Surrender: The Flash (2)

21.2

21.2 at peace?

B A R R Y P O V

I sigh, my hands on my knees as I calm down, looking around. I find myself in a cemetery, a figure standing there, turned away from me. "Who are you pretending to be now?" I yell as the figure turns around, revealing dad. "I don't have time for this."

"Yes, you do, Barry," He says. "You have all the time in the universe... literally."

"No, I don't," I argue, walking over to him. "And how can you stand there in judgment and accuse me of rejecting my gift? Do you have any idea how much I've done since I was first struck by lightning, how many people I've helped with the power that you gave me... what I've sacrificed?"

"Of course we do," He says. "You've saved countless lives... And now you're the only thing standing in between your world and unspeakable evil." I follow him farther into the cemetery. "And yet, for all of that, you've never been here. I can't believe he's coming here."

I look down to what he was referring to and freeze, seeing my mother's name on the gravestone. My hand falls on my face as I sit down, looking at it.

"Why did you bring me here?" I ask.

"Your mother's death happened to you, Barry," He tells me. "It made who you are, but have you accepted it, really accepted losing her? Maybe that's why you couldn't come here... 'cause that would make it real."

"I know it's real," I say, tears falling, my voice wavering. "Every day I know it. I had a chance to save her. You saw what I chose."

"And you're at peace with that decision?" He asks.

"At peace?" I repeat with a scoff. "How could someone ever be at peace with letting his mother die... Deciding that his life was more valuable than hers?"

"Do you really think your mother would've wanted you to die for her?" He asks, crouching down next to me. "And out of all the people the Flash saved as a result of that decision, what about them? Do their lives have value too?"

I look up and see the figure speed by as I stand up. "I don't have to listen to this. I have to get home," I say running after it.

🔥⚡️

O L I V I A P O V

"Liv!" Iris yells running into S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Is that zombie still behind you?" I ask.

"Good news is we lured Tony back to S.T.A.R. Labs," Joe says.

"Bad news is we lured Tony back to S.T.A.R. Labs," Iris says,

"No, no. This is good," I say, "Okay, so Iris, you're gonna have to distract him so that he doesn't turn into steel and that I can burn him. That okay?"

"Yeah, Yeah," She sighs. Girder slowly walks in and Iris looks at him. "Hi." He stares at her as she slowly starts stepping backwards. I slip behind him as his eyes focus on her. I get my powers the moth lethal they can be and when Iris hits the wall, Girder against her, I burn him to smithereens, his ashes falling to the ground.

"Okay, lets go," I say as we head over to where Henry and Harry were, Jesse in a medical bed in the room. "Now," I sigh, looking at everyone below me as I was standing on the steps higher above them. "Let's get Barry back, shall we?"

B A R R Y  P O V

I run, stopping when the shadow runs past me. I look ahead to find my childhood home and walk into it, chuckling to myself.

I walk into the living room and falter in words, looking to see the figure in front of me. "Mom."

"Hi, Barry," She responds with a smile.

"You're not my mother," I say, although I want to go over and hug her. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"We're not doing anything to you, sweetheart," She responds. "You're just so tired. Sit, Barry. Sit."

I walk over, sitting down in the chair in front of her. "You were right all along. I haven't accepted it... not for a second," I say. "I don't think I ever will."

Her hand falls on mine. "My beautiful boy... You have to find a way."

"How?" I ask, tears falling on my face.

"I don't know," She answers. "But I know this. What you've become... It's wonderful... a miracle even, but it won't make bad things stop happening to you. Even the Flash can't outrun the tragedies the universe is gonna keep sending your way. You have to accept that. And then you can truly run free."

My voice breaks as I nod. "I know. I just miss her. I miss you so much," