Flashes of Life (Barry Allen/The Flash Fanfic)

Origin

I guess I had better explain things. My name is Shea Bramson, and I guess you could say I had powers. It didn't come naturally; the particle accelerator was responsible for me. I was just a normal girl, living in Central City. I loved experimenting, especially on bugs. Creepy? Perhaps. They were misunderstood creatures. I had multiple questions that I needed answering, so I decided to test on them, such as: How did they survive; what were their ways of doing so? What would happen if I changed some of the factors that these bugs required to live? What would happen if I drained their life energy by depriving them of water or food?

/FLASHBACK/

There I was, on the night of the opening of the particle accelerator, in my small and rundown lab space. I had a common black ground beetle inside a glass box, which I took out and put on the microscope slide. Carefully, I picked up a scalpel, and began slicing up some leaves, with varying levels of nutrients, before laying it out in front of the bug.

I kept the TV broadcast on, listening to live updates from reporter Linda Park.
"The opening of the particle accelerator has been a successful one. STAR Labs leader Harrison Wells has said that this could very well be our future. But who knows what the future will bring? Stay tuned for more live updates from Mr Wells. I'm Linda Park, reporting for Central City Television Network."

Well, that was good. At least someone somewhere was making a name for their research. What about me? I had spent lifetimes researching about insects, and yet I had no recognition. No one cared about me, or my research. I had to face it; I was a nobody. A useless excuse of a human, cast away even by her own parents at the age of fourteen. That one had cut deep; weren't parents meant to be the ones who looked out for you, cared for you, and made sure nothing ever happened?

Thinking about my past stirred up some long forgotten emotions. I clutched at the scalpel in my hand and clenched my jaw. Stop, I told myself. But I couldn't help it. Without thinking, my hand moved and started stabbing at the leaves, leaving indents in the slide for the microscope. I couldn't stop it; my hand seemed to have its own agenda. It was only until I heard a faint 'pop' that my hand hesitated in the air. I glanced down and saw the beetle, quivering irregularly. One more shake, and then it stopped. A pale, translucent liquid seeped out from the bottom of the bug. Looking at the scalpel in my hand, I noticed the same substance on the tip of the blade.

I clenched my jaw, trying to stabilise my breathing. Never in my entire life had I killed any of my bugs. They always died of natural causes, and here I was, stabbing them to death. I literally saw the life leaving the beetle. Its precious life energy, draining out from where my scalpel made contact with it. All because I couldn't control myself. Because I was angry.

Suddenly, the sky shook, and rain began to pour down. Droplets of water were hammering down onto the glass that shielded me from the outside world. I heard faint screams coming from the TV, and I saw the weather had really picked up, and Linda Park was grabbing onto her microphone as if it would flee from her.
"The weather is getting really bad! Mr Harrison Wells of STAR Labs has just told everyone to evacuate the area as there may be technical difficulties for the particle accelerator! Bad news everyone! Go home, and-"
The TV screen turned black.

I quickly booted up my computer, searching for news on the particle accelerator, or any podcasts, articles, whatever. I heard a loud crack! and whirled to the sound. My eyes were wide open as I realise that lightning had just struck the top of my lab building, and created a smoking hole. Rain began running through the hole in the ceiling, pooling on the floor. I scanned my room for something to try and block the hole. My eyes landed on a long tube on the window sill, there to support the grimy window. It would have to do. I carefully pulled it out of position, and shoved it upwards, plugging the hole. Phew. I exhaled deeply, setting myself a mental note to repair the ceiling soon.

"No no no no no!" I ran towards the window, as I remembered what had happened to it for the tube to be put where it was. The window was heavy, and with the tube not being there, with empty space between the glass pane and the sill, it was too much for it to stay up there. Long story short: it smashed. Shards of glass trinkled all over the floor. Ugh! Today was not a good day for me. So now I had a dead test subject, a hole in my ceiling, broken glass on the floor, and a hole in my wall where rain and wind was entering the building.

I slowly sat down in my chair, wheeling it across the room to my last remaining glass pane. It had a clear view of the particle accelerator and STAR Labs. I sighed. At least you tried, Harrison Wells, I thought. You made a name for yourself. As I stared forlornly at the STAR Labs building, I noticed the particle accelerator started flickering. I leaned in closer.

The particle accelerator exploded. As it did so, a dome of yellow covered the building. It hovered over it for a few seconds before it began to expand. The diameter increased until it reached double, triple, quadruple times the size it started. It only clicked that it had reached me when I felt my stomach lurching, as if I had just come down the largest dip on a roller coaster. I staggered outside my lab, and made it to the curb before my legs gave way and I fell to the ground. The last thing I registered was the dome of yellow, spreading out away from me.

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