I never read. I always hated reading and found that it was a waste of my time, but here I was now, some book called Fahrenheit 451 in my hands. I have never been more bored in my life here at S.T.A.R. Labs, since the others rarely included me with their newest case. I guess they didn't fully trust me yet.

I did however manage to scrap up what I could about the case from overhearing things, which was that they thought this case could have something to do with Velocity 9. I remember hearing Jay say something about it back on Earth 2, but I couldn't remember exactly what it was. Barry and the others had a suspect as well, but so far, everything has checked out okay.

Other than shoving my nose into this boring book and acting like I was doing something productive, I was overthinking about last night with Barry. My mind kept flashing back to what he said to me at the bar, then followed by that weird hand touch. What did it mean? It probably didn't mean anything, but it meant something to me.

That something being trust, the very thing Jay told me not to do.

No love, no trust. Every time the image of Barry came across my mind, I told myself that over and over again. It was like the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to think about it. I hated myself for it, but I couldn't stop. It clouded my head, which made sense as to why Jay told me not to trust anyone. It weakens you.

"Any luck locating our speedster since Eliza checked out?" I hear Barry say then, causing me to look up. It wasn't until then I realized how many people were standing in here. I thought I was still alone.

"Uh, I'm still working on it but-" as soon as Cisco says that, the lights in the room flicker before a flash of lightning is darting across the room, taking Barry from where he was standing. I stand up then as I drop my book, not caring about it at all.

"Barry!" Caitlin shouts before we hear his voice again, but this time, it was over the speaker. My eyes glance over to see that the speedster had locked Barry downstairs in the pipeline.

Joe gets out his gun then, but just as he goes to point it at the door, the flash of lightning is back. I'm frozen in place as I watch Joe go flying back into the glass, breaking it, and then landing in the other room. I don't see him move before I go to get the gun, but just before I do, another hand grabs it and points it in my face.

I look up then, seeing the same girl I had seen at the club the other night. "What do you want?"

I mapped out ideas and different plans inside my head, waiting for her answer. Before she even said a word, I wondered if maybe she didn't know I had speed as well. That has to be the reason why she locked Barry down there, so I guess I'm the secret weapon, aren't I?

"Where's the V9 Caity? I need a fix," she says, sounding a lot like me the more I thought about it; well, her tone did. If I was standing on the other side of this situation right now, I bet we'd be good friends. Too bad I have to play the good guy.

"Eliza? Is that you-" Caitlin says before she gets cut off.

"Eliza isn't here right now. The name's Trajectory," she says, adjusting her grip on the gun. 

Cisco's jaw drops. "Oh, why do the crazy ones always name themselves."

"Eliza, listen to me. Velocity 9 is very dangerous," Caitlin says, but I knew she wasn't going to get through to her. She was too far gone. "It made a friend of mine very sick and he already had the speed force in him-"

"Enough!" she screams, rolling her eyes. "You are boring me to death. Hand over the V9!"

"We don't have anymore," I state, knowing this as a fact. I heard Caitlin say it earlier. "We can't help you."

She laughs at me. "Man, have I told you how much I hate liars?"

That was what did it; saying those eight words was what made her pull the trigger. In those few split seconds I stood there watching the bullet soar towards my thigh, I debated what to do. Either it was to expose myself as a speedster and dodge it, meaning then she'd go after me and hurt the others, or I could get hit and play it off a little longer.

Good thing these idiots have me.

My scream splits the air then as the bullet finds it's way into my right thigh, causing me to fall to the ground. Cisco starts to run over to me to help, but then Trajectory points the gun towards him, making him stop. I knew I'd be okay; I could heal just like Barry could. It just hurt like a bitch.

"We can make more," Harry says then, something I wasn't expecting to hear from them. I look up at him, seeing that he wasn't lying. I could tell by his face. "We have all the ingredients."

Trajectory waves the gun around before pointing it at Jesse. "I'm not a patient person, so you better move fast."

Caitlin and Harry both take off towards the lab then, leaving the rest of us behind. Trajectory keeps the gun pointed at Jesse as she throws her to the ground next to me, being able to hear her whimpers. I wasn't scared like her more than I was angry, but I understood the feeling.

"Please don't do this-" Jesse cries, which is for sure something you don't say to the villain pointing a gun at you.

"Shut up!" Trajectory screams, causing Cisco to flinch. "I also hate criers."

I keep my hand held over my gunshot wound, some of it being to stop the bleeding, the other so that she couldn't see that I was healing as fast as I was. There was now a little pool of blood surrounding me, making it all look believable. I wanted so badly to just get up and strangle her to death, but she was faster than me. She would more than likely just put me back down on my ass.

