❛ chapter three! ❜

three | strangers—halsey

       I fix my eyes on the faint reflection of myself on the glass door of the containment cell I've been locked up since we got back from the waterfront and—at this point—I have already lost track of time, I only know that I've been here for hours.

       Every time I come to a new earth, the Speed Force induces me into a sleep and only wakes me up until the threat I'm supposed to help defeating is just around the corner. However, this time it's different. For starters, everyone says I've been awake since the very day I arrived to this earth, yet I don't remember any of it. They say I would talk nonsense, and do things, things that the people at S.T.A.R. Labs describe as chaotic. According to Doctor Snow I was probably living in a pantemporalestric dimension, whatever that's supposed to mean. I've never heard about it before and I know that it had never happened to me before, which makes me her feel a little uneasy. Taking into account that I've been causing trouble, I decide to stay in the pipeline to show these people that I'm not here to harm them.

       And I wait.

       I wait for someone to let me out. My back against the wall and my arms pulling my knees close to my chest as I think what could I have done for them to keep me in here. It must have been bad, I guess. I cant help but wonder what these people could be doing right now, just like I wonder if they're going to let me out soon, for the sooner I tell them why I'm here, the sooner they can start trusting me and therefore letting me become part of their team. I rest my head against the wall and stare at the ceiling, taking a deep breath, boredom starting to take over me. My fingers fiddle with the braid over my shoulder and I try to resist the itch to undo it while I spot the security camera above me, right in the right corner. Are they really watching me? I can only suppose so.

       Another good thirty minutes go by before a low mechanical whirring fills my cell, interrupting my self reminder to be friendly, because apparently that's how a Guardian has to be in order to earn someone's trust and according to the Speed Force I'm not too friendly with pretty much anyone. These people seem nice, it should be easy this time. The door rises and reveals the Flash himself on the other side. Next to him stands a tall man with dark skin in a very elegant suit—Joe West, if I'm not mistaken. The gun in his belt is still in its holster, yet unbuckled, ready to be used if needed. As for the speedster, he's holding a pair of cuffs in his hands. I get onto my feet when the man in the crimson suit saunters into my cell.

       "These will neutralize your powers, so don't even bother," he says, keeping a wary eye on me and the cuffs automatically lock tightly around my wrists. I feel my heart skipping a beat and how something else spikes within me when he speaks—hope, happiness, sadness, I'm not sure—a feeling of home washes over me immediately and I remember parts and bits of the night at the forest where I thought I was just imagining things, today I'm completely lucid, there's no way I'm imagining this.

       As he makes sure the cuffs fit perfectly and that there's no way that I will escape, I feel anxiety threatening to consume my body. This has to be a joke! I know all the implications of inter-dimensional travel such as crossing paths with the doppelgangers of the people from my long gone earth, or even crossing paths with my own doppelganger, but the chances are low, really low. As I stand right in front of him, I'm almost afraid to look him in the eyes and meet certain green eyes, those I've waited to flutter open every single morning and then hear a raspy 'good morning love' coming from the other side of the bed.

       The men walk me out of my cell whilst I decide to remain quiet and keep as little eye contact with The Flash, for I'm scared of being right about my suspicious. Maybe it's for the better for now and so is doing everything these people order me to. The corridor they guide me through seems to have no ending. After a few minutes, we reach the room where I met everyone earlier today: the Cortex. The same people is gathered in the room, everyone but Doctor Snow; the quiet conversation they had been keeping stops, the the room falling silent as son as I step into the Cortex. I would be lying if I said that the situation isn't making me nervous.

       "We just want to ask you some questions," the Flash voices behind me. I look over my shoulder and see him crossing his arms over his chest and I nod, indicating that I want to cooperate. All of them observe me with especial attention, arms crossed and with expectant eyes. Cisco is the first one to speak.

       "Judging by the plethora of tests we've run and the little display at the waterfront, it's clear that you're a speedster, so we're guessing that you were the one who opened that huge breach the other day, but how?" He questions, "We have never seen such high energy levels for just a breach."

       "That's because that wasn't an ordinary intra-dimensional breach, like the ones you can create," he seems surprised by the fact that I know a bit about what his powers are, "what your systems detected was a breach connecting your world with no other than the Speed Force in order for me to come to this earth. An immense amount of energy is required in order to open it at will and without a lightning rod the amount needed is greater."

       "Lightning rod?" Joe West questions, my gaze falling on him.

       "Someone that keeps us speedsters grounded," I explain.

       "Why did you come to our earth?" the Flash asks, his eyes fix on me.

       "To help you," I say, looking into his familiar green eyes for more than one second for the very first time, "my name is Violett Hale and for years, I have served to the Speed Force as a Guardian. I came to your earth because you have been chosen," my words make everyone in the room pay close attention and stare attentively as well.

       "Chosen, for what?" Iris's voice crosses the room. I tell them that once in a while, the Speed Force decides to intervene in matters that it usually just ignores, it's a rare event, but when it happens, is to give a second chance. I—as Guardian—am committed to warn and help the chosen ones in the multiverse when they're under greater threats.

       "So you're here to help us from a greater threat," the Flash's voice echoes into the room one more time and I nod firmly, "do you know what that is?"

