not like this, he just couldn't, not after everything that had happened. Singh knew that it would hurt everyone, he knew that no one would be able to face a tragedy like this, they would not be ready.

Suddenly the paramedics rushed into the room and gently took Singh off of Barry's body. They checked for his pulse and surprised everyone, he was alive, Barry had a pulse, yes it was weak but it was there. They quickly got him onto the gurney and wheeled him out of the room, leaving Singh just standing in the messy lab. He looked around the room and slowly left, he couldn't face it, he couldn't stand there, the whole time his face remained dry.

----------

The first thing Barry saw when he opened his eyes was a bright light so he quickly shut his eyes to stop them from hurting so much, then he felt a hand stroke his shoulder, tapping him and comforting him, upon feeling this he jerked up causing whoever was touching step backwards to stop himself from falling over. He looked around his surroundings and he was not at hospital, he did recognize where he was but he could not place it.

Suddenly a face filled his vision, their face was stern and serious, their hair was auburn and fell down the side of their face. She was smiling, next to her was a person with longish hair. Barry assumed that it was a boy but he couldn't really tell, he couldn't even tell when they spoke. "My name is Cisco Ramon." They introduced, so a boy, no, a man, he was eating a liquorice stick? The woman flashed a light in his eyes, Barry stared at her, confused, why was she doing that? "That is Cait - Dr. Snow." He corrected himself. Barry thought for a moment.

What had happened?

How did he get there?

Why is he not in a hospital?

Why can't he remember anything?

What is wrong?

Cisco looked at him, surprisingly he was smiling, but why would he be smiling. "Dude, you were in a coma." He laughed, well the explains a lot, but why is he so happy about that, without realising it Barry stood up from the bed, Caitlin was automatically at his side and helping him sit back down, Barry looked at her but didn't say anything, why was she wanting him to sit down when he could stand very well.

"How long was I in a coma?" Barry asks.

"9 months." A new voice told him, Barry looked to where it came from and saw a man in a wheelchair coming into the room, he recognized the face, how could he not, it was Dr. Harrison Wells. Barry stood up and walked towards him, this time no one stopped him.

"I have always wanted to meet you face to face." Barry said, shaking his hand, and without knowing they started walking out of the cortex and down the hall.

"Well you went to great lengths to do it." Harrison started stopping and showing Barry the aftershock of an explosion, one which Barry assumed was from the particle accelerator. "S.T.A.R. Labs haven't been operational since FEMA categorized us as a Class Four hazardous location. There used to only be three... until the accident.." Barry looked down at him, pity spread over his face.

"What happened?" Barry asked him, in confusion.

"Nine months ago, the particle accelerator went online exactly as planned.For forty-five minutes, I had achieved my life's dream. And then there was an anomaly. The electron volts became unmeasurable, the Ring under us 'popped.' Energy from the detonation was thrown into the sky. It seeped into a storm cloud... " Barry looked down at him, he knew where this was going, so he interrupted him.

"Which created a lightning bolt that struck me." He nodded.

"I was recovering from my own accident when I heard about yours." He continued. "The hospital was undergoing unexplainable power outages every time you were going into cardiac arrest, which was actually a misdiagnosis. You see, you weren't flatlining, Barry." He places his hand on Barry's chest, showing him that he has a fast heartbeat, Barry can feel it thumping against Harrison's hand. "Your heartbeat was moving too fast for the EKG meter to register it." They both start walking back to the Cortex. "Your physiology has been altered."

"Your muscles should be atrophied, but instead they're in a state of chronic and unexplained rapid cellular regeneration." Barry knew what that meant, he was really good at science after all."

"I feel... normal." Barry laughed.

"A normal person would've already thanked us for saving their life." Cisco said. "And it was our pleasure to watch over you. And it was nice to meet your family."

Barry looked at them and realized what they meant. "My family? You mean, The Wests?" Harrison nodded.

