Episode 31 - Flash Fanfiction - Nightfall

Chapter 9

Astrid stood in Harry's office doorway. He was currently working on his tablet before the battery went flat. "Any ideas, Harry?" she asked him.

"If I had any ideas, aside from fleeing the city, you would be the first to know, but I don't Sutherland!" Harry said with anger in his tone.

Astrid nodded and hesitated before she spoke again, "I know, that you know more about my father than you've been letting on. I read it in your mind before we went to Earth 2. But, before we die, I need to know what that secret was. What has DR Fate got to do with my real father?"

Harry went to lie, but he knew that there was no use. "I would like to say that our chances of surviving this were greater than I thought... but, I can't! So, I will tell you. Astrid, Kent Nelson is DR Fate. The same being that sent Barry back in time to save you both times. He was a brilliant doctor, that acquired a powerful helmet, which every time he puts it on turns him into this powerful being. He is an Agent for the Lords of Order."

"No! That's impossible!" Astrid tried to make sense of it all.

"It's very possible. But it's not my story to tell. It's Kent's story, when you... if you get the chance to meet him." DR Wells said.

"Does Barry know?" Astrid asked.

Harry remained silent, which annoyed her. She asked again, this time raising her voice. "Does Barry know that DR Fate is my father?"

"Yes! Barry knows!" Harry said as a reaction. This news angered Astrid. She knew that she would deal with Barry later.

"So, where is this DR Fate? If he's supposed to be my father and some special agent for the Lords of Order, shouldn't he be protecting us, right now? If he can help Barry change timelines, then why isn't he here to save us?"

"I don't know, Sutherland. I haven't heard from him in a while. But, I know that he would be here helping if he could."

"Why? He's never really helped us before!" she snapped.

"Sutherland, there's a lot that you don't know." Harry replied.

Astrid turned on her heels, but before she left, Harry added, "We might not have much time left. This could be our final battle together. One thing that I have learnt is that, there is an importance to saying what we feel. I am glad to have known you, Astrid Sutherland... you and the rest of the team. Even when things have been a little strained at the best of times."

Astrid turned to him, there were a few tears in his eyes. She didn't need to read his mind to know what he was thinking. "Likewise, Harry, and thank you."

She stepped out of the office and back into the cortex. The instant that she saw Barry, anger struck her again. She stormed right up to him. "You knew!" she snapped.

"Astrid, what's the matter?" Caitlin asked, confused by Astrid's anger towards the speedster.

Barry knew instantly why Astrid was mad at him. "I'm sorry, he asked me not to tell you. But, I should have told you, all those times that he was here and..."

"What? He was here? When?" The rest of the group were watching their argument.

Barry breathed, "a few times, actually. But he has this power to prevent you from sensing him."

"I could have read your mind, millions of times, Barry! But I didn't, because I trusted you. I don't know why this stranger would tell you to hold this from me... You owed me this, Barry. If we survive this... I don't know if I will ever be able to trust you again!" she snapped.

She stormed towards her office, as Barry called back, "Like I can't trust you after you told Captain Singh my secret."

"Low blow, Barry. Low blow!" Cisco said shaking his head and running after his girlfriend.

Astrid went to slam the door of her office closed, but Cisco stopped her from doing so, as he walked in and held her in his arms. "I'm guessing that the two of you were arguing about your real father?" he asked her.

Astrid nodded, as she held back her tears. "Kent Nelson, my real father, is Dr Fate." She replied.
"Wow... as in the guy that helped Barry get back to our timeline?"

Astrid nodded again, resting her face into him.

"Cisco, how are we going to do this?" she asked.

"Easy, we'll kick ass. I don't know how, but we will! Just like in the movies. Because we're the good guys... the good guys always win!"

"This isn't a movie, Cisco." Astrid said quietly.

"I know that. But, do you forget that I vibe the future? I mean I haven't received a vibe on how we win... but I've definitely seen things that make me believe that we will win. Do you know what I've seen?" he asked, looking down at her.

She looked back up at him. "What have you seen?" she asked.

"I've seen us get married... It's a pretty cool wedding, clearly you planned it... and guess what, no one ruins it! I'm pretty sure we even have kids. Barry has kids too. He has twins."

"Barry? With twins? Caitlin would hate that." Astrid laughed.

Cisco shook his head softly. "We're not going to die today, Mind Marvel. It's not our time."

"So, I'll humor you, Vibe... if we win this thing. I'll forget the whole curse thing... You and I will do it. We'll get married, alright?"

"Careful, Jedi... I might think that you're actually proposing to me... that's not how it's meant to go..." Cisco said with a smirk.

"I'm being serious. When we win this, we get married. Call it an attempt to letting the heroes get their happy ending. Something to look forward to." Astrid said with a smile, that he could see within the torch light.

"Alright, you're on!" he said smiling back. He closed the door, lifted her up and kissed her passionately, excited that they could succeed against the Overmaster.

Harry had been trying postpone the inevitable. Realistically, he was hoping that in doing so, DR Fate or even Constantine would come to their aid. Unfortunately, he knew that Constantine had other more pressing matters to deal with.

However, he needed to stop and come up with something. He was not willing to let his friends die. He read over the letter that he had just written and placed it neatly in the middle of the desk. The battery to his tablet had gone out. Not that it mattered much, he hadn't been contacted from anyone outside of this earth in a while.

Harry got to his feet and stepped out of his office and into the cortex. The entire group were gathered there, all but Cisco and Astrid. But he figured it would be best to leave them be, after the anger that he had heard Astrid spew at Barry, in relation to DR Fate.

"Allen, do you have your speed back?" Dr Wells asked.

"Not yet, but It's slowly regenerating. Why? Do you have a plan?" Barry asked him.

"Somewhat. We need to lure them out. We're going to need portable generators and I'm also thinking a spotlight." Harry said.

"I may be able to help with an idea on that." Batman chimed in.

"Good, because this is going to be all hands on deck."