       "Given the fact that I woke up just when this self proclaimed god thing was happening, I would say that this creature is the main reason why I will team up with you, Flash; I've been doing this for years and that's how things have worked every time," I say, "I always wake up at the right time, but who knows, this time it could be different, anyway, my duty is to help."

       There's a silence floating in the Cortex, with everyone either lost in thought or interchanging looks with one another. Suddenly, the silence is interrupted by a subtle laugh.

       "Guardian of The Multiverse," H.R. says with another laugh at the end as he fixes his hat and hits the desk with the drumsticks in his hands, "Guardian, that is insane! Why the long faces you people? There's a woman here sent by the Speed Force itself! You know, there, are stories on my earth about a warrior that defeated—"

       "Save the story for later, alright?" Cisco butts in, as he speaks, the Flash walks up to me—I can't help but hold my breath and feel how my heart starts to race—and uncuffs me, "Wait, what are you doing?" Cisco stresses, "How do we know if she's telling the truth?"

       "I mean you no harm, seriously," I say to him with a slight shake of my head, "but, you're free to decide if I stay or not, just be warned that something big is coming, and you can choose not to let me stay and be part of your team, though another player can become a total game changer."

       Silence fills the Cortex yet again. Everyone interchanges looks, like waiting for someone to step in and finally speak their mind while I avoid eye contact with the speedster in the room.

       "What if she's right? What if we do need another player this time?" The Flash's questions flutter in the room for a moment before someone else speaks.

       "What if she's lying?" Cisco asks exasperated, stepping forward and pointing his finger right at me, "We have a lot on our plate with that thing that beat your ass at the waterfront, Alchemy, and now Caitlin's gone! We don't need another psycho pretending to be on our side to then stab us in the back! She could be trying to fool us, just like Hunter did!"

       "She could be trying to pull a Zoom on us," Joe West adds with a shrug, my ears perking up at the name; they had a Zoom too.

       "Exactly. Last time you wouldn't let Jay who was just Hunter in disguise come into the team because you didn't trust him, but you're letting her in now just like that?" Cisco continues.

       "This time it's different, you know that," the speedster earns a scoff from the other guy.

       "Cisco, Flash is right," Iris interrupts, placing her hand on Cisco's shoulder as an attempt to calm him down, "sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith; she could help us find Alchemy, find Caitlin and maybe even defeat Savitar; she was there to help you earlier at the waterfront after all, she could even help us get Wally out of that cocoon."

       There's no need for me to ask about it, they explain to me how Iris's brother, Wally, ended up in some kind of cocoon after touching some sort of magical stone. They even take me to the medical wing I woke up in, which is now occupied by a large thing that does look like a cocoon. I look at the people surrounding the medical bed, their dull faces while Joe West tells me how everything happened make my heart sink.

       "We'll find a way to get him out of this thing," I say, my eyes fall on Cisco and notice that he's not fond of the idea of having me here, "I know you don't know me and I don't know you either, but we can trust each other, I'm here to help you," they all seem to be okay with it after glancing at each other as if they're having a final agreement and they'd know what the other thinks with just a look. Finally, the Flash gives his head a nod, his eyes briefly look at each person in the medical bay and then his hands go up to his mask.

       Oh, no.

       I stare at him, not able to look away even when that's what I want the most, because I know what the speedster is about to do: take his mask off. No, I'm not ready to see that face again, I don't know what my reaction will be, I don't want to reveal my past to them, at least not yet. They can't know about it.

       I'm not ready.

       "Don't do this," Cisco utters, causing the masked man to hesitate for just a second. I mentally thank Cisco for this tiny pause that I use to gather the little courage to carry on with the situation. The Flash pulls his mask back anyway, revealing the face of the man that I had been able to see again only in my wildest dreams for the past four years. Chocolate-brown hair, green eyes, the same features I have kissed and caressed before, features I have yearned to see out of my dreams, now that have them right in front of me I can't even move. Maybe I'm not even thinking, maybe I'm about to faint or already did. I'm pretty sure someone could shoot me and I wouldn't even feel it.

       "If we're going to trust each other, there's no need to hide behind a mask," he says, snapping me out of this vortex of thoughts; he's holding his gaze on me and I strive to keep my emotions hidden, I've always been good at it, but this time I can feel myself starting to lose control. The man I love and died in my arms is standing right in front of me, his cheeks faintly red, his heart beating, his lungs nourished with oxygen, as alive as anyone could be, "I'm Barry Allen," he says, while my fingers itch to feel the warmth of his skin under them, "welcome to Earth-1, Violett Hale."

       I want to jump at him and bury my face into his neck, he would hold me tight while I breathe his scent or he'd lift me up to then kiss the tip of my nose like he's done so many times, there's just a problem:

       This is not my Barry Allen.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

if you recall, barry was the one who wouldn't let jay/hunter be part of the team when he showed up at the labs claiming to help them against zoom in season two, now it's the other way around, some of the team are being cautious while he's eager to have a fellow speedster in the team; there's a reason why he let her in that easily, a reason you'll learn later on.

short chapter with a lot of dialogue at the end, i don't know how to feel about it, i guess it's alright? i've gotten addicted to descriptive writing lately so get ready for tons of it.

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