Canary After Lightning

Six

I dialled my father's number sitting on my bed and sighing, it rang for a few seconds before he picked up, "Hello?" Dad came over.

"Dad," I said.

"Avery, I heard about the Particle Accelerator, are you okay?" He asked. I could hear my sisters in the background.

"I'm fine, but... Barry was struck by lightning" I said. 

"What?" He asked, "That's- no"

"Yea, he uh... He was holding onto a chain and a lightning bolt came through the sunroof of his lab and he was struck by lightning. He's in a coma" I said, "I was near him, I could have reacted better, told him to let go of the chain, drag him out of the lab, but..."

"Do not blame yourself, Avery, no one can ever expect that," he said.

"I have a cursed love life" I sighed.

"You do not have a cursed love life," He said, "Don't put yourself down for something you have no control over, you can do extraordinary things, but you can't control everything" 

"It would be a lot easier if I could"

~

Weeks, it had been 3 weeks since Barry was struck by lightning. I had been helping the West family as much as possible, I even started working at CCPD, taking up Joe's shifts when he wanted to be with Barry.

I was working to permanently work with CCPD, going through transfer documents and doing what I needed. "Detective Lance!" Singh called. I made my way into his office.

"Yes, sir?" I asked.

"One last round of papers" He held up the folder.

"Really?" I asked. 

"Yep," He said, "One step closer to becoming one of Central City's finest"

"Great," I said, taking the folder.

"Get those to me by tomorrow, you'll have your CCPD badge by Friday" He smiled, "Now go visit Allen"

~

Barry hadn't changed since the last visit, but I like to think he is. I sat at the chair near his bedside and pulled out the folder, starting to fill out the paperwork. "Detective Lance" A voice came, I looked back to see Harrison Wells in a wheelchair, two people standing behind him. 

"Dr. Wells," I said, standing up. "What are you doing here?"

"How is his condition?" He asks, ignoring my question.

"Hasn't changed since the day he arrived," I crossed my arms.

"His flatlining really causes a power outage?" The younger male with him asked.

"Yes," I said, "No one can explain it"

I took Barry's hand and sat down. "How long have you known him?" The woman asks.

"Only a few weeks, but some people can make a big impact in that time," I said. I was going to ask them what they wanted when Barry started flatlining again and I was pushed to the side of the room. 

The doctors rushed to him again as the power went out yet again. Everyone rushed around with flashlights, attempting to get Barry back to normal, and he went back to normal again as Joe and Iris came in.

"What happened?" Joe asked.

"He started coding again," I said. "Dr. Wells from STAR labs is here"

"What?" Iris asked. Wells rolled over and started talking to Joe.

"We want to take Barry to STAR Labs, Caitlin here is a doctor who can give him round-the-clock care and we can monitor him far more closely" Wells offered.

"Why should we? Your Particle Accelerator exploded the city" Joe said.

"Dad, I think we should talk about this" Iris said.

"What's there to talk about, Iris?"Joe asked.

"Who better save him than the people put him in this condition?" I said. Iris and Joe looked at me, "That beacon fed the storm cloud that produced the lightning that hit him" Everyone looked at me surprised. "I was stuck on an island in the North China sea for 5 years, but I'm not dumb"

"You saying you can wake him up?" Joe looked at the scientist.

"I'm saying we can help far more than the hospital" Wells stated.

~

So Joe and Iris agreed and Barry was moved to STAR Labs. The Lab had been pretty much abandoned after the explosion and all that was left was Dr. Wells, Dr. Caitlin Snow, and Cisco Ramon. 

"You can visit whenever you want," Wells said, leading us the Barry who was connected to better equipment and monitored far better than at the hospital.

"He's going to be safe here?" Iris asked.

"Of course, Miss West" Wells nodded, "We'll do everything we can to protect him until he wakes up"

"Great" Joe said.

"Now we wait for him to wake up"

"So, what do you like to do, other than run everywhere?" I asked, taking a sip of my wine. 

"Heh, I usually hang out with my family, Sunday dinners, lunches. I also really like baseball, not good at it though, and I am really, really good at bowling" Barry smiled. "You?"

"I was big on gymnastics once upon a time, but now I mostly volunteer to train them. I love watching old movies and TV shows, oh, and I love music, musicals specifically" I said.

"What's your favourite Musical?" He asked.

"Between Chicago and... Wizard of Oz" I said.

"Can you sing something?" He asks I gave him a look, "Come on"

"Fine," I said, "Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, and the dream that you dream of, Once in a lullaby"

"That was amazing," He said.

"I haven't actually sung in a while" I giggled.

"Well, you're truly amazing," He said.

After we finished dinner, we paid the bill and ended up walking around the city for what seemed like hours, talking to each other, opening up about anything and everything.

"So, what made you want to become a forensic scientist?" I asked.

"My mom, actually," He said, "She died when I was eleven, murdered. The police, judge, and jury blamed my father, but it wasn't him... I know it"

"Who killed her then?" I asked.

"You wouldn't believe me," He said, we stopped and looked at each other.

"You underestimate my beliefs," I said. "You can tell me, Barry"

"The night she was killed, there was... yellow lightning going in circles around her," He said, "There was a man in a yellow suit, and one second I was there and the next I was blocks away"

"Wow" I said, "Did you get a look at the man in the yellow suit?"

"Wait, you actually believe me?" He asks.

"Of course," I said, "I told you, you underestimate my beliefs"

"No, he had a mask on," He said.

"Eyes?" I asked.

"Glowing red" He replied.

"Hmm" I sighed, "Maybe an alien"

"Alien?" He asked, "Why would aliens kill my mother?"

"True, they'd probably go for the president," I said, "Maybe it was the wrong place, wrong time, maybe he wasn't trying to kill your mother"

"Maybe," He said, "But he could've confessed to make up for it, my father been in jail for 15 years for a crime he didn't commit"

"Some people take til there deathbed to confess," I said, "But you can't give up on looking for the real killer"

"I don't plan on stopping"