My eyes faded in and out of reality while my numb body sat lifelessly on a chair in the cortex.
This... This wasn't possible.
They had found me minutes later crouched over her curtained life in that dastardly place. For being the fastest man alive Barry sure had the worse timing, he told me he came as soon as he could, though I doubt he knew what he had been about to find.
"I... I-" I tried to make words but instead, stammering fell from my lips.
A hand rested on my back, though I couldn't bare to glance up to who it was. "Willow..." he breathed, "I can't imagine the pain you must be in but we need your help."
I stuttered as I took in a breath, "o-ok."
"Who..." he paused not finding the words, "did this?"
My eyes grew wide and broke from their lifeless stare as the events of today flashed through my mind. My lips parted but I couldn't release the name, even the thought of it made me seize up.
With no response Barry spoke again, "I ask because... we have a guy in the pipeline Ralph caught fleeing the scene who looked like he got ruffed up..." he continued to speak but my ears stopped listening and my blood ran cold.
My body took action before I could even tell it to. I speedily sat up and strode to the exit not willing to stop or hold for nobody. "Hold up, Willow where you going?" he called after me. Through pure rage, my pace sped up and I broke into a run as I fled down the winding halls of the felicity and towards the pipeline.
They knew where I was going... I was off to get my revenge. That monster took everything away from me, he had to pay.
As I rounded the corner a hand sharply pulled my arm back and I scowled, "Let. me. go."
"I can't let you hurt him," I knew that voice, I twisted my head around and came eye to eye with Dibny. I struggled against his hold and tried desperately to trudge forward.
When I didn't prevail I let my teared up eyes lock with his. "Dibny!" I yelled.
"I-I... I can't," he stuttered before making his final decision, "you have to understand-"
The pure anger boiled up inside of me and in a burst, I kicked against him and for a split-second, his hold on me wavered. Taking advantage of it I desperately pushed forward and made it to the entrance of the room. My wild eyes landed on the cell on the other side.
I stopped fighting and let my arms fall numb. No, "No, no, no, no, no," I stammered, staring at the stranger in the cell, "No!"
I fell down to my knees and began to cry. That wasn't the devil that did this to me, it was just some poor man from the streets. A confused Dibny bent down to comfort me but I shook him off.
Wiping my eyes I said, "You got the wrong guy!"
That's it. He was gone forever.
Ralph looked up at the man behind bars, "... what?" he paused, "I swear-"
I closed my eyes tightly and I took in a stuttery deep breath.
"You got the wrong guy," I shakily repeated with tears staining my cheeks.
"Willow I'm- I'm so sorry-" Ralph tried to explain but I shut him out.
I buried my head in the crook of my knees and rocked slowly back and forwards. I couldn't deal with this. All this false hope that I would find him- that I could make sure he knew he made a huge mistake.
Iris came up behind me, "Willow... can I give you a ride home?" she asked and after a minute I solemnly nodded.
...
Iris stepped out of my apartment and I got to be alone for the first time since the incident- I don't know if that's a good thing. The room was dark and grey and I had to feel around the wall to find the light switch. The lights flickered on and I headed straight to my bedroom, I could already feel the tears begin to fill my eyes. I flopped down onto the bed and like a facet it all came flowing out.
Death is funny that way, once it dawns on you that it's all real everything comes crashing down. She's gone forever. The murder got away with it. And life will never be the same again.
...
2 Weeks Later
The dark and dull apartment was flooded with bright morning light as I opened the blinds for the first time in a while. The last couple of weeks... how do I say this? The last couple of weeks pretty much everything went downhill. It turns out, my mother wasn't the only person who was murdered that night... Clifford Devoe was also on the grim reapers hit list. To make things worse, it was only Devoes body that was demolished, he somehow found a way to transfer his big beautiful brain to another host. Do you all want to know the best part? Barry was framed for the bodies murder.
It seemed that everything was happening so fast outside the safety of the unsuspecting city. The other day we hosted a funeral for Ann Blake, my mother. Everyone came out, well everyone besides Barry, who was convicted for the crime and is currently being held in Iron Heights for murder.
