#6: Hero

The Flash
#6: First Steps Part 6
”Hero”

“It’s, uh, nice to meet you, Wally,” Barry greeted, extending his hand to be shaken.

Wally did just that, his lips curled up into a toothy grin. “Likewise…Barry, right?”

The blond nodded, before looking up at Joe. “Hey, Joe, would it be alright if I showed Wally around?”

Joe hadn’t expected such a favor, but he agreed nonetheless. “Sure. But you don’t need to feel compelled to—”

“Really, it’s no problem,” Barry said, as excitement built in Wally’s chest.

“Nice guy Barry back at it again,” Daniel cooed, patting Barry on the back.

Joe offered Barry another smile in thanks and then turned to his grandson. “Barry’s a good man. You could learn a thing or two from him.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Wally sarcastically responded.

“Joe, that’s not really…never mind. Wally, how about we…?” Barry motioned away, and Wally started to move in that direction, offering a slight wave back at his relatives in farewell.

The two strolled through the building for about a minute in silence. Barry didn’t have the courage to bring up his powers, just in case Wally did not in fact recognize him. On the other hand, the teen grew progressively more impatient, and before long couldn’t wait any longer to speak up.

“So how’d you get superpowers?” Wally blurted.

“Keep it down,” Barry urged, glancing around to make sure no one had heard him. He continued, “It’s a long story. The short of it is…lightning struck me.”

“Okay, fine. Don’t tell me,” Wally muttered, causing Barry to roll his eyes. The teen added, “But you’re gonna be a superhero, right?”

“Wally…”

“Oh, come on,” Wally insisted, stopping in place. “You can make a difference. I mean, can you imagine how many lives you could save?”

“Can you imagine how dangerous that would be for the people I love?” Barry argued.

“Yeah…but the risk is worth it. God, if I was in your shoes…” Wally trailed off, his gaze foggy.

Barry looked at the boy, but all he could think of was his mother. How he could have saved her life if he’d been fast enough. How he could save a hundred, maybe a thousand mothers so that their children never have to grow up with the shadow of death looming over them. How there would never have to be another kid like him.

“Y’know, my parents died in a car accident. I’m not saying it’s your fault, obviously, but…if you do nothing from now on, the people who are killed…their lives are on you,” Wally said, finally managing to look Barry in the eyes.

The blond didn’t know how to respond. Not just yet, anyway. So he decided to address the obvious.“

“Wally, regardless of what I do, you can’t tell anyone—”

“Don’t stress. I got you. Your secret’s safe with me,” Wally agreed. “Just…think about what I said, alright?”

Barry offered but a nod in reply, and then patted the boy on his back, saying, “Come on. Let’s get back you back to your grandpa.”

However, who they found waiting for them wasn’t in fact Joe, and was at least twice as scary. Iris West had planted herself in the ground with her hands on her hips, and glared at Wally as he approached her.

“Wallace West, you are in hot water,” Iris declared.

While the teen began to protest, Barry found himself transfixed by the person who was waiting beside Iris, someone he recognized but hadn’t expected to see in the police station of all places—Len Snart. The muscular man noticed Barry’s stare and smirked.

“What? Is this when I’m supposed to say, ‘surprise,’” Len joked.

“Barry…” Iris spoke over Wally after she recognized the predicament, “This is—”

“—Len. Len Snart,” Barry interrupted, struggling to contain his emotions. “I didn’t realize you two were—Len and I just met. Iris, we…I haven’t seen you since—”

“You woke up, yeah,” Iris admitted.

“When you were in my apartment building it was because you were visiting—”

“—Screwing—” Wally coughed out.

“—him…” Barry realized.

After shooting Wally an icy glare, Iris said, “Yeah, we’ve been dating…how long now? Five months?”

“Six in a week,” Len agreed.

“Wow. That’s…awesome. Um, I—I’m sorry; I just have to get back to work, but we should definitely catch up later,” Barry managed, desiring nothing more in that moment than to bury himself in a hole and die.

“Jitters. Sometime this week,” Iris threw out.

“Sure. I mean, yeah, sounds great,” Barry began to back up toward the labs, “Nice seeing you two, and, uh, nice meeting you, Wall—”

He cut himself off when he bumped into someone’s desk. After quickly apologizing to its occupant, he waved back at the others and then hurried off to the labs, silently scolding himself the whole way there.

