Raven's POV

"Knock knock," I hear a familiar voice say as I glance up from my computer, a smile forming on my face to see Iris standing in the doorway. "How is Raven doing on this fine Friday afternoon?"

I glance at the clock. "Hey, shouldn't you be at work?"

She finds a spot next to me on the foot of my bed, some type of pan in her hands. "I got off early, and I had a whole pan of brownies sitting at home that I needed help eating. I thought you were the perfect candidate. Plus, I miss seeing you at work."

A grin forms on my lips. "It's only been two days, Iris."

"Other than Linda, you're my only friend there, Raven." She opens the pan of brownies. "As much as I understand why you haven't been there, I still miss you."

I lean forwards and snatch a brownie from the pan. "And I miss you...mmm, do these have chocolate chips in them?"

"You know it," Iris states as she takes a bite as well, silence wrapping around the two of us as we munch away. The mood in the room goes from bubbly to serious in that moment, I knew that Iris was about to have a heart to heart with me. "How are the tests going?"

I take a deep breath, finishing my brownie. "Alright I guess. Cisco and Caitlin still haven't found anything...and as much as I'm thankful for them spending their time on me, I just wish I could be done with the constant tests."

Iris nods her head slowly. "I understand. But trust me, Raven, you're in good hands here. They'll figure out what's going on with you and fix you, I promise."

I'm silent for a moment before I lick my lips slowly. "I just feel as if my second chance Barry has given me is slipping between my fingers...and I can't stop it."

I study Iris in that moment, noticing her eyes the most. Whenever you spoke to her, you could easily read what was on her mind, just by paying attention to her dark chocolate eyes. After stating how I had felt, I could tell that she felt pain for me; pain for what had happened to me in that other timeline, and pain for me in this timeline.

"I want to keep living, Iris. I want to show the world that Raven Black isn't the same evil that she was brought up to be. I want to show Barry that I won't let this chance go to waste, and most importantly, I don't want Hunter to win. He might be gone, but I want to show him what I am without him; I want to prove to myself that I can be better than who he molded me to be."

Iris takes a deep breath before speaking. "Whatever happens, I can assure you that you have already proved yourself to us and the world, Raven. You've come so far from where you were, and this team couldn't be more proud of you. I couldn't be more proud of you."

Another smile forms on my face in that instant, and a part of me even wanted to cry. I've never really had a true friend until Iris and this team; and it meant more than the world to me.

"If I really am dying, please promise me that whatever happens, you'll take care of Barry." Iris tries to stop me from talking, but I keep going. "I know he'll want to blame himself and possibly try to go back in time to stop it from happening, but please Iris, you can't let him do that. Too many things have been altered already...and my life isn't worth those alterations."

Iris shakes her head. "Raven, that's not true-"

And just like that, a siren starts to go off in my head. Images flash before my mind of myself and Barry, but they weren't of us now. Iris' words are completely blocked out by the hideous sound, and I can't help but scream as I try to cover my ears with the palms of my hands. I find myself curling into a ball as Iris tries to helps me, but she doesn't know what to do.

Before long, another hideous sound comes from inside of my head, sounding like glass being carved into. When I open my eyes, I find a word starting to be sketched out across the screen of my laptop, reading a word that sent chills down my spine.

Alchemy. 

-*+*-

"Your vitals appear to be normal," Caitlin says as I stare at the floor, still haunted by the previous events. Barry was there now, along with the rest of the team. 

I shake my head as Barry rubs his hand along my back. "It was one of the worst things I've ever felt in my life. There was this horrible sound that wouldn't leave my head, along with these images-"

"What kind of images?" Barry asks me, pain in his voice.

My eyes narrow as I focus on what I had seen. "I-I'm not entirely sure. It was me and you, Barry, but it wasn't us now. It was like it was a version of ourselves that...haven't yet happened."

"This doesn't make any sense," Barry questions out loud. "Raven didn't exist in flashpoint; how could Alchemy have a hold on her?"