I looked out the window at the working world below me, they were all so unsuspecting of the crimes and villains closing in on them like a pack of lions hunting their prey. I noticed a father and his young daughter prancing along the sidewalk below me, if only it would be that easy to find Steven. I've been searching day and night, I mean what else can you do while wallowing in grief and despair for two weeks?
I jumped as a loud pound on the door rang throughout my ears and knocked me out of my daze of self-reflection. I furrowed my brows and faced the door, who in the world could that be? I stepped slowly towards the door, could it be a member of the team? The last thing I told them was that I needed some time off.
The person on the other side knocked once more and I hesitantly called out, "Who is it?"
There was a pause of silence and I tilted my head. "An old friend," they finally responded and my eyes lit up. With a smile, I opened the door and came once again face to face with Ralph Dibny. For the first time smile in ages, I'm glad it was the cause of him.
"Hi," I greeted simply and supported myself with a hand on the doorframe.
"Hi," he repeated back almost breathless, "I... I um, haven't seen you in a while."
"Yeah, I know... I've just had to work some stuff out you know? I needed time alone," I explained.
A small smile inched onto his face, "How about time alone with me?"
"It defeats the purpose," I retorted.
He stood in the doorway awkwardly and I offered for him to come in, "What brings you here?"
"Well, I have a tinsee-bitsy problem," he began and I rolled my eyes, this was going to take ages, "So you know how Barry isn't around anymore right?"
A sad smile crossed my lips, "yeah."
"Well, lately I- and I alone- have been carrying the whole team for superhero stuff."
"Yeah, I've seen the news, congrats stretchy man," I joked. It was a horrible name.
"So until today, I've been virtually indestructible. Then this new villain shows up with an acid that burns through the skin and bones and I need your help," he finished.
"Uh... sorry to break it to ya pal but I'm not immune to acid either," I responded.
"I know that, but you're one of the smartest people I know and I think that you can help me beat this guy!"
"We know plenty of smart people; Cisco, Caitlyn, Wells, Barry..." I listed names off the top of my head.
"But you're witty," he counteracted.
"Just zip-zap-zop into Iron Heights and ask Barry... Ralph, I'm not ready to get out there again."
"I've already talked to Barry," he said simply.
I paused for a minute, "...and?"
"I need you for the plan I have," he backed up confidently and I considered the offer.
His eyes were hopeful as he stared at me like he knew what I was about to say, I smiled. "Nope," I deadpanned harshly.
"What?!" he gaped hysterically as I began to shove him out of my apartment.
"What do you mean Nope?" he furrowed his brows. "You can't just say Nope, the city needs you!" he begged.
I got him through the doorway, "I told you, Ralph, I'm not ready!" I wasn't lying, y mind wasn't in the headspace to save the whole city... I don't think it ever will be.
I tried to push the door close but his resisted, "Ralph..." I said sternly.
"Please," he whispered, "please..."
My lips sadly smiled as my eyes began to tear up, "I-I... I can't."
With a final push the door closed and I locked it. A tear rolled down my cheek as I slid down the door and leaned against it. I heard him wait outside his lost opportunity for a couple of minutes before I heard the echo of his footsteps slowly walk away.
"I'm sorry," I sniffled and wiped my eyes, "I'm sorry."
How was I supposed to ever move on? I wish that one morning I could just wake up like nothing happened- though I knew that it would never happen. If I couldn't even save my mom how could I ever save a whole city?
I sat there with the guilt filling my chest. But... what if Ralph dies now because I didn't help him? That would be on me too.
A loud blaring noise came from the TV in my living room and I lifted myself up to see what was happening. The television went static before a masked face and a woman overtook the screen.
"The hell?" I said discouraged.
The nut jobs stood huddling together and snickering in joy as one of them exclaimed, "We asked for one hero. But now!- we got two!" he devilishly laughed as he sidestepped and presented Killer Frost and Vibe tied up.
My heart dropped, no. The sidekick women giggled, "It's time for our Showcase Showdown, so let's spin the wheel, and see what fun prize awaits our new friends!"
I could immediately tell that these two had more than a few screws loose. That meant that they for sure weren't bluffing with anything they were saying. The male dramatically spun the wheel- it looked like the ones from carnivals- and watched it turn in desire.