"Iris came to see you quite often."

"She talks a lot." Caitlin said.

"Also, she is hot." Cisco said Barry looked annoyed at him, he also did not need to know that. Barry really wanted to see his family, and more importantly, Atchaco, he needed to know if she was alive, she was there when the accelerator exploded, so he stood up and went to head out of the building.

"I really need to go." He said walking backwards.

"You can't go. Now that you're awake, we need to do more tests. You're still going through changes. There's so much we don't know --" Harrison said but Barry was already around the corner by this point.

"Can I keep the sweatshirt?" He suddenly asks. Harrison nods and Barry runs out of the building. He heads towards Jitters and sees Iris - still on her shift - standing there, serving everyone. He goes up and joins the queue, keeping his head down, to surprise her with his presence. When he goes to the counter he finally lifts his head up and looks at her. Iris does not move her head.

"Welcome to Jitters, how may... " She starts to say, then she finally sees his face, her face goes white in shock. "You're awake! Why didn't you or STAR Labs call me?"

"I just woke up." Barry told her all too casually. Iris just looks at him like he is joking which he is not.

"Should you even be on your feet?" Iris asks him.

"Iris, I am okay." He tells her, cupping her face in his hands.

"I watched you die, Barry. You kept dying. Your heart kept stopping." Barry placed her hands on his chest, to show her that it was still beating.

"It's still beating." He says, smiling.

"It's really fast." She tells him, chuckling. Suddenly he sees one of the waitresses tripping up and the tray tipping out of her hand, the contents spilling but then suddenly the world slows down completely, like it is frozen. Iris, the customers, even the traffic behind Barry -- all appear frozen -- the falling tray and its contents hang suspended in mid-air, Barry is baffled about what is happening, then suddenly after about what feels like a minute everything goes back into motion and the contents smash on the ground. "Our dad is going to be so happy to see you."

----------

Barry walks to the precinct, as soon he exits the elevator he is crowded by officers. "That was one hell of a nap. You took their baby face, and you still look twelve." Barry laughs and walks to where Joe is sitting, the same desk it has been for the past fifthteen years. As soon as he sees Barry he goes up and hugs him, a huge smile on his face.

"You scared the hell out of us, kiddo." He laughs, but this moment is short lived when he suddenly hears the dispatcher on the radio.

"Detective West, we got a 5.15 in progress at Gold City Bank. Two dead. Weather's bad on the south side, so grab your rain gear." It annonces. He looks up at the clock then back to Barry.

"I'm sorry, Barry. I've got to go." he tells him.

"Do you need my help?" Barry asks him, ``Joe looks at him in shock, why would Barry be asking that now?"

"You take it easy, there will be plenty for you to do once you settle in, let's go partner." Barry looks to where he is turned to and instead of seeing Chyre, whom he knew to be Joe's partner he sees Eddie Thawne, who was only a new and not very experienced cop just before Barry went into his coma, a man he had missed a lot. He smiled at Eddie and they both left the building. Barry looks at the wall of fallen officers and sees Joe's old partner, Fred Chyre on the wall. Iris looks at him and can tell that he is confused.

"The night of the explosion. Clyde Mardon shot and killed Chyre. Mardon and his brother died trying to escape. Their plane crashed." Suddenly time slows down again, Barry is now really confused.

"Iris, I... uh... need some time alone. In my lab. I'll call you tonight. I promise." Barry said, dashing up to his lab. He puts on the mini cam of his computer and draws blood from himself and puts it in a test tube, then he puts it into an analyzer. He looks at the time which is 00:00:00, then he starts to speak. "Subject spent nine months and three days in a coma after being struck by lightning." He looks up at the sky light to remember the day. "Subject has been experiencing the passage of time at a different rate." He considers what he just says, thinking that he might be crazy by recording it.

"Pathophysiologic explanations for hallucinations and skewed perspective could be explained by hypoxia... swelling of the brain..." He looks at the time, it is still 00:00:00. "...or something else..."

