The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (Male Reader Insert)

8.5 Impulsive Decisions

Y/N tinkered and toiled away in his lab. He had recovered the dropped device Hunter had wrapped around his palm and was studying it tensely. Behind him, written all over the white board, was a timeline documenting all the major events Zolomon had changed during his prior visit to the past. The young man was sweating, concentrating carefully. He only allowed himself a few sips of water and a snack break before getting back at it.

From the window outside, Caitlin watched Y/N as he was hunched over his desk. She sighed seeing him in such a laser focused manner. His shoulders looked tense and his brow appeared firm, solely focused on his work and concentration.

Caitlin brought her hand up to the snowflake necklace around her neck. She palmed it, running her hand along its jewel studded surface. Her mind went back to that night, the night everything changed. She remembered the piercing blow of Zolomon's vibrating hand plunging through her heart. She remembered the cold feeling of death come upon her.

But death wasn't the worst part. It was when she had awoken. She found nothing but silence in her head. The often nagging but typically sweet voice she'd heard for years could no longer be heard. That was when she had realized her sister was truly gone. Her heart ached after that, but not because it had been ripped apart and patched back together. It felt empty, overcome with sadness. She had lost a part of herself and a part of what made her whole that day.

With Hunter's return, she could understand why Y/N wanted to be alone. She could understand why he didn't want any of them involved. It nearly tore them apart last time. But she couldn't bring herself to fully agree with his tactics. It still felt wrong going after that psychopath alone.

Cait sighed again. She hesitated entering the room and talking to her fiancé, but figured there would be no point. He was as stubborn as she was, which was something she both admired and hated. And when he had his mind made up, it was difficult to get through to him.

Caitlin eventually walked away from the lab and to the cortex chamber to regroup with everyone else. Judy was walking around now, her leg having mostly healed. Barry had joined the group and was helping where he could. Caitlin wanted him there in case Y/N did anything drastic.

Barry was currently helping Judy with a few muscle extensions and while also going over chemical compounds, seeing if she could name them all. He helped take her bandages off and performed a blood test on her injury, searching for tachyons. He sighed, confirming what the others already suspected.

Barry: Judy's healing has already cared for most of the injury. However, its quick patch up has also fossilized some of the reactions that occurred in her body. By looking at the outer layer of her scar tissue, there do seem to be a few traces of tachyon particles that were released during her run.

Cisco: What do they tell you?

Barry: What we already suspected. The polarity of the particles seemed to have flipped mid transport between her and Zoom. Traces of sulfur and nitrogen are present from when it changed from her naturally given purple aura to Hunter's red. The molecules also appear to be generally unstable.

Caitlin: How do you mean?

Barry walked over to the screen and pointed to a diagram. Using data collected during the fight from earlier, a digital display of all three speedsters was able to be presented, showing their energy outputs, vitals, and Speed Force connection.

Barry: Look at the trail left by Hunter compared to Y/N and Judy. Both Y/N and Judy's lightning patterns are smooth, consistent. Judy's a bit more so, most likely due to her natural connection to the Speed Force. Now look at Hunter's. It starts out smooth, but becomes wild, chaotic, untamed, almost like a short circuiting wire. Whatever he's doing is not only stealing a speedster's energy, but corrupting it as well. It's unnatural even for something like the Speed Force.