Present

If there was one thing I knew for a fact, it was that I was tired of fighting people who had ice powers.

"Watch out!" I hear Barry shout over towards me as I look over my shoulder, seeing a stream of icicles coming my way. I use my speed to race out of the way, finding myself standing next to Barry as we prepare ourselves for what the girl was going to throw our way next.

She quickly turns and faces us then, anger on her face. Her hand outstretches towards us once again as ice forms across the floor, her hope being to make us slip, but we were too fast for her. Barry and I dart two separate ways, and this was when I finally use the opportunity to take her down for good.

Her eyes stay locked on Barry as she goes to blast him, but before she can, I dash up from behind and grab her wrist, causing her to look over her shoulder at me with panic in her eyes. A little smile forms on my face as I take out the pair of bracelets that Cisco had given me before we had left, snapping them around both of her wrists, rendering her powerless. They snap together and lock in place as a little light buzzes, indicating that they were on and weren't coming off.

The girl grunts as she tries to throw another blast of ice in my direction, but nothing comes from her hands. I stand back with my hands on my hips, a grin plastered on my face. "Not so tough with those things on, are you?"

Barry walks up from behind her and crosses his arms as well, a look of satisfaction on his face. The girl in between us stands there with wide eyes, knowing that she had lost. It was then I hear Cisco through the little ear piece in my suit. "Bring her back to the pipeline, Baven."

"Baven?" Barry and I say simultaneously, confusion written on our faces as to what that meant.

Cisco sighs. "What? It's your two names mashed together...I thought since you two were a team out there, you could at least have a little code-name."

I groan slightly as I shake my head. "You're the King of nick-names, Cisco. I'm a little disappointed in this one."

Barry agrees. "Seriously, you've gotta come up with something better than that."

"I'm not talking to the two of you anymore," Cisco says finally before the mic goes dead, causing Barry and I to grin. The girl standing between us looks utterly confused, but I don't get to look at her long before Barry is flashing forwards and snatching her up, taking her back the pipeline. It only takes me a moment to race off after him, catching up with him until we were back in S.T.A.R. Labs.

I stop on the main floor as I take my mask off, a feeling of accomplishment washing over me. Cisco, Caitlin, Iris, Wally, Joe, and Harry are standing there with proud looks on their faces, only making me enjoy this more. Ever since Hunter disappeared forever, I decided to stay here and help Barry fight crime, and it made me feel as if my life had meaning again.

"Good work out there today, Raven," Iris smiles as she walks over towards me, giving me a high five. Another smile appears on my face as I look around, earning more compliments from everyone else in the room. 

Barry appears then in the doorway as he takes his gloves off. "You've come a long way, Raven. We're all proud of you."

This was why I stayed. All of those years I was with Hunter, I never felt like this. I felt valued and important here, unlike how I had felt when I was with him. I used to feel like the side-kick, as if he never really cared about if I lived or not. Being here with Barry and everyone else for the past couple of weeks was way better than the years I had been with Hunter.

However, when I turn back around to face the rest of the team, I was expecting to see their smiling faces, but what I see is the complete opposite. My eyes first land on Iris, noticing a hole in her chest that had daylight shining through. It was then I realized that everyone else's chests were the same, all of them missing their hearts. A scream leaves my throat as their eyes stay locked on me, somehow all of them still standing as well. 

"You did this to us," I hear Iris whisper before the rest of them say it at the same time. My eyes flash between all of them before they collapse to the floor, completely and utterly dead. Their blood creates a pool at my feet as I whip around to look at Barry, pure horror on my face.

My eyes lock with his when I turn around, but it takes me a moment to realize that they weren't filled with any sort of emotion. A scream leaves my throat once again as I watch his body from the neck down fall to the ground, his head being held up by someone behind him.

A dark black gloved hand hangs on tight to Barry's hair as they hold his head high with pride, making me sick to my stomach. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think, and most importantly, I couldn't move. This couldn't be real...it can't be real...

"See what you've done?" I hear a voice hiss at me, causing me to finally remove my eyes from Barry's severed head. When I look over to see who was holding his head like a trophy, I find Zoom standing there, blue lighting dancing on his skin. "I told you that you'd be the death of them. Everyone you ever loved or cared about is dead because of you."

I shake my head, utter fear coursing through my body as I somehow find the strength to take a step backwards. "No...no-"

"It's all your fault!" he shouts at me one last time before the next thing I know, I'm slipping on the pool of blood at my feet. I fall to the tile flooring, hitting my head hard. It was then I snapped out of it and found myself sitting up in bed, a blood curdling scream forming in my throat. 