Barry approaches the clock and fanaily the second hand moves, the sound in the room changes and the record time is now 00:00:01. "...record time, one tenth of a second?" Barry asks, knowing that he will get no reply. Barry hits the playback button and a blurred image appears with a brief high pitched sound which Barry realised that it was him speaking. He then changes it to one tenth of the speed a presses play again. It is still distorted but Barry's voice is now audible and he sees himself moving around the room, impossibly in the blink of a second. Then Barry realizes the lab is a mess; papers strewn, chairs knocked over and the truth now unassailable. "The world is not slowing down... I'm speeding up."

Barry rushes out of the precinct with every nerve in his body tingling, wishing formotion, not wanting to stand still for too long, just like a race car and it's driver before a big race. So, Barry puts his weight on his toes, leans down and a tiny spark in his eyes, an ignition... and then FTHWOOM! Like a bullet fired from a gun Barry hurdles out of the alley at a hundred miles an hour, shattering a parked police cruisers windows, blowing out trash cans and racing down the alleyway, blowing out windows, careening down the corridor, crashing into the back of an open laundry truck starling the driver, who after regaining sense of what was happening moved the bags of dirty laundry off of Barry's shaken body, who drifts into unconsciousness.

When Barry gets back up the driver is still standing completely confused over what has just happened, Barry shrugs his shoulders and tells him that he doesn't know what has happened, and walks away. Barry makes his way to STAR Labs and tells them about what had happened, automatically they decide that they need to test it and he is driven with everyone else in a STAR Labs van to the middle of nowhere, which Barry realizes is an old airfield by the long runway down the middle.

"This is a joke. There's no way he can run that fast. This is a complete waste of time." Barry hears someone say, they are then reassured by Caitlin that what is happening is fine, that what does one more day make. Cisco then comes and tells him to come out, he does so and he is wearing the most ridiculous out ever seen by man. Barry glares at him, saying that he looks terrible.

"At least you will be moving fast enough that no one will see you." Barry looks around the abandoned airfield, eyebrow raised.

"What happened to this place?" He asks him.

"Ferris Air sold it off. There was an incident in Coast City. A crash. One of their test pilots disappeared. Harrison will monitor your energy output and Caitlin your vitals." Cisco tells him, Barry looks at Cisco and he can tell what he wants because he adds, "I make the toys, man. Check it out." He holds up a device with a lightning bolt on the side, which Barry does not find in the least bit amusing. "This is a two-way headset with a camera I modified, typically designed to combat battlefield impulse noise, or in your case, a potential sonic boom." Barry laughs at what he says. "I'm not joking about that, Barry."

Harrison wheels up beside Barry, who sees that Caitlin isn't smiling. "I've noticed that you don't smile much." He tells her.

"My once promising career in bioengineering is over, my boss is in a wheelchair for life, and that same explosion killed my fiancé. So this blank expression kind of feels like the way to go." She tells him, Barry bows his head in sorrow. Caitlin moves off leaving Barry to realise how much these people have lost before looking down at Harrison, who he has just realised is sitting there.

"Mr. Allen, while I am extremely eager to determine the full range of your abilities, I caution restraint." Barry nods and gets into a runner position.

"Warp speed ahead." Cisco laughs and Barry speeds off. Cisco falls down, holding a speedometer normally used by police officers to track the speed of cars. Harrisions chair moves back a bit and Caitlin's hair is thrown all over the place by the sudden gust of wind, all of them are amazed about what is happening. Barry tries his best to stay focused while zig-zagging about the runway but he is finding it very hard, he keeps on remembering what happened that night, the people fighting, the people just like him, the electricity grows around him the further (and faster) he goes.

Back at the van Caitlin and Harrison are looking at all of the input coming through, all of them cannot believe what they are seeing. "His kinetic energy output is nearing 2500 joules." Caitlin states.

