The Consequence Of Selfishness

Every Cloud Has A Golden Lining

Barry yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he sauntered into the cortex. It was early on a Saturday morning, but they had work to do. He ran a hand through his fluffy hair and greeted his colleagues. Caitlin and Cisco were waiting for him. They looked up at him with welcoming smiles, "good morning Barry," Caitlin greeted him.

"Any news?" He asked as he collapsed into one of the many comfortable chairs in the room. He had gone to bed too late last night, but he and Iris had stayed up late to watch the great British bake off, it was a show they had just found and interest in.

"No, nothing important," Cisco huffed. He always loved a good bit of news. He himself was also very tired, but that was to be expected when he wakes up at three A.M to watch gaming tournaments take place all around the world.

"Barry you got a letter," Caitlin rolled her eyes at the pair, it would seem she was the only responsible one. She had been the only responsible one because she went to sleep on time. They had agreed to meet this Saturday for quite a long time, so they had no excuse for staying up late.

Barry immediately peeked up as she handed him a cream envelope with a golden trim. It was sealed with red wax and it had a blue printed 'D' on the front cover. Barry sighed as dread washed over him. He knew who this was from. Iris's walked in, she had taken the elevator. She wore a kind smile and her curled hair bounced with every step she took. Barry looked up at her in adoration as she sat next to him. She greeted the others, but the letter caught her attention, "what's that a letter for?" She asked quizzicality as she looked at Barry.

"It's from Dalton academy," Barry sighed as he peeled off the wax. Caitlin and Cisco couldn't help but notice the way that Irises blood drained from her face. That meant it couldn't be good.

He opened the envelope and smoothly pulled out the letter, it was fancy paper. It looked like the stuff Barry had made as a child from dipping normal paper in tea. The edges were lined with golden ink and the blue and red Dalton symbol was placed in the top right hand corner of the letter. Barry felt his chest tighten as he read the writing, it read:

Dear Barry Allen,
I know you must find this rather peculiar, but I am writing to you on behalf of your brother. My name is Trent Nixon, I am a friend of Sebastian's. You should know it was incredibly difficult to get your brother to even tell us he had a sibling, never mind your first name. So I understand if you completely want to ignore this letter since you don't seem to be close, but I think Sebastian needs help. He has changed recently, not for the better either. He has become snappy and rather violent. His grades are falling drastically and we are very worried about him. I wasn't sure what to do, I tried to tell the professors, but they brushed it off. It was bad for their reputation you see, so you were my last resort since I can't find his parents. Sebastian has a show with the glee club he is in charge of in two weeks and if you want to help, the please meet us there, the details are on the Dalton website,
-Trent Nixon and the Dalton Warblers

Iris's eyes rose up to meet Barry's with concern and alarm. The Flash just sighed, he had nearly forgotten about his younger brother. He folded the letter and stuffed it in his pocket, he could worry about that later, however, Caitlin and Cisco were very curious, "what was it for?" Cisco asked slyly.

"It's about my brother," Barry sighed as he ran a hand down his face. This was the last thing he needed. He and Sebastian hadn't gotten along well, aside from when Sebastian was really young, but back then Barry wasn't interested in having a little brother.

"Wait, what?" Caitlin asked, they had done their research on Barry and never once had they come across Barry having a sibling, "you have a brother?"

"Yes, I have a little brother," Barry groaned, he hated that they knew. He knew that he couldn't ignore the letter, as much as he wanted to. He would have to go.

"Really? Why haven't we heard about him?" Cisco complained. Him and Barry were close friends and he was only just finding out that he had a brother? What kind of friendship did they have?

"Well I haven't seen him since he turned fourteen," Barry replied as he sat back into his seat and looked to Iris for support. He wasn't sure he was ready to face this now. He wasn't sure he would ever be.

"Why not?" Caitlin was interested now. She hadn't pictured Barry as the type that would forget about a family member. Something was off, very off.

"We never got along," Barry explained, more to himself than anything, "we were just too different," Barry began to pull up forgotten memories of his brother, "jeez, he would be a junior by now,"

"Wow, he is quite a bit younger than you," Cisco was still in a state of shock, "he must have been really young when your mother died,"

"He was three months," Barry sighed. It pained him slightly that his little brother had been an orphan his whole life, "Joe couldn't take in a baby so he was put in the system," he kind of regretted not spending more time with his brother, but the past was in the past.

"What was the letter for?" Caitlin asked as she narrowed her eyes at Barry. She could tell he was uncomfortable with this situation, so she wanted to try and divert the attention from his brother.

"It was from his friends, they are worried about him, apparently he has become violent and rude as well as his grades dropping," Barry explained to them with a heavy heart. He supposed that he might as well at the very least check on his brother to make sure he was okay.

"Doesn't he have foster parents or something?" Cisco asked, surly since Barry had such little contact with his brother, then it wouldn't be his responsibility to help him.

"Yes, he has an adoptive family, his father is a lawyer and his mother is a doctor," Iris explained for Barry, who seemed to be struggling for words, "but aside from that, we have very little information on them, aside from the brief time we were introduced,"

"So the person that sent me this, Trent, couldn't find a way to contact them, so they came to me," Barry finished explaining for his wife, who simply smiled happily.