Present

"What do you mean the police are back?" I ask as I follow behind Hunter, overhearing his conversation with Reverb's brother. Hunter had recruited him to go after Cisco, but now that this new problem had arose, he sent him to do another task.

He looks over his shoulder at me. "They're stationing across the block; right inside of Jitters. It's not much of a problem, but I'm just not the mood to deal with it."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Let me deal with it, then. You know I'll get the job done-"

"You need to stay here with Caitlin," he says to me while facing me now, his eyes staring into my own. "Just let Rupture take care of it. If there's a problem, we'll both step in, alright?"

My eyes stare into his for a long moment before I slowly nod my head. "Alright."

"Keep watch, I'll be back." I watch him closely as he slips his hood back on before flashing off, leaving me behind with Caitlin once again. I take a deep sigh as I glance back over towards the girl, seeing her with her head lowered as she leaned up against the file cabinet. Must be tired.

My shoes click against the tile as I make my way back over towards my chair, taking my seat before groaning loudly. It was then that Caitlin looks back up at me, raising her eyebrows ever so slightly. "Tired of being just the side kick?"

"I'm not the side kick," I groan as my eyes catch the TV remote, growing curious to see what was on the news. "I never have been, and I never will be."

She back mouths me. "Are you sure about that? Cause it seems to me-"

Before she can finish her sentence, I flash over towards her to where I'm breathing in her face, anger radiating off of me. Her eyes go wider than I've ever seen them as she stares at me back, breathless. "Shut your mouth and watch."

She doesn't blink as I turn the TV on, the first channel being the one that I needed to see. When I realize what was going on, I see the police holding Rupture in handcuffs, another news anchor saying that The Flash had saved the day yet again. My hands start to heat up as turn back towards Caitlin.

"You told them...you told them he was coming, didn't you?" I scream into her face. She closes her eyes and forms her hands into fists, but she doesn't move an inch. My eyes trail away from her then to see a phone lying a few feet away, making me grow furious. "You may have gotten Hunter to let those officers go, but not me...not this time."

As I turn and dash away, I hear Caitlin call out my name, but I didn't care. All of this rage was building up inside of me; Caitlin being here, Hunter caring for her while telling me not to care for anyone, Barry most likely hating me, and the fact that not even Rupture could take out the police force was the final straw for me. I wanted to see through that this was over, so I let my rage guide me.

In just a few seconds, I find myself standing in the doorway of Jitters, seeing the same scene in front of me as I had on the TV screen. Everyone turns and faces me as I clench my teeth, trying to decide what move to make. 

Without letting anyone say a word, I narrow my eyes as I let the speed force flow through me, a dark look washing across my face as I glance at the camera man. "Make sure you get this."

In the blink of an eye, I raise my arms and let my gravitational power take over, focusing on the people in the room as I let them rise into the air, causing most of them to drop the guns they were pointing towards me. As they dangle in the air, I imagined throwing them all into the walls in the room; a trick I often used when I needed to clear out a room at a fast pace. Nine times out of ten, throwing the people into the walls broke their necks or another vital part to live, so of course I used it often when I needed to.

Just when I was about to let them all go, I hear a voice call out my name that I missed hearing; one that I had forgotten about for ages it seemed. It was Barry; I knew it was.

However, instead of turning around to see him standing there, I focus on the people in front of me hard, trying to pretend he wasn't there. I needed to do this; I had to do this. I went again to complete the task at hand, but his voice continues to fill my ears.

"Raven, please, don't do this. I know this isn't you; this is him. The Raven I know wouldn't want to kill this many people-"

"Then you clearly don't know the real Raven," I spit out as my arms begin to shake. I was losing my hold on them. "I've killed plenty more people than this, Barry. This...this is nothing."

"I know deep down you are that person you showed me that you could be..." Barry fades off, sounding completely desperate. My bottom lip begins to shake as I contemplate what to do, but just before I could make my decision, Barry steps out in front of me to where I can see him, making me lose it completely. "Please, Raven. Don't do this."

My arms fall back down to my sides then as I stumble, all of that energy taking a lot out of me. Barry was there to catch me then as he helps me regain my footing, and I wasn't sure why. After all of this, he still had the notion to help; even someone like me. 

As I look back up at him, I find him already staring, a look on his face that said he was completely surprised that he got me to stop. I thought to myself that there was no reason for him to be surprised; he knew I cared for him, even in my darkest of moments...

