2021
Coast City
I snuck into my apartment just past midnight.
"Hey"
Oops.
I spun around to see Devin plopped on the couch. Evidently, she had tried to tried to stay up until I got home, like always. Unfortunately for me, the door gave me away.
"So, journalisms work or superhero stuff?" She asked, sitting up on the couch.
"I'd rather not say," I murmured.
"So, if I turned on the TV right now..."
"Dev, don't!"
The TV turned on.
It was the news. I was truly in trouble.
"White Knight strikes again. This time, she took down a drug smuggling operation, who were also...."
I turned it off.
"Let me see," Devin said, moving towards me. I moved away. "No, we agreed. You do the superhero thing, I do the worry about you and take care of you when you get hurt thing. One doesn't happen without the other"
"Devin, I'm fine"
"Honestly, I'd prefer it if neither had to happen"
"Devin, seriously, I'm..."
Devin yanked up my shirt and slapped her hand against my side, nailing the nasty bruise covering my ribs. I hissed in pain.
"Usually when you do that, it's a lot sexier. But then again, it's not usually..."
"Shut up," Devin said. She moved away from me towards where she kept her first aid kit, turning her back. I felt the mood shift
"What?" I said.
Devin froze.
"Devin, talk to me"
I could see her hands gripping the kitchen counter.
"Dev, it's okay. I'm okay"
"No! It's not okay!" She exploded. I could see tears streaming down her face. "It is not okay!"
"Please, Devin, I'm fine"
"What if you weren't? What if you die one night and don't come home? Where does that leave me? Or the others?"
I stood silently in the kitchen, staring at her. She was looking at everything but me.
"Please, Maverick, I can't loose you," she slid to the floor, back against the cabinets. I joined her there and she rested her head against my shoulder.
"I can't loose you, either, Dev"
*******************
Central City
The night of the Star Labs particle accelerator explosion
"Miss. Merlyn, thank you again for coming," I shook Dr. Wells's hand as he guided me toward the control center.
"I just want to keep the people well informed Doctor. The best way to do that is with the facts," I glanced around, taking my first glances of a space I would eventually be spending a lot of time in. "And please, call me Maverick. I don't like using my last name any more than I have to"
Dr. Wells led me over to a dark haired man. "Maverick, this is Ronnie Raymond, one of our engineers. Ronnie, this is Maverick Merlyn, a journalist form the Central City Times"
"What, they stick the new kids on the assignments everyone else is to afraid to go on?" Ronnie joked, reaching out a hand to take mine.
"Afraid so," I responded, shaking his hand.
"Ooh, I like her," Ronnie said to Dr. Wells.
"I was thinking we'd stick her with Cisco for the night. You know, good behavior insurance," Dr.Wells said. Ronnie laughed.
"Did I just hear my name?" An guy with long hair said loudly.
That must be Cisco.
Things became distorted, another voice in the mix. That sound didn't belong. Not in this moment.
Suddenly, I was in the hallway, outside of the particle accelerator. I head Ronnie and Caitlin on the radio.
"Cisco, what's going on?" I asked.
He turned to me. Before he could answer, a wave of light passed over us.
"What was that?"
Cisco gaped, looking around for answers.
"I don't know"
"Cisco?"
"Maybe some sort of plasma!"
"Cisco?"
"Or electron interference from the explosion!"
"Cisco?"
"Or some sort of radiation!"
"Cisco!" He turned back to me. "I'm going to pass out"
Everything went black.
When things came back, it all felt right and wrong.
"Maverick, wake up"
Caitlin said that. When I was unconscious. In the Cortex. But this wasn't her voice.
"Mavi, wake up"
It was her words, but not her voice.
"Hey, Mavs, if you can hear me, you need to wake up"
Where was I? The Cortex? The hospital? My father's office? Coast city?
"Maverick, wake up!"
I jolted awake.
Thing fell to the ground around me. Devin was above me, shaking me awake. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I sat up, pushing her hands off me.
"Time?" I asked, disoriented.
"2:43, I had just gotten you to sleep," she reached for something. "Water?"
I looked at her.
"Water?" She said again, more forcefully. I took the glass from her, sipping it. After a few sips in silence, I spoke.
"Sorry," I waved my free hand towards the room.
"It's okay. At least we keep it mostly Maverick-proofed," Devin stood up out of bed, moving to clean up the items I'd messed up in my sleep. "It's better than before"
I nodded, sipping on the water.
"Want to talk?" Devin asked.
"Not really"
"Mavi, we need to discuss this"
"What? The fact that I have PTSD? Or the fact that my nightmares cause me to loose control of my powers and destroy stuff?"
Devin set the stuff in hand down and crawled back across the bed. "No. I can handle those. It's the fact that your regressing that we need to talk about"
"I'm not regressing," I demanded.
"Really?"
"Yes!"