"He just passed 600 miles per hour." Cisco tells them. Barry has pure joy written all over his face as he gains more control over what he can do, but then his mind, once again goes back to that night, can't run without it annoying him. Without knowing what is happening Barry crashes into the water drums that had been on the runway, pain soaring through his body from his arm, he looks at it and can tell automatically that it is broken.

A few hours later Barry is sitting comfortably on a bed in the cortex while Caitlin looks over the x-rays for his hand. She takes a long time to do so, might be because she keeps on looking back at Barry like something is wrong. She walks up to him, holding the most recent x-ray, making sure that Barry can't see it yet. "Looks like you had a distal radius fracture." Barry looks up at her.

"Had?"

"It healed. In three hours." Barry looked at her as if she was joking but he knew all too well that she wasn't, her face shows it all. Harrison wheels up to Barry and singles for Caitlin to leave so that the two can speak in private, she does leaving only Barry and Harrison in the room.

"What happened out there today? You were moving pretty well when something caused you to lose focus." He asked him.

"For some reason... I started remembering something. When I was eleven, my mother was murdered. It was late. A sound woke me up. I came downstairs and I... I saw what looked like a ball of lightning. Inside the lightning, I saw a man. He killed my mother. They arrested my dad... he's still sitting in Iron Heights for her murder. Everyone, the cops, the shrinks, they all told me what I saw was impossible. The only believe are my dad, because he was there, and Atchaco, he has stayed by my side through everything." He suddenly saw the sad and pitiful looks on their faces, what happened to her? "But what if the man who killed my mother was like me? Also what is with the faces, what do you know about Atchaco?" Barry told him, hoping that there weren't going to be more people to think that he was mad.

"I think I can say unequivocally that you are one of a kind." Harrison reassures him, tapping him on the shoulder to tell him that he is okay, that no one is going to hurt him, but avoiding his question and Atchaco, he will just have to find out for himself. Barry stands up and checks the time, before the accident he and Atchaco would be Jitters so he just sprant to there, he was feeling a little hungry anyway. When he gets there he sees Iris talking to Thawne, by the look on their faces they are both nervous and in love with each other. Barry looks at them and smirks, it was bound to happen. Then he sees someone hunched over the table where Atchaco used to sit, all alone, nurturing a warm drink.

"Hello?" He asked more than the figure. They raised their heads slightly, and warm brown eyes looked directly back at Barry, but they were almost fake, like they weren't really eyes. Could this person see him. "Can I sit here." Barry pointed to the seat in front of him. They looked at the chair and raised their heads suddenly, like they had realized something shocking. When they saw Barry standing there they looked amazed, and so did Barry. The woman leaned forward and Barry got a closer look. Sitting right there was Atchaco.

"You're awake, you're actually awake. Oh how I've missed you." They said, "You haven't aged in 9 months." Barry smiled. "What happened, I was told you were struck by lightning, is that true?"

"Yeah. What about you?" Barry said as they walked out of Jitters, arm in arm. Atchaco looked down at the ground. "I don't want to be mean but your eyes looked almost fake, you can only tell when you look really close but either way they do." Atchaco sighed.

"That's because they are." She tells him. "The night of the explosions I was nearly killed. STAR Labs saved my life. I owe them a debt, because they brought us back together, they let both of us have a second chance that night, after what they did. Most people who got on the wrong path of the dangerous rays the explosion emitted, they didn't. Hundreds, if not Thousands of people died that night."

"In what sort of way." She bowed her head. "You don't have to tell me right now, just when you're ready." By this point they are walking under a bridge, they are crossing the road when a green car comes speeding towards them, Atchaco turns her body towards Barry to say more but then she sees that Barry is no longer standing there and she feels a gust of wind push her out of the way. When she regains her bearings she looks to her side and Barry is still not there.

"Barry?" She calls out as the car tumbles on the ground, Atchaco can just make out two people fighting in the car, she recognizes both of them, and she could have helped but she believed even if Barry was in some ways like her, he was not ready to see what she became. When the car stops she sees both passengers climb out, one of them, to her surprise is Barry, she cannot place a name on the other man, who looks a little dazed as they get out of the car. Suddenly Iris feels a little cold as their sky is developed by fog, which Iris relaises, somehow, is coming out of the other man's hands.

Then suddenly more cars come around the corner, swerving to stop themselves from crashing into the green car, failing as they crash into each other. Barry, using his superspeed, goes in and out of the cars making sure no one gets badly hurt. He sees one driver still trapped in their car and rushes to help but he is too late, the driver is dead by the time he gets to them and Barry runs back to Iris before she realised how much Barry actually had to do with it, sadly by this time the criminals were already gone.

"Joe, I need to talk to you. Now. I know who did this. Who caused the pile up. It was Clyde Mardon. He's the one who's been knocking over banks this past week --" Barry started.

"Clyde Mardon died. So's his brother. The night of the S.T.A.R. Labs explosion, their plane went down in the storm." Joe informed him.

"Clyde walked away from it. Something happened to him that night... I think he can control the weather." Joe looks annoyed, he doesn't want Barry talking about this nonsense, not right now. "The crime scenes of the recent robberies, they all happened during freak meteorological events. Rain, high-speed winds, a hailstorm -- none of which were being tracked. They just came out of nowhere. And when I just confronted Mardon, it was instantly enveloped in fog. I know this sounds impossible..."

"Not impossible. Familiar." Joe tells him, tired of Barry's messed up mind.

"This isn't about my mother.." Barry argues.

"It's always about that for you." Joe replies back, trying hard not to sigh, wondering why Barry can't just realize the truth after so many years.

"Of course you don't believe me. You'll never believe me." The fog clears a bit and Joe and Barry look like they are going to have a fight they haven't had in a long time, one they always try to avoid.

"You want to do this now? Out here? Fine. Mardon is dead. There is no... controlling the weather, Barry. Just like there wasn't a tornado in your house that night. It was your brain helping a little boy make sense of what he saw --" Barry looked at him angrily.

"My dad did not --"

"YES, HE DID! Your dad killed your mother, Barry. I'm sorry, but I know it. The jury knew it. And now he's paying for what he did." Iris walks up to him.

"Enough."

"I have done my best to take care of you since that day. And I have never asked for a thing in return. Not even a thank you. But I do ask that you for once in your life accept what is real." He tells him. Barry storms away from him and passes Thawne who ignores what he just saw. "What do you have?"Joe asks him. Eddie hands Joe a bit of paper.

"You're not going to believe this. We got the eyewitness sketch of the robber from the bank job." Joe looks at it, he does not believe what he saw, maybe Barry's mind isn't messed up, just finds it easier to believe, easier to understand what most people can't. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that's Clyde Mardon..." Joe looks up but Barry is long gone and Joe needs to give him an apology, a big one.

"But that's impossible. He's dead, right?" Joe thinks to himself while placing his head in his hands. On the other side of the city Barry goes storming through the doors that lead into the Cortex. Surprising everyone inside the room.

"I wasn't the only one affected by the particle accelerator explosion, was I?" Barry practically shouts at them. Atchaco standing beside him, arms crossed around her chest, a displeased look on her face. She stares at them, seeming impatient for whom once was a very patient person.

"We don't know for sure." Dr. Wells replies, not really wanting to answer the question.

"You said the city was safe, that there was no residual danger. But that's not true, so what really happened that night?" Atchaco replied, Barry smirked, now one of them really had to answer the question, even if that someone wasn't going to be the infamous Dr Harrision Wells.