After a few minutes of sitting there at gunpoint, Harry and Caitlin come running back out, a tray in their hands. Harry holds it out, three new vials sitting in it, along with a needle. Trajectory marches over with a smile on her face, glad to get what she came here for. I narrow my eyes as I watch her pick up the stuff, a scowl washing across her face.

"Who's to say you didn't lace this with a sedative to knock me on my ass?" she spits, and I knew then that she was up to no good. I watch her eye movement, ready to act if I needed to.

"We wouldn't do that," Harry says, but something in his tone told me otherwise.

Trajectory must have noticed it too. "Couldn't be too safe, right?"

She turns to inject it into Jesse's neck, but no way in hell was I going to let that happen. I'm on my feet then as I'm running into Trajectory, knocking her off her feet as she slams into the wall behind her. The gunshot wound of mine was almost fully healed, but it still hurt, that's for sure. She glares up at me then, angry that she was fooled.

"Another lady speedster," she grins, blood now on her teeth. "Duly noted."

Then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone. She took all of the V9 and everything else she came for, and just like that, she was gone. Cisco runs over to the computer then and unlocks the door for Barry, followed by a flash of light coming from the hallway.

"What in the hell just happened?" Barry says, looking around the room.

It wasn't until then I saw that Harry was looking at me. "She saved Jesse's life."

I look around to find that everyone else was staring at me as well, making me feel something I never felt before. Something I thought I'd never feel.

I felt like a hero.

-*+*-

13 years ago

Boredom was the worst thing around here. It was so easy to not do anything, since there really was nothing to do. I wanted something like my TV back at home or my old gameboy that I always played games on. They at least passed the time quicker.

But being here with Jay made time stretch to infinity. I'm not even really sure how long I have been here...but I guess it didn't really matter. I was going to be here forever, so might as well get used to forever.

I rest my cheek against the palm of my hand as I stare at the cup in front of me, watching it as it rose and then fell over and over again. Jay had taught me how to use my powers as best as he could, and I liked to practice as much as I possibly could. The only thing that I'm still having trouble with is transferring others abilities to me on command, but I was still learning.

Suddenly though, a flash of blue lightning zooms into the room, stopping directly in front of the table I was sitting at. I look up from my cup, finally happy to see someone; especially since it was Jay. He's been gone all day and I missed him. It gets lonely around here fast.

"Hey there kiddo," he cracks a smile at me. I almost stood up to give him a hug, but then I remembered that he told me not to do that. 

I keep my seat. "What took you so long?"

I noticed then that his hands were behind his back. "I was out getting some things. You know what today is?"

I furrow my eyebrows, not even sure what the day was. "Uh, I don't know."

He frowns. "It's your birthday!"

He brings his hands out then, holding a cupcake with a little candle sticking out on top. I smile at the sight of it, but it wasn't really all that real. I would have been happy, but I didn't even know that it was my own birthday. I didn't know that I had been here this long. 

Jay notices my expression. "What's wrong?"

I shake my head, not wanting to make him upset. I hated seeing him upset. "Nothing! Thank you."

He raises an eyebrow before setting the cupcake onto the table, staring at me oddly. I bite my lower lip, not sure what he was going to say or do next. It scared me. "You don't like cupcakes, do you?"

"I do, really. Thank you Jay," I fake smile again, reaching forwards and grabbing the cupcake off the table. I start to peel the wrapper off before blue lightning flashes over towards me, the cupcake being taken from my hand. It took me a moment to adjust my eyes to where Jay had went, but when I found him again, I saw him standing behind me, about to throw the cupcake before he stopped.

He stares at it for a moment, debating whether or not to throw it. I wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but he got like this sometimes. That's why I tried to keep him happy at all times, and just one little facial expression of mine set him off. 

"Jay?" I ask then, holding onto the back of my chair. I didn't dare get up. 

He lowers his hand then, looking back at me. I watch with wide eyes as he walks back over and hands me the cupcake, shaking his head. "I'm sorry...Happy Birthday Raven."

After he says that, he runs off, someplace else that I didn't know about. I stare off into space as tears cloud my vision, but I wasn't quite sure why. I told myself that it was from the way Jay acted just now, but I knew that it was really about my parents. It was really because I wanted to go back home to the way things used to be. 

I turn back around in my chair, throwing the cupcake onto the table. I could barely see through my tears now, but as I looked around the room for Jay, not finding him, I could only think of one thing.

I was tired of being alone.

-*+*-

I really do enjoy writing this story...Raven is an interesting character of mine. I'm hoping to dive into her deeper so you guys can learn more about her, but lets just say it only gets darker from here.

You know the drill; slap that star down there and leave some feedback if you'd like. It's well appreciated!

Shoutout to boywonders for giving me a good af link to watch the episode to write this. (srsly, I'll be using that link from now on out) so thank you, thank you!