Cisco crosses his arms. "I'm willing to bet that all of what's happening to her is tied back to him, but for why, I really can't answer."

"What are we supposed to do?" Iris asks as she points at Wally and I. "The same thing is happening to Wally, and I know that we can't let Alchemy get a hold of either of them. Who knows what he wants Raven for."

Caitlin raises her eyebrows. "Maybe Raven should go to Alchemy."

Everyone looks at her. "What?"

"We don't know what's wrong with her, but we all know that she's dying." She takes a deep breath. "And all of a sudden, she gets the same visions as Wally about Alchemy? Maybe instead of giving her powers like how he's doing with the other people in flashpoint, and this is just a guess, but maybe he'll fix her."

Barry shakes his head. "I'm not letting her go to Alchemy-"

"Maybe she's right, Barry," Cisco agrees with Caitlin. "We've been running tests for days now. We're running out of time, and we don't know what else we can do for her. Maybe this is our only option."

I knew Barry felt as if his hands were tied. "And what if he doesn't fix her? What if he kills her?"

Everyone glances at the ground for a long moment as they consider the possibility, but I decided to voice my thoughts. "I know that we need to keep Wally as far away from Alchemy as possible, right? And as much as I hate to admit it...if going to Alchemy is my last option, then I'll do it."

"Raven, I can't let you-"

"We don't have a choice, Barry," I state simply, shaking my head. "If doing this lets me live, to not waste the second chance you have given me, then it's worth the risk."

Barry sighs as everyone looks around at one another, unsure exactly on how to take all of this new information. H.R. decides to contribute to the conversation then, who I still knew very little about. "Well, until we figure out what exactly to do, how about we lock them away in the pipeline? Alchemy can't reach them there."

Joe shakes his head. "As much as I hate to admit it, that's not a bad idea."

I nod my head as I look over at Wally. "That sounds like the best option to me...at least it buys us a little more time."

"I'll keep running my tests on Raven," Cisco states as he starts to walk away. "Maybe I missed something the first time I looked at them."

He exits the room then as Caitlin stares after him. "I'll go help him."

Soon she's following in his tracks, along with the rest of the team, leaving just Barry and I. For a moment, all of the stressful thoughts that have been plaguing my mind disappear, but soon are returning once Barry opens his mouth to speak.

"I don't like this plan, Raven," he simply states, his eyes searching the floor for answers. "There's not a guarantee that this will even fix you. So far, Alchemy has only turned these metas to do more harm than good...I can't imagine a reason for him to want to save your life."

I turn to Barry then, placing my hand on his knee. "I can't promise you that everything is going to work out, Barry. I can't even tell you that I want to do this...but I do know that I am running out of time. The tests aren't working, and it's getting worse. This is our last resort, and that's why I need you to be okay with this. I need you to have faith."

Barry's eyes finally find mine in that moment, full of despair and conflict. I so badly wanted to strip that away from him, but not even I could do that. "I lost you once, Raven. I don't want to lose you again."

I move my hand from his knee to his cheek then, rubbing my thumb softly along his cheekbone. It finally clicked in my head in that moment that this could possibly be the last time I see Barry; the last time I have a heart to heart talk with him. And that was what hurt the most.  

"You won't lose me."

-*+*-

Anyone see that coming? What do you guys think is going to happen? (also, I love soft barry and raven moments...I've missed writing them!)

I know I say this pretty much every chapter now, but I AM SO SO SORRY for not updating for like two months? I'm not sure exactly where the time went, but I do deeply apologize. Good news however; I have finally gotten back into the groove of this book, so hopefully (cross your fingers) I'll be able to write and post a little more often than usual. Yay!

But for now, make sure to comment and vote! Seeing your feedback makes me want to write even more even faster, plus I'm not sure half of you guys are even still around to read since you probably thought I fell off the face of the earth...

sorry once again for the delay, but I hope you enjoyed! xx