"Well... The accelerator went active. We all felt like heroes, and then... It all went wrong. The dimensional barrier ruptured, unleashing unknown energies into our world. Antimatter, dark energy, x-elements... Those are all theoretical. And how theoretical are you? We mapped the dispersion throughout and around Central City. Though we have no way of knowing exactly what or... Whoever was exposed, we've been searching for other meta-humans like yourself." Cisco said staring at Wells, he should have been the one to explain it, he was the one that told Barry everything else.

"Meta-humans?" Barry and Atchaco almost said in sync.

"That's what we're calling them." Cisco said with a smile on his face. Atchaco and Barry exchanged a glance and looked back at him.

"I saw one today. He's a bank robber, and he can control the weather." Barry informed them. Atchaco nods her head in his direction to say that she agrees.

"This just keeps getting cooler." Cisco said, a grin on his face and joy somehow in his voice, especially about a situation so bleak.

"This is not cool. All right? A man died." Atchaco said sternly, to which Cisco yelped and then looked to the ground, ashamed.

"Mardon must have gotten his powers the same way I did. From the storm cloud. He's still out there. We have to stop him before he hurts anyone else." Barry said, pointing randomly around the room, angry showing all over his face, his emotions on the verge of snapping and releasing all the anger he had held back.

"Barry! That's a job for the police." Wells tells him.

"I work for the police." Barry sasses back. Atchaco can't hold back the smile that was creeping up her cheeks.

"As a forensic assistant." Wells nearly yells at him.

"You're responsible for this. For him. What's important is you! Not me." He gestures sharply to him.

"I lost everything. I lost my company. I lost my reputation. I lost my freedom. And then you broke your arm, and it healed in three hours. Inside your body could be a map to a whole new world... Genetic therapies, vaccines, medicines, treasures buried deep within your cells and we cannot risk losing everything because you want to go out and play hero! You're not a hero. You are just a young man who was struck by lightning." Wells tells him, trying to bring down his self esteem. Atchaco smirks, he obviously knows nothing about the Allen family, they do what they have to do to get where they need to be.

A little while later on top of a roof somewhere Barry faces a figure standing in the shadow of the night. "I've spent my whole life searching for the impossible, never imagining that I would become the impossible." Barry tells the figure.

"So why come to me? Something tells me you didn't just run 600 Miles to say 'hi' to a friend." The figure, a friend of Barry's, tells him.

"All my life, I've wanted to just do more... Be more. And now I am. And the first chance I get to help someone, I screw up. What if Wells is right? What if I'm not a hero? What if I'm just some guy who was struck by lightning?" Barry says, his voice hung low, not really knowing what to do.

"I don't think that bolt of lightning struck you, Barry. I think it chose you." They said, their voice strong and full of years of expertes.

"I'm just not sure I'm like you, Oliver. I don't know if I can be some... vigilante." He geasters to Olivers being. He scruggs before Oliver continues what he was saying.

"You can be better. Because you can inspire people in a way that I never could... Watching over your city like a guardian angel... Making a difference... Saving people... In a flash. Take your own advice. Wear a mask." Oliver says before disappearing off the side of the building using a grappling hook. Barry looks at the dark sky, he has no wonder why Oliver lives here, but he believes it's because they need someone like him to keep them safe.

Barry goes back to STAR Labs and leans on one of the desks. "Cool. Cool. I've been going over unsolved cases from the past nine months, and there's been a sharp increase in unexplained deaths and missing people. Your meta-humans have been busy. Now, I'm not blaming you. I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen. I know you all lost something. But I need your help to catch Mardon and anyone else out there like him. But I can't do it without you."

"If we're gonna do this, I have something that might help. Something I've been playing with. Designed to replace the turnouts firefighters traditionally wear. I thought if S.T.A.R. Labs could do something nice for the community, maybe people wouldn't be so angry at Dr. Wells anymore." Cisco tells him.

"How is it going to help me?" Barry asks, eyebrow raised.

