Chapter Thirty-Five: Lies of a Criminal; Barry West-Allen
Unknown,
Unknown,
Barry wasn't surprised in the least to see that the locals around him and Nora had changed again after reaching the top of the stairs.
I mean, it's happened both times before, so why wouldn't it happen again?
They now stood inside the Cortex, although it was clearly just as jumbled (if not even more so) as the other places that they had been. It looked like his Star Labs had been put inside a blender with Nora's Flash Museum from her time, and the result was, to say the least, chaotic. The Cortex itself was full of Flash Museum banners, some of Cisco's spare parts, a cash register, the suit mannequin, and so much more that he couldn't track down. Some of these were on misshapen desks, others hung suspended mid air, and some even seemed glued to the wall. Cracks ran along the walls, ceiling, and flooring where orange light peaked through, the storm having apparently switched colors.
The lighting in the room was the same yellowish haze (even though none of the haze itself was visible anywhere this time) as it had been since they got into the Speed Force.
The most notable thing of all though, especially when compared to the other places they'd been, seemed to be the ominous and unsettling silence that blanketed the entire space.
It must just be my imagination.
" This place is weird," Nora commented, as she watched a small screwdriver float past her head.
" Even for all the weird places that we've just been."
" Yeah, I feel it too." Barry agreed, as he looked around cautiously.
Something wasn't sitting right about this place with him.
" So dad, where do we start first?" she asked anxiously, as she looked up at him.
He didn't even have a clue as to where to start. Normally, the Speed Force pushed him in the direction that he needed to go, so maybe it would do it again.
It's worth a shot.
" We should just start looking around, moving through the rooms until we find something. The Speed Force is normally blunt with what it wants, so it shouldn't be too long before we find what we need to get out of here."
" What is it that we're supposed to find again?" Nora asked, her voice still low with unease.
" That's what we have to figure out," he said determinedly, as they started their search.
But I wish that I knew.
They began by looking in the Med-Bay/gift shop (depending on where you looked), where medical equipment and Flash merchandise dangerously mixed together, making for quite an obstacle course throughout the place.
" You've been here before?" Nora asked, weaving around a floating medical syringe.
" Yeah, three times actually." Barry responded, a Flash figure floating past his head.
" Three times!" she exclaimed in awe.
" Yeah, those were some crazy rides," laughed Barry, quietly.
" I'd bet, they probably make great stories." Nora commented, her voice full of hope.
" They do," he said grinning, already knowing where this was heading.
" We have a lot of time..." she begged.
Before Barry could answer though, she abruptly cut him off.
" No, no, nevermind. Sorry. It was silly of me to push you while we're in this life or death situation to..."
" Nora, " he interrupted, kindly, " You never have to apologize for wanting to spend time with me. I mean, I want to spend every second that I have with you and your mother. You two are the most important people in the world to me."
" Thanks dad." Nora smiled up at him, as they left the Med Bay and started down the Hallway of Feelings towards their next spot to search.
Barry's heart glowed.
Everytime that she calls me that, it makes me happier than she'll ever be able to realize.
" And you two are the most important people in the world to me."
Barry smiled down at his wonderful daughter.
I would do anything for you, Nora.
" So, the first time that I got trapped in here was right after Zoom stole my powers..."
Thirty minutes later...
Barry and Nora were now much deeper into Star Labs/The Flash Museum, having checked numerous places on their way through. They were headed towards Cisco's lab next, as it was the closest place to them.
" Wow! You escaped and got your powers back!" Nora exclaimed as Barry reached the end of his story.
" Yep, I'm not gonna lie, pretty impressive isn't it," he grinned, playfully.
" It sounds so schway!! I don't think that I could ever do that." she said, sheepishly.
" Hey, don't sell yourself short. You're stronger than I'll ever be, just still a little inexperienced, that's all. Nothing that a little more training and one-on-one time with me can't fix." Barry smiled.
Nora looked at the ground as they continued to walk, trying to avert her eyes from her father.
" Yeah, that sounds great."