It was then I see a flash of blue buzz around the room, running to each and every person besides Joe and the captain. My mouth falls open as I watch him, Barry turning and doing the same thing. He stops then on the opposite side of the room as everyone in the room drops to the floor, necks dangling by their sides. Usually things like this didn't affect me, but with Barry by my side, it did.

"In case you needed a demonstration on how to get the job done," Hunter hisses at me from under his mask, his eyes burning into my own. My saliva gets caught in my throat as I watch him walk over and grab the camera, aiming it towards his face as he speaks to all of Central City. "Central City, the flash you've seen in your streets is a fake; a hologram meant to give you hope, but there is no more hope. There is no more Flash, and there's no one left to protect you and your city...from me."

I see Barry looking around all of the now dead officers as Hunter throws the camera to the side, turning back and facing me as I stood perfectly still. I was a mockery in his eyes; I failed at one simple task, and I never usually failed. He always told me that trust and love kept me from being who I was, and I realized now that his words rang true.

I knew he had plenty he wanted to say to me, but instead his eyes drift from me to Barry, who had tears in his eyes. "As for you, the only reason I'm not ripping your heart out is because of Caitlin. Next time, my affection for her won't stop me from killing you...and neither will her."

He looks back at me then, and I knew that he finally saw the thing that I still couldn't admit to myself. He knew I cared for Barry, and that was what was going to get him killed. I promised myself that I wouldn't let that happen; not after everything.

I don't get the chance to say anything more to Barry as Hunter dashes forwards and sweeps me off my feet, taking me back to the police station where Caitlin waited. I felt I was in for an ass chewing, but what he didn't know what that he was in for one as well. 

Seeing Barry again tonight triggered that part inside of me again that I forgot I had, and despite how much I hated it, I couldn't ignore the fact that he made me realize I was worth more than all of this.

He made me feel human.

-*+*-

9 years ago

I jolt awake as I prop myself up, my eyes flashing open from the sudden movement. Memories swim in my head as I try to grasp them, but none of them would stick with me. It takes me a moment to realize that I was lying in my bed in my room, unable to remember what I did last. I must have just woken up from a nightmare.

I bring my hand to my head as I stare down at my sheets, trying desperately hard to remember something that felt like it shouldn't even be there. However, I don't have much time to think about it before a flash of blue is in the room then, leaving me a worried looking Jay.

"Are you okay? I heard you scream," he says to me as he walks to my beside, looking down on me. He reminded me of my father then; how he would always be the one to see me first after I had a nightmare. I used to have them all the time as a kid, and I guess seeing Jay here now made it all come back to me.

I nod my head. "Yeah, I'm fine...must've been a nightmare."

Something about the look on Jay's face almost made him seem..relieved? I don't ask him about it though; I just assumed he was worried that something else was the matter with me. He just simply nods his head as he turns around to leave, but I stop him before he can go.

"Jay...why can't I remember anything that happened today?" I state slowly, searching through my mind as hard as I could to remember anything, but there was nothing but an empty void. 

He turns and looks at me then, furrowing his eyebrows. "What's the last thing you remember?"

It was hard to even remember that far back it seemed, but eventually I found the memory. "I had asked to go to Big Belly Burger...you told me to wear a hat in case anyone recognized me. I don't remember ordering or getting food or anything else for that matter."

"That's odd. You came right back here after you got your food. Then you watched a movie--I can't remember which one, but then you came here and went to sleep," he says to me, making me feel like an idiot for not remembering any of that. 

I gulp as I try to pull the memory out of me, but it never comes. However, I just decide to play it off. "Oh yeah, I remember now; I watched You Before Me."

He nods his head back and points towards me. "Yep, that was the movie. Sure looked like a good one."

I grin. "Yep, it was. Sorry for waking you up-"

"I just wanted to make sure everything was alright," he nods back at me before turning around and finally starting to leave the room. "Night."

"Night," I say back as he walks out the door, letting it shut completely before I let my eyes fall to the floor, everything still fuzzy in my mind. Something was telling me that something else was up, but I wasn't sure what. The only reason I knew was because Jay agreed that I had watched that movie...

I hated chick flicks. 

-*+*-

ruh ro...Raven might be onto something...?

sorry for taking like 80 years to update! I'm not sure what happened, but here I am with another! Hopefully I'll have another out by the end of the week as well (:

vote n comment!