"It's made of a reinforced tripolymer. It's heat and abrasive resistant, so it should withstand your moving at high-velocity speeds. And the aerodynamic design should help you maintain control. Plus, it has built-in sensors so we can track your vitals and stay in contact with you from here." Cisco says, really excited.

"Thanks. Now how do we find Mardon?" Barry questioned, and was also impressed with what Cisco had created.

"I retasked S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to track meteorological abnormalities over Central City. We just got a ping. Atmospheric pressure dropped 20 millibars in a matter of seconds. I've tracked it to a farm just west of the city." Cisco informed him. Barry came to his side and looked over his shoulder and nodded before heading off to the Police Station.

"I'm not saying Mardon is alive. But if he was, this is the last place he and his brother hid out." Barry told Joe. He then got Eddie and went into his car. Barry waited until he had left and was out of sight before putting on his suit (at super speed) and headed off, arriving just after Joe and Eddie.

"Let's go. Mardon? On your feet. Hands on your head." Barry heard Joe order at Mardon.

"You got me." Mardon chuckles "The night of the storm, after S.T.A.R. Labs blew, after our plane went down, and I woke up on the ground alive, when I saw what I can do, I understood. I am God." He finishes, not turning to look around at Joe, just looking at

"Shut the hell up. Turn around." Joe shouts, he doesn't want to deal with this, not after what he has been through.

"Do you think that your guns can stop God?" Mardon asks him, turning around, a smirk on his face, who does he even think he is. He looks at them sternly as Barry races to the other side of the farm.

"Why in the hell would God need to rob banks?" Joe looks at him with a stern and blank, emotionless face. Mardon didn't say anything, he just looked at him viciously. He thought of the words that Joe said."

"You're right. I've been thinking too small." Mardon realizes as he lifts his arms and starts to form a tornado behind him. Joe looks both amazed and shocked at him. Why did he have to say that?

"Barry! Barry! This thing's getting closer. Wind speeds are 200 Miles-per-hour and increasing. Barry, can you hear me?" Cisco shouts into the com link in Barry's ear.

"Yeah. Loud and clear." Barry laughs. He can basically hear Cisco smiling on the other end.

"If it keeps up, this could become an F-5 tornado." Cisco tells him. Barry solemnly nods, he already knows and is worried.

"But it's headed towards the city." Atchaco tells both Cisco and Barry, she was to be on coms with Cisco, Barry wanted it that way. In fact he was pretty sure that everyone was.

"How do I stop it? Guys? What if I unravel it?" Barry suggests to the others.

"How the hell are you going to do that?" Atchaco asks him. She secretly knew it was possible for her to do it, she was enhanced by the particle accelerator explosion after all, she was a speedster too, and so much more. But Barry, he hadn't reached that petional, it would be dangerous, though she believed he could do it.

"I'll run around it in the opposite direction, cutting off its legs." Barry informs them. Everyone in the cortex exchanged worried glances before Cisco hurrys to the microphone.

"He'd have to clock 700 Miles-per-hour to do that." Cisco says. The others look at him like he has grown an extra head. They really want to believe that they misheard him. They exchange some words with Atchaco and she nods to whatever they said

"Your body may not be able to handle those speeds. You'll die." Harrison says, looking worried. Atchaco sits down on one of the chairs and looks at his vitals with Catlin.

"I have to try." Barry tells them as he starts to run around the bottom of the bottom of the tornado. At STAR Labs all of the others are watching with anticipation and worry of what is going to happen.

"The suit's holding up." Cisco says, chuckling. The others glare at him, really, at a time like this, that is his most important thought.

"But he's not." Catlin says looking at his vitals, and with that Atchaco hurriedly gets out of her chair and leaves the room.

"He can do it. I know he can do it." Harrisons admists.