There was clearly something that she was holding back, and he already had a good idea of what it was.
Fear.
He knew because he could feel it pumping through his own veins at that very moment, fear of the things that he could see here, of what he would find here.
Fear of remembering the things that he had failed to do, the people that he had failed to save. And he had no doubt that she was feeling the same things about her own fears too.
Can I really give her good advice if I'm just as scared as she is?
They entered Cisco's Lab, finding it contorted like the rest of Star Labs/The Flash Museum. It seemed like the space had been converted into a gallery of Team Flash's tech in the future, as various displays showcased tech such as Cisco's cold gun, the speed tachyon device, and even the first prototype for an extrapolator, and half of a high hung sign read 'Hall of Ga".
Littered throughout the space was present day Cisco's equipment, including his desk which laid covered with small trinkets as it usually did.
An odd thing about the room was that there was red light coming from the cracks in the wall, that seemed a little... brighter? Almost like it was pulsating.
EIther way, it looks pretty foreboding.
As they began searching the space, Barry decided to press Nora about what was bothering her.
I don't like seeing her upset, and whatever fear she's feeling, I know she can get through it. But I want to be there for her when she does. To make sure she knows that I'm her for her.
" Nora, I can tell that something's wrong." Barry started, his tone quiet and understanding.
" What? No, I'm fine dad."
The voice that she used told him it was just the opposite of that.
" Whatever it is, you do know that you can talk to me about it Nora, I'll always be here for you."
" Of course, dad," she mumbled, staring at the ground. " No matter what I screw up."
What am I missing?
Suddenly, red mist swallowed everything around them, turning everything into a swirl of red until it slowly died out, revealing the new scene in front of them.
The colorful walls of Cisco's Lab being replaced by black, heavy metal ones.
The sleek, glossy floor by a single slab of a black metal sheet, probably covering some electronics by the looks of it. And the displays of gadgets and gizmos replaced by a maximum security prison cell, a familiar inmate inside of it.
He wore a yellow prison jumpsuit that read ' Black Gate Penitentiary' in black words on the back of it, and paced slowly, but deliberately around in his cell. He looked older and more worn than Barry was used to, and wore a face that he had seen a thousand times before on a thousand different people, but he'd never forget his mother's murderour.
" Is this?" Barry asked, trying to regain his footing.
Nora was frozen in place, her face growing pale as her eyes intently locked on the scene before her.
A flash of purple and orange lightning streaked past them, an overjoyed and somewhat exhausted Nora appearing in front of Eobard Thawne's cell, her hair longer as it was done up in a braid, like it had been when Barry'd first met her at his wedding.
" That was so schway! I just took down my first super-villain!" she exclaimed, ecstatically.
" I mean, he was right behind me, but then I was able to outrun him, and lead him right into the path of the satellite dish just like you said, and then I caught him!"
" You did good, Little Runner." Thawne nodded, a small smile on his face,
" I only did that good because of you! If you hadn't been there to talk me through it... then things would've ended much worse. Thank you. " she said sincerely.
Barry hated the way that she talked to him, as if he was her friend, her mentor. The same way that he had spoken to him when they first met, and both times were full of lies.
" It wasn't a problem,"
His tone was composed and rather cold, although he was clearly letting some fake attachment through.
Was it fake? He's proven time and time again that he doesn't let his attachments get in the way, like he proved with Cisco and even me.
Memory Nora paused, thinking for a moment. " Why are you being so nice to me?"
" Well, " Thawne sighed, " Let's just say that you remind me of someone that I respect."
Let me guess, he means me.
" Hey, there's something else about your abilities that I think you'll be very interested in learning."
" What?" Memory Nora asked immediately, jumping straight towards the cell's glass exterior as she listened intently to her new friend, anxious to learn anything that she could about her new powers.
" When you go fast enough, you can build up enough speed to break through the time-space continuum, time travel for those of lesser minds."
" Time travel?!" Nora gaped, in amazement.