…

Work cleared Barry’s head faster than a speeding bullet…until he had to help Forrest with the impossible case. It was then that he thought back to his conversation with Wally, and he struggled to think of anything other than the same two images. First, his mother’s corpse. Second, however, was something new, something brighter. The Flash, the fastest man alive, his favorite comic book superhero. His inspiration. Barry had always wanted to save lives, to make a difference, and now that he could…he couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

So when his workday ended, the instant he was in the clear, Barry sped down to STAR Labs. After getting clearance, he ran straight into Elias’ lab, only to find the scientist hunched over a shimmering orange tube. Chester was nowhere to be found, but Gehenna and Max had stationed themselves behind Elias, watching him work.

“Hey,” Barry greeted.

All three scientists jumped in surprise.

“Mr. Allen…my God,” Elias grumbled. He didn’t even try to fake a smile. “What do you need?”

“I came here to ask you guys for help…I want to do something more with my powers. I want to fight crime, save lives, act as a symbol of hope for this city,” Barry admitted.

“You want to be a superhero? Give me a break,” Max said, walking around the workbench to address Barry.

“That’s a…dangerous idea, Barry,” Gehenna agreed.

“If you want to get yourself killed, Allen, have at it, but leave us out of your silly crusade. We don’t have the time, nor the resources to help you,” Elias added.

“Just a few days ago, you would have done anything for me. What changed?” Barry wondered.

“A lot, including but not limited to the fact that I just discovered Arthur Park, one of the key figures in our company and the father of green energy, is leaving STAR Labs next year to go work for Ferris Air. So excuse me if I’m in a bad mood,” Elias spat, tossing tweezers aside.

Max jumped in, growing continuously more passionate as he spoke, “Regardless of our resources, Barry, just think. What’s gonna happen when you face someone who’s as fast as you, but has none of your morals? Or someone who’s invincible. The media’s calling these ‘gifted’ people ‘metahumans.’ Just think about that. We’ve got a fancy name for them now; that’s how mainstream super powers are becoming. If you follow through with this, some day one of the bad metas is gonna get lucky, and land a blow on you that you won’t recover from. Do you really want that? Do you really want to die?!”

“If I’m fast enough, that won’t be a problem,” Barry retorted.

“You don’t get it, Barry. This isn’t a game! You will die!” Max exploded, his voice suddenly quivering with emotion.

Gehenna reached out to him, but he shrugged her away, hurrying out of the room. Barry was speechless. He watched Max go, and after making eye contact with Gehenna, who silently nodded him on, he chased after his roommate. Elias offered only the briefest look of sympathy before he returned to his work.

Suddenly, Chester appeared through a side door, his hair a mess. “What happened? I heard screaming. Did the mongoose break out again?”

Gehenna sighed, shaking her head, “Go back to sleep, Chess.”

“Who...said I was…” Chester began, trying and failing to stifle a yawn. Finished, he said, “Um…I’ll get back to, uh…work.”

…

Max ducked into an open corridor and leaned against the wall. Taking a deep breath, he exasperatedly ran his hands over his face, and took a moment to gather himself. Composed, he began to turn back around right when a gust of wind blew through the hallway.

“Talk to me, Max.”

“Jesus, Barry!” Max had to step back to keep from falling in surprise. Barry had run up behind him at super speed.

The young CSI blushed, glancing away, before he managed, “Sorry. Still figuring this stuff out. I’ll…uh, speed around to your front next time, or say ‘hi’ in advance, or—”

“—just don’t do it.”

“—or not do it. Right. Normal speed to catch up to people from now on. You got it,” Barry agreed.

The two stood in place, silent. Max opened his mouth to speak and began to step around Barry, but the speedster stopped him before he could.

“Please, Max, we…” Barry shrugged. “I know we aren’t close. We barely know each other. But I want to make this work. You know my biggest secret. I’m not saying you have to tell me yours, but…tell me something.”

Max sighed, nodding as he leaned back against the wall. “You want to know why I’m against the ‘superhero’ gig? It’s because heroes get killed, Barry. Every. Day.”

“You said that already, and I—you’re right. Someone else is gonna come along with powers like mine. Someone—a lot of someones—are going to get powers, period, and they could kill me. But risking your life is part of the job. Cops know that going in, and so do I,” Barry argued.

”I fucking know that!” Max blurted. Barry was taken aback. Max looked away, and mustered the courage to continue, “My older brother, Jamie, was a cop. Our parents died when we were young, and while we had family on the reservation…”

His anger returned, but Barry could tell it wasn’t directed at him. Max managed to keep it contained. “It’s tough out there. You’re so isolated, it’s like you don’t exist, and to the government that’s true. It’s difficult to make a living, let alone support others, so…we left. Jamie became a police officer to make ends meet, to put me through college. He gave up all of his dreams, everything, for me, and yet he never stopped smiling. He stayed optimistic throughout it all. My brother, in and out of the house, was a hero…and all he got for it were two bullets in the chest.”