"It's too strong!" Barry grunts, his breathing becoming

"It's time to think big. You can do this, Barry. You were right. I am responsible for all of this. So many people have been hurt because of me, and when I looked at you, all I saw was another potential victim of my hubris. And yes, I created this madness, but you, Barry, you can stop it. You can do this. Now run, Barry, run!" Harrison motivates him. On the other end Barry takes some deep breaths as lightning sparks in his eyes and he runs around the bottom of the tornado, and this time instead of stopping because he was tired and sore he just manages to unravel it. Once he stops he lays onto the ground and peels the mask of his face and laughs.

"Barry? Hey." Joe shouts once he recognises the face.

"I didn't think there was anyone else like me." Mardon told him. Barry smirks and shakes his head.

"I'm not like you. You're a murderer." Barry explains to him. Then he hears a gunshot as Mardon falls to the ground like a ragdoll, no life left in him as Joe comes running to him.

"Barry? It's over. I'm okay." Joe comforts Barry. He smiles. "What can you do... it was the lightning bolt?" Joe asks him, holding his hands around Barry's head, then he helps him stand up and they embrace in a warm hug. Barry's temperature and heart rate soring.

"More or less." Barry sruggs.

"I'm sorry, Barry. I'm sorry I didn't believe you. And I called you crazy for chasing the impossible. But you really did see something that night your mom died. And your dad is innocent. I need you to promise me something. I don't want you telling Iris about anything you can do, any of it. I want her to be safe. Promise me." Joe tells him.

"Yeah." Barry chuckles. Joe takes him to his car and they both head back to STAR Labs and dispose of Mardon's body. As soon as they walk into the Cortex, Atchaco develops Barry into a hug, Iris the same thing to Joe.

The next day Barry walks into the visiting area of Iron Heights. His father is sitting on the other side of the glass. "Hey, slugger." He jokes, earning a smile from Barry.

"You've been calling me that since I was 11." He hesitates. "Funny thing is, I finally got into a fight today." Harry looks angry but he can tell he is semi-smiling on the inside.

"You just got out of a coma. I'm not sure you should be picking fights. Hey... Did you win?" Harry said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I did. You didn't kill mom. You know I know that, right?" Barry reminds him.

"You believing in me is all I need." He tells him.

"You're not gonna be in here much longer. Whoever killed mom... Whatever killed her... I think I finally have a way to find them. To stop them." Barry tells him. He looks shocked and upset.

"Barry, we've talked about this. It's time to let it go. You have got to stop worrying about me, and live your life." He argues, saying it again like he has said many times before.

"For the first time, I feel like I finally can." He tells him, the accident has made a light in him, one that will burn for years, and not just the speed force in his cells, but the warmth and grace that everyone gives him.

"The truth is, ever since the night mom died, I've been stuck in one place, missing out on a lot of things." Henry states, his eyes looking down to the table in front of him.

"But I'm different now. I've made some new friends. They're helping me find my way." Barry tells him without admisting in what ways. "To finally move forward. You remember when you wanted me to change my name so I wouldn't have to deal with people knowing you're my dad? I'm glad they know. I'm so proud to be your son."

"I love you, son." Henry smiles.

"I love you too, dad." Barry smiles back. He stands up and leaves. When he gets back to the West family home, where he had lived for so long, ever since after his mum was killed. It was just as he remembered it from just before his accident. And it was homely and warm. He stands and looks around for a bit before picking up his phone from his bedroom. The room they had been keeping in good condition when he was in a coma, like any family would try to do.

He pressed on Oliver Queen's contact and he answered on the first ring. "A friend recently gave me the idea for a new name. And something tells me, it's gonna catch on." He tells him they talk for a little bit more before he hangs up and speeds to STAR Labs as Cisco had told him to come. He looks at him and he shows him his suit again. In the middle is a symbol. Barry smiles, a symbol that means that they have someone to protect them.

"Why is it shaped like a lightning bolt?" Barry asks, he thinks it's meant to resemble the lightning bolt that struck him and gave him his powers that means he can now help people.

Cisco laughs before answering. He turns to face him, and puts a hand on his shoulder. "So it's not boring."