My fists grip at the covers beside me as tears stream down my face, not being able to make myself stop screaming. I knew that it had just been a nightmare, but it had felt so real...I couldn't make myself stop screaming.

It was then I feel two hands wrap around my body, pulling me tight as they tried to calm me down. The scream in my throat ceases to exist when I turn and find Barry there beside me, worry in his eyes. I gasp and sit there frozen for a second before I collapse into his arms, letting my tears take over. 

"It's okay," he whispers to me as he runs his fingers through my hair. "You're okay now, Raven."

It takes me awhile to calm down, but being in Barry's arms made me feel safe once again. Him being here reminded me that all of it was just a nightmare; that he was safe and sound here in bed with me. Everything that had happened wasn't real, but I was awake now and that was what mattered. 

A few sobs continue to wrack my body. "I-I thought I lost you."

"Lost me?" he asks as I pull myself up, my teary eyes locking with his once again. "I'm right here, you didn't lose me."

I shake my head. "Zoom killed you and everyone else...he said that it was all of my fault-"

"It was just a nightmare," he assures me once again as he pulls me in tight, hugging me as I burry my face in his shoulder. Being in Barry's arms always made me feel better. 

I sniffle. "This is the third nightmare I've had in a row, Barry-"

He continues to run his fingers through my hair. "A lot happened to you, Raven. It's normal for someone like you who's gone through the things you have to have nightmares about it."

"I just hate waking up in the middle night screaming my lungs out," I state, shaking my head. "I haven't had nightmares this bad since I was a kid, and even then, these are much worse. I'm sorry-"

"Don't apologize for something you can't control," he says as he pulls me away, looking directly in my eyes to make sure I got his message. "Just know that I'll be here every time you wake up, okay?"

A little smile forms on my face. "Thank you."

He faintly smiles back at me before he lays back down, causing me to as well as I lay my head on his chest. His fingers trail away from my hair as they lightly trace my back, calming me down, along with the feeling of his chest rising and falling as I listened to him breathe. My eyes soon start to grow heavy again, but that was before something suddenly occurred to me.

I sit up straight as I stare down at Barry, his eyes widening as he looks back up at me. "What's wrong?"

My eyes narrow as I shake my head. "This isn't right...you don't sleep with me, Barry. We aren't...we aren't even together."

"What are you talking about?" he questions as he sits up, turning towards me. "We've been together for awhile now, Raven. What do you mean-"

"You're wrong," I cut him off, my voice fading as I realize what was going on here. "This isn't real...you aren't real."

The last thing I see is Barry's confused eyes staring back up at me as I find myself snapping out of it once again, all of it being yet another dream. I gasp awake in that moment as I sit up, sweat dripping down my forehead. My heart races in my chest as I try to calm myself down, wondering if I was even really awake now.

When my eyes finally adjust to the darkness, I find that I wasn't even laying in my bed. Instead, I was laying in the middle of the floor at S.T.A.R. Labs, darkness surrounding me. I had no idea how I could have possibly gotten here from the West house where I had been when I first fell asleep.

I sigh as I rub my eyes with my hands, trying to wake myself up enough to be able to get up off the floor. When my eyes refocus, I glance over at the TV screen and see that it's 1:25 in the morning, causing me to yawn. In all honesty, I was surprised to have stayed asleep for this long. Ever since Hunter had died, I've been having nightmares that woke me up almost every hour. 

I get up on my feet then, but the moment I do, my head starts to throb rapidly. I couldn't tell if it was from getting up too fast, or if it was just another one of the same type of headaches I have been having for a week now, but either way, it was enough to make me want to lie down and never get back up again. 

I try to ignore the pounding in my head as I start to run, hoping that I'd flash out of there and back to my bed, but instead, I stumble forwards into the tables in the middle of the room. I catch myself barely as I shake my head, realizing now that I must be out of the speed force...great. I guess that means I'm walking back.

Another sigh escapes my lips as I push myself back up to walk out, but when I do this, my vision becomes blurry as I lose my footing, causing me to fall back down onto the tile flooring.

Darkness surrounds me then before I'm drifting back off into sleep.

-*+*-

I know this was a really confusing chapter, but trust me, it will all in turn make sense. I literally just now came up with a great idea on how to make the beginning of this book better and I cannot be more excited !!

poor raven though...and how many of y'all did I get with that whole "barry and raven in bed" thing? I love to fool you guys, muahha

also, I will be gone for about a week starting Friday, so don't expect an update until way later. I'm going on vacation and I couldn't be more excited! I wanted to get this posted before I left though, so here you guys go!

don't forget to vote and comment xx