“He led a raid against this wacko cult that had been committing human sacrifices. The ‘high priest’ had a gun. Jamie tried to talk him down. He could have shot him, taken him down before the nutjob could react, but he was too kind to do that. Jamie believed in the goodness of people……Two shots. That’s all the priest got off. Both hit Jamie.”

Max finally looked Barry in the eyes. “You want to know why I’m so pessimistic about your chances? It’s not just because I’m practical, because I know this is the real world, not a comic book. It’s because when I look at you, Barry, I see my brother. I have since the day I first met you. I know when the time comes, you’ll put everyone’s life before yours—even the criminal’s. And that will get you killed.”

Barry began, “Max—”

Max interrupted him, “I never got the chance to tell my brother that… Don’t do it, Barry. For your own sake.”

“I have the opportunity to save lives, to change lives. I can’t pass that up,” Barry simply responded.

Max nodded in resignation. “In all your selflessness, Barry, you’ve forgotten to think about the people who care about you. What will they do when you’re gone?”

With that, Max returned to the lab, leaving Barry to watch him go, unsure of what to say.

…

After giving himself an eternity to think—what most people would consider half a minute—Barry followed Max back into the lab. There he found the remaining three scientists hard at work, including Chester, who’d set up shop at a work bench.

His mind set, Barry said, “I need a suit.”

All eyes, except Max’s, focused in on him. Elias scowled, tossing aside his tools and work goggles to address Barry. Before he could speak, however, Barry continued.

“Just a suit. I won’t ask for your help with anything else. You give me that, and I’ll never bother you again,” Barry finished.

“Mr. Allen, must I repeat myself? We don’t have the time, nor the resources to build you a fancy costume,” Elias retorted.

“Um, we don’t have to make him anything. The suit’s already been designed and produced,” Chester interjected, grinning excitedly. Elias looked back at him incredulously, but that didn’t faze him.

“What are you talking about?” Gehenna asked.

Chester rolled his eyes. “Does nobody listen to me around here? I told y’all days ago, Barry can use the suit I made for firefighters. I, uh…may have already tweaked it in preparation for this.”

Nobody knew what to say. Elias sighed and motioned Barry over.

“Go on then,” he grumbled.

Chester’s face lit up like a Christmas tree and he hurried over to a side door covered with a poster labeled, ‘DO NOT ENTER. GENIUS AT WORK.’ Below it, another that read, ‘This lab kills fascists.’ Barry walked over to him, grinning as he looked over the door.

“It’s good to see you, Chess. And I like your posters,” Barry said.

“You think those are cool, wait till you see the toys,” Chester remarked, leading Barry inside.

Chester Runk’s lab was, in simplest terms, geek heaven. Littered with posters, figures, books, and comics, it bled nerd…and that was without mentioning the tech. A number of his projects were strewn about the room in such a fashion that it looked like a tornado had hit it. Some sparkled curiously. Others hummed like they were about to explode, but Chester paid them no mind. In the middle of the mess was the king of all ‘toys,’ the thing Barry cared most about—the suit.

Colored a sleek crimson patterned with yellow lightning bolts around the arms and across the waste, the suit looked incredible. Chester had designed the boots with a matching yellow shade, and workshopped a mask that seemed simultaneously protective and comfortable. Best of all was the heart of the costume—a smooth white emblem that surrounded a gleaming gold lightning bolt.

“Same MO as the boots. You don’t have to worry about friction, and it should be comfortable. The only downside? Not much protection, but if you run fast enough that won’t be a problem…” Chester explained, fading off when he noticed Barry looking down at his phone. “You good?”

It was his father. Barry declined the call, figuring it could wait, and stuffed the phone back in his pocket before he could check it for texts. His father was probably just asking about dinner. Henry wasn’t the most patient guy, and this wouldn’t have been the first time he’d bugged Barry about nothing important.

“Yeah, um…why no lenses?” Barry wondered, trying to get back on track.

“You haven’t had an issue with, er, bugs, have you?” Chester said.

“No.”

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem. Figure you’ve got some baseline aura that protects you. Might help you survive getting, like, punched off a building, too,” Chester hypothesized.

“Happy thoughts, Chess,” Barry said.