" Yes, and with it, you can see your father," Thawne stated, stressing the last word, letting it hang in the air as Nora processed what he had just said. Her face lit up with hope and an overwhelming amount of joy.
" I can see my father?" she whispered quietly, overwhelmed by the prospect that she could meet the person she'd never gotten the chance to, someone who despite having never seen before, wanted more than anything to hear his voice, to feel his loving embrace around her as she gave him one back.
" That is," Thawne said, coyly turning his head away as he ran his hand along the glass of his cell, " If you want to learn."
" Yes! Yes, I want to learn!" Nora cried eagerly.
" I don't know..."
" Thawne, please! I'll do whatever you tell me to!" she pleaded, putting her face up to the glass.
Thawne was now fully turned around in his cell, so that Nora couldn't see his face, but Barry already knew what was on it. An evil grin as he manipulated his next victim, reeling in his prey.
" Well in that case, " he turned around, wearing a small grin on his face as he spoke. " Let's begin."
Nora's face beamed with joy, as her head was probably filling with all the things that she wanted to say to and do with her dad when she met him for the first time.
" Although," Thawne laughed, " I doubt that he'll be happy to know that you're working with me."
Nora paused, staring back at Thawne.
" Wait, you knew my father?" Nora asked.
Thawne's face turned to one of skepticism.
" You don't know?"
" Don't know what?" she asked desperately.
Thawne seemed to be contemplating how he wanted to proceed next, if he wanted to throw her a bone and give her yet another thing that her friends and family wouldn't.
" Thawne please!" Nora begged. " If you know anything about him, I have to know!"
Thawne looked at her, seeming to have made up his mind.
" Okay Little Runner," he slightly smiled.
This is when she was told to go to the Time Vault, where she figured out I was The Flash for the first time.
The scene before them shifted again, although this time the setting did not. It was still the same dreary, dark prison cell, with Thawne still trapped inside of it. In fact, the only reason that Barry could tell that it had changed was because of the circling red mist, and that Memory Nora couldn't be seen anywhere.
Barry looked over at Nora, the real Nora, and could see her still standing tensely in place, not taking her eyes off of the scene before them.
I need to try and snap her out of it, help her with all of these now-painful memories.
As Barry was about to speak though, Memory Nora appeared again, looking like the one he knew with her short hair, this time not so amused.
" Hey, we need to talk." she said angrily, her fists clenched tightly.
Thawne, an innocent look on his face, turned around in his cell to face her.
" How can I be of service?"
If these flashes of memory had been real, then Barry would've punched that smug look off of his face.
" You lied to me." she stated.
" What? What are you..."
" You killed my grandmother!" she yelled, tears building in her eyes.
Thawne shifted uncomfortably, realizing what she had discovered.
" You killed her right in front of my dad! He was just a little kid!"
" I've done a lot of bad things that I regret, a lot of things that went down between your dad and I that I wish that I could change." He told her as he glanced down at the floor, trying to sell his regret as best as he could.
Listening to his words made Barry's blood boil.
You don't regret a single thing that you do, Thawne. Most certainly not the things you've done to me and my family.
" How could you lie to me?" she said, pain ringing in her voice.
" Nora, I thought that you already knew." he said sincerely, though Barry doubted that there was any of that behind it.
Memory Nora refused to look him in the eyes, clearly trying to decide on what to do.
" Nora, trust me, I'd never do anything to hurt..."
" That's just it, Thawne!" she yelled again. " I don't trust you!"
" And I can't keep working with you if I can't trust you." she stated as she turned away from him, a look of pain covering her face.
" Nora, Nora wait!" Thawne called out as she sped out of the prison block, leaving Thawne alone again.
Barry's mind rushed with what he had just seen, more confused about the partnership than he had been before.
I knew that time in the Time Vault she couldn't have known about my mom. Otherwise, there's no way she would've worked with him. Only, what made her change her mind?
The next memory filled the void around them, taking them somewhere different this time. Now they were back at the Pipeline, Memory Barry locked inside a cell, Memory Nora sitting with her back up against the glass, looking broken, not something he ever liked to see his daughter look like.
Isn't this when we were tracking down Weather Witch and the car meta? When I couldn't stop phasing?
" Dad," Memory Nora said quietly, breaking Barry's thoughts, " Do you believe that people can change?"
Memory Barry, looking a little surprised at the question, quickly and confidently responded.
" Yes, people can change, Nora," he said gently.
" How can you be so sure?" she asked, her head still in her hands.
" Everyone has light and dark in them. The choice to be good and bad. No one ever makes the right decisions every time, but everyone deserves the chance to make that choice. To choose to be good."
" Even... Eobard Thawne?" Nora asked, turning her head and looking up at him.
Barry sighed, taking a moment as he thought about all of his encounters with him.
" Everyone has good in them. Even Thawne. And I'm sure that there's some version of him, somewhere out there, that has changed for the better."
" You're sure?" she asked, getting up and facing him.
" I'm positive, Nora."
She processed what he had just said, taking on a new air of determination and direction as her shoulders straightened again.
" Thanks dad," she smiled softly at him. " I know just what I have to do."
" I'm always here. And not just because I'm trapped inside this cell," he laughed.
" Now, it's time to stop Weather Witch, the right way." she declared confidently, before racing out of the Pipeline, purple and orange lightning trailing from behind her.
Barry remembered this conversation well, how upset she sounded at the beginning of their talk, how sad he had been to hear her questioning if she could trust people, and most of all, how happy he'd been when she'd come to her senses and believed in people again. One thing that he hadn't noticed before however, was that it had been a direct connection to Thawne.
When she asked me about him, I just thought that she had him on our mind after our time travel escapade a few weeks back. Now I see that it was also about something more.
The scenery shifted again, returning them to the same prison cell from before, Thawne anxiously pacing his cell, before Memory Nora sped up to him.
" Nora!" he said happily (which Barry didn't feel like he deserved to feel after how he treated her).
" You've come back I see."
" I want to give you a second chance, I know that I shouldn't, but I'm going to give you the choice to be good." she said with a fake air of confidence, staring back at him.
" Good, let me earn that trust back by doing what we set out to do at the start." Thawne declared.
" I don't trust you... but, I want to." Memory Nora said, hesitantly.
" Well Little Runner," he sighed, " You better decide on that quickly, we don't have much time left."
Both of them looked up at a timer on the wall of the cell, which had just struck the sixty-minute count.
Thawne and Nora disappeared from view, along with the rest of the cell, everything being consumed in a red haze. It swirled around them, like a sea of angry red, before slowly dying out, leaving them back at Cisco's Lab/Flash Museum.
Both Barry and Nora sat in silence, Nora barely even breathing. He knew that everything that he had just seen had already been resolved (of sorts), but something about witnessing them first hand just brought a new swell of pain to his chest. It also brought something else though; a new sense of understanding.
He manipulated her just like he did with Cisco, Caitlin, and me. He used her emotions to control her, to get what he wanted. But instead of being sympathetic and understanding about something that I experienced personally, doing almost exactly what she did (to a degree, I didn't know that he was a criminal), I pushed her away, almost leaving her forever just because of one mistake. One that I made too.
He looked over at Nora, whose muscles were still tense, her eyes watery and swollen with tears.
" Dad..." she stuttered, still staring forward at where the scenes had first taken place.
" Dad, I'm... I'm so sorry."
" Nora, it's..."
A loud whistling noise interrupted them, followed closely by a familiar metallic sound, as an arrow pierced the wall right between them, Cicada's dagger striking right next to it. Barry and Nora (the attack snapping Nora back to reality), both turned and saw two people standing in the doorway to Cisco's Lab.
Oliver Queen, aka The Green Arrow, his bow raised in attack position, and Grace Givens, aka the second Cicada, right next to him.
What?
" Barry Allen, you have failed this family."
(Do do do do do, do do, do do do do do do do do, do do do do do, dewwwwww!!!! Pretend the Arrow Theme plays here, couldn't find it anywhere, sorry guys XD)