Reality Check : : Barry Allen/The Flash

11

I wake up thrashing around and nearly throwing myself out of bed accidentally. Tears are streaming down my face and I feel constricted by the blankets that are tangled around my legs.

"Cara?! Hey, what's wrong? I heard you screaming." Ben rushes over to me from where he's just thrown my bedroom door open, and when he pulls me into his arms, I cling to him.

"I-I was t-there. I w-was in the c-car." I sob loudly into his shirt. He pulls me tightly against himself, hurting me a little but it's nothing compared to what I just experienced.

"It's okay, Cara. It was a nightmare. It wasn't real. You're safe here." Ben assures me, stroking my hair. I feel like some kind of animal, and for a moment I'm distracted from the dream. No, the memories.

Now you know.

"I-I don't wanna go b-back to s-sleep." I sob, terrified. I don't want to relive that again. I don't want to relive anything from Cara's life. I want to go home. I want to be with my real parents while they're still around.

"You don't have to now. It's almost five in the morning anyway." Ben tells me. I pull away slightly from him when I realise that he's about to leave for work.

"Do you h-have to go?" I ask quietly. I know I don't get along with my Ben, but even if this was him right now instead of Cara's Ben, I'd hug him to pieces. He's all the family I have at the moment.

"Yeah, I do. MJ's gonna be here in an hour, but I can ask her over earlier if it'll help you feel better." Ben says. I nod vigorously and wipe my eyes, a series of white scars on my left arm catching my attention as I move my arm. I quickly hide them from my view.

"Ben, I've been t-thinking, and I w-want to get a d-dog. I know y-you're at work a l-lot, and I just want to h-have something constantly w-with me." I sniffle quite a few times, and I know my cheeks won't dry for a while yet. Ben helps me into my wheelchair and gives me a sad, pitying smile.

"Sure. We aren't allowed pets, but I can talk to the owners of the building about it if I leave now. Are you gonna be okay to wait for MJ by yourself?" He asks. I nod hesitantly, knowing that I don't really have any other options if I want to get Wolfgang.

"I-I'll be fine." I can tell Ben knows I'm lying, but that's okay because I sort of want him to understand that this is still affecting me.

"Okay. I'll be back at six tonight with dinner." He tells me, then kisses my head gently and leaves.

When I'm alone again, more tears slide down my cheeks as flashes of the memory pass through my mind oh so vividly. My smiling parents, then my unconscious, probably already dead parents. Lots of broken glass. Lots of bright red blood.

Now you know.

"Yeah, y-you've said that."

You are upset. We did not expect this.

"The least you c-could do next t-time is tell m-me it's a d-dream." I take a few deep breaths and anger replaces my sadness, no matter how I try to hold both back. "I thought that was real. I felt all of that pain. I watched my parents die, so you should be able to forgive me for feeling a little sad."

Those were not your parents.

"I'm Cara and Cara's me, remember? Besides, I didn't know it wasn't actually happening. I thought I'd dreamt you and this crazy Flashverse adventure up. I thought those were my parents, and I only realised what was happening when I woke up. You have no idea what seeing something like that does to a person, especially when it's so realistic."

We are sorry for the inconvenience, but it had to be done. You had to know.

"Inconvenience?" I ask incredulously. "You think that was inconvenient? Oh boy, you really are stupid, aren't you?"