“Right. My bad.”

Barry couldn’t stop smiling. Just looking at the suit sent sparks down his spine. He wanted to take off running, and never stop.

“Thank you,” Barry said, stepping forward to touch the costume. He looked over at Chester, “This means a lot to me.”

Chester blushed, looking away, “Well, y’know, it’s my pleasure. Just repay me by kicking some bad guy ass, yeah?”

Barry chuckled, “You got it, man.”

In the blink of an eye, Barry boxed up the costume and held it at his side. On their way out of the room, Chester said, “I have to ask, you thought of a name yet?”

Barry’s lips curled up into a sly grin. “You ever read comics?”

“Who do you think I am—Max?” Chester retorted.

Barry snorted, amused, paused a second, and then said, “I was thinking I’d go with the Flash.”

Chester smiled. “Dude, great minds think alike.”

He extended his fist to be bumped, to which Barry happily obliged.

“Allen! Look up!” Max called.

Barry first glanced at Max, before realizing he, and everyone else in the room, were staring at the TV screen. The camera was fixed on two pictures. The first was of a middle-aged white man and the second a young Latina woman. The headline read: ‘KILLER’S COUNT SKYROCKETS.’

“…both victims, George Taylor and Lana Moreno, had no living relatives…” droned the reporter.

Barry’s phone buzzed in his pocket, but he ignored it, transfixed by the news.

“While you two were busy bro-ing out, the whole city found out about the impossible case,” Max remarked.

Gold light flashed and an unnatural wind picked up. By the time Max turned around, Barry had already left the building.

…

Entering his precinct’s HQ, Barry discovered the building was in chaos. He had expected as much, but to actually see it…the news had set the city on fire. He ran up to the police lab, and hunted through the crowd of frantic scientists to find his supervisor, James Forrest.

“Hey, what can I do to help?” Barry asked, placing his costume box onto a table beside him.

The older scientist looked up, equally surprised and delighted to see Barry.

“Thank God. Barry, I need you to run a fingerprint for me,” Forrest said, shoving a glass slip into his hands.

“No problem. Is everyone else working on the—”

“—the case that blew up the internet? Of course,” Forrest began to hurry away, before realizing Barry hadn’t moved. “What? No one’s told you?”

“News got out about some of the victims,” Barry said.

“Some? Barry, they all leaked. The whole case did. But what’s worse, what’s really made this go viral, the count keeps rising,” Forrest said, turning away again.

“Wait, what count?” Barry pushed.

Forrest sighed, stopping only for a moment to say, “The murders, Barry. There have been eight every hour for the last three hours.”

And with that, Forrest disappeared into the crowd, while Barry remained frozen in place. He looked down at the fingerprint sample, then to the costume box, and finally up at the doorway. This wasn’t even a debate for him. He set the glass aside, grabbed the box, and pushed his way through the crowd to the entrance. Without a moment to lose, he sprinted out of the building, and the second he could he changed into his suit, creating a whirlwind of red.

…

Golden lightning trailed after Barry as he raced through Central City, checking every nook, cranny and crack. Nothing in Brookfield Heights. Same in Chubbuck. Danville was clean. Downtown…?

Barry slowed as he caught sight of someone moving just as fast as he was. The figure was cloaked in red and seemed to vibrate its way into …STAR Labs?!

He turned to chase after the figure, and, realizing time wasn’t on his side, took a deep breath and focused. The figure looked as if it had vibrated its molecules so quickly it phased through the wall, just like Barry had hypothesized all those months ago. Maybe he could mimic it…?

Barry sped up his molecules, and when he felt like he was moving fast enough he ran into the building…literally. As much as it hurt, he wasn’t seriously injured, and he’d managed to blow a hole through the wall. Grunting in pain, Barry sped down the halls, looking for the figure.

Barry heard an extended, low-pitch sound that he recognized as a scream distorted by his superfast senses. He ran toward its source, moving quickly down a familiar path through the halls of STAR Labs. Barry sped straight into Elias’ lab and discovered the cloaked figure had pinned Max against a wall with a bolt-shaped knife held to his throat.

As the other scientists watched, helpless, the cloaked figure raised its weapon. Barry furrowed his brow in determination and blindsided the figure. Crashing onto a table, it tried to recover, but Barry stopped it in time. He then pushed the figure against the wall and held it there.

Slowing down, Barry removed the figure’s hood, only to find a worry-worn face he recognized all too well.

“Dad…?” Barry muttered, looking into the gold-tinged eyes of his father, Henry Allen.