"Acid-" the recording cut out and the TV went static again. That's when it happened- the thing I feared the most happened. The moral compasses in my heart went a-wall and I knew that I couldn't just watch this disaster unfold on TV and do nothing. I had... HAD to do something.
I groaned and rolled my eyes to the back of my head, I stormed over to my bed and grumpily murmured as I bent down and pulled out a black leather case from under it.
I hated myself for opening the case and pulling out the super suit Cisco gifted me. "Why must my dumb hero compass have to do the right thing?" I complained and put on the skin-tight hero-wear.
On the way to the door, the corner of my eye caught my reflection in the mirror. I stopped hustling and came to a halt. A small smile crawled its way onto my face at the sight of the suit on me. I hadn't even gotten the chance to wear this in public yet, Cisco sure did a good job though.
I got my mind in the right headspace before slipping out the door and closing it.
I'm going to be completely honest- I absolutely had no clue what I was doing. I didn't know where this criminals base was, I didn't have a way to get there and to be honest, I hadn't used my powers since the incident. And yet, here I was, stalking towards danger head-on.
I broke into a sprint when I hit the buzzing streets of the city. What in the world was I thinking? Ralph and the others could already be dead! I could've already missed my shot.
Abruptly my legs skidded to a stop when my eyes locked with a nearby television on display through a store's windows. There was a small group of people huddled around the screen and being curious I pushed my way to get a sight at what they were all staring at.
"Is it true that you took down Prank and the Trickster single-handedly?" a female reporter asked out of amazement. I couldn't believe my eyes. There he stood, proud and tall as the two criminals were shoved into a cop car behind him. He... he did it. Ralph beat them all by himself.
I couldn't help but smile at the small bits of pride filling me from head to toe. He opened his mouth to answer but another reported budded in, "How long have you been a superhero?"
He again was about to answer but the swamp of news teams got the best of him, "Are you single?" another called from the back. My head tilted in anticipation.
He finally responded, "Yes, about an hour, oh, haven't been for a while." His eyes landed on the screen as though he knew I was watching.
"I'm sure the people of Central City would love to thank you, Stretchy man," the women prompted.
"Ugh," he groaned, "That's not my name!"
"Then what should we call you?" she wondered, "I mean, you do stretch."
"No, I don't stretch, I contort. I elasticize. I... I elongate, man," he explained. With those words, a wave of Deja Vu overtook me when I realized that sentence held meaning. Elongate, man... that-that's his name in the future! Elongated man! I guess Gidan was right... is she right about everything?
Not knowing where to go I headed to S.T.A.R. labs to check in on the team. As per usual they were all gathered in the Cortex. Iris's eyes lit up when she saw me and the rest of the teams' attention was drawn to me.
"Willow!" she exclaimed and ran in for a hug.
She pulled away after a few seconds and asked concerned, "Where have you been? We've missed you."
I softly smiled, "I've been... figuring some stuff out." I decided on those words- it would be in the best interest that I didn't draw attention to myself right now. This was Dibny's day.
"But now you're back," Harry assumed and pointed to my attire.
My eyes widened, "Um yeah..." I looked at Ralph, "I think you have Mr. Stretch over there to thank for it."
"It's Elongated man now," Cisco mentioned.
"I know," I smiled and walked over to Dibny to pull him off to the side.
"What's up? I thought you weren't ready to jump back into the world of tights and spandex?" he joked.
"I just... I just wanted to thank you," I said seriously.
"For what?"
"For making me remember that people out there need us- that we need to be the best version of ourselves and protect them. The Flash isn't around anymore... I can't just sit back and relax knowing that I could do something to save the day. You showed me that," I said warmhearted.
Ralph smiled, "does this mean I can start seeing you again?"
I rolled my eyes and nodded playfully. I swear, this goofball will be the death of me.
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Hey lovely readers! Haha I feel like I say this a lot but sorry for messing an update! This was a difficult chapter to write and I ended up re writing it at least 3 times :/ I hope I finally got it right though.
Did y'all see the Flash Final?!? That shit was crazyyyyyyyyy! Let me know your reaction!