"Maverick, you're regressing. Your nightmares are getting more common"
"I'm just stressed"
"You stopped going to see Aaron"
"My therapist? Who I never wanted to go to? Who also happens to be my girlfriend's ex-boyfriend?"
"The seven sessions you did with him helped and you said he was a nice therapist."
"I'm still going to take a hard pass."
"Your moody and snippy and generally anti-social."
"It's just stress. I'll be fine."
"You're pushing your team away."
"I don't want them to get hurt. Its been extra dangerous the last few weeks, but since I took down the drug cartel it should get better."
"I don't think it will."
I locked eyes with Devin. "And why not?"
"Because this isn't about drug cartels or stress." Devin's face hardened. "Every since Oliver died you've been going back to the girl you were when I first met you."
I sat staring at her, shocked.
"That's not..." I gaped at her. "That's not fair."
"Then what is it?"
I didn't have an answer.
Devin sighed, lying next to me and setting her head against my chest. "Im worried about you, Mavi. You're regressing and it scares me. I need you to get better."
I pushed her off and stood up. "I'm going to sleep on the couch. Goodnight."
I could hear Devin calling for me as I left the room. I curled up on the couch and closed my eyes. The memories started again.
*******************
"We have to come up with a cool superhero name for you," Cisco said as I entered the Cortex. He hopped to his feet and grabbed a marker, scribbling in the white board.
"Good morning to you too, Cisco," I replied.
"You're right on time!" Caitlin said, coming out of her office. "It's good to see you Mavi."
"Good morning, Maverick," I spun around to see Dr.Wells.
"Oh, I didn't see you there," I said.
"Triple T!" Cisco blurted.
"I'm sorry, did I miss something?" Dr. Well said.
"Cisco thinks I need a superhero name."
"He's been like this all morning," Caitlin added.
"I think it's great," Cisco butted back in. "It fits you perfectly. Telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation. Triple T!"
"That's great Cisco," I said dryly. "But it's sounds like a car or plane or a hamburger or something. And what if I discover another power? What will I be then?"
Cisco blanked, staring from me to the board then back to me.
"It was a good try," I said. "But maybe not your best."
"C'mon," Caitlin chuckled. "Let's do this check up."
I walked into Caitlin's office and sat on the bed. "So, how's our resident sleeper?"
Caitlin looked over to the comatose man in the middle of the Cortex. Barry Allen. He had been like that for 3 months, falling into a coma after being struck by lightning on the night of the particle accelerator explosion.
"He's doing fine," said Caitlin, flashing a bright light in my eyes. "Nothings changed in the last week."
"It's good to know he's stable."
Caitlin took the light away from my eyes. "I was wondering if you could maybe...?"
I looked at her. "Read his mind?"
She nodded.
"Caitlin, I only get flashes from him, and that's on a good day. There's no assurance I'll see anything."
"Can you try?" She pleaded. I softened.
"Of course," I hopped off the bed and took Barry's hand. "Here goes nothing."
Pushing into his mind was like falling out of a plane with no parachute into a thunderstorm. I fumbled for anything I could, but there was too much, going too fast. I latched on to what I could.
Joe
Playground
Iris
Mom
Pizza
Felicity
Jitters
Oliver
Home
Lady Gaga
I let go of his mind.
"Anything?" Cisco said, reaching out a hand to steady me.
"Lady Gaga." That was the only thing that was new. That and Felicity and Oliver, but I wasn't about to dive into that.
"What?" Cisco asked.
"Flashes, Cisco, remember?"
"Well then, I'm going to be adding Lady Gaga to my working playlist," Cisco said. "Maybe it'll wake him up"l."
"Cisco, I'm doing my best. It's just..." I paused, considering my words carefully, "his brain isn't like everyone else. It's like it goes extra fast."
"Ooh, maybe his super power is extreme intellect," Caitlin said.
"Or super speed," Cisco chimed in.
"Or, get this, he might just be a comatose patient who can only think, and so he does a lot of it." I snarked. "Look, I know you two are super excited having him here, but my powers aren't perfect. For all we know, he might just be a normal guy who got unlucky."
"Or he could be a meta human," Cisco said.
"All I'm saying is that you shouldn't get your hopes up. I don't want you guys to be disappointed if he wakes up to be a normal guy," I said. "I'm sorry."
"She's right," Dr. Well chimed. "We shouldn't get too excited about Mr. Allen before he wakes up."
A cold shiver ran down my spine. Something about Dr. Wells was off. I had sensed it since the day of the particle accelerator explosion. There was something about the look in his eye, the way he moved, talked, and spoke that left me unsettled. I brushed it off, but there was something deep in my mind that screamed "BAD" when I looked at him.
He knows....
He's bad...
He's going to hurt you...
I snapped awake. The clock in the living room read 4:30 am. I sighed, sitting up and turning in the TV.
I wasn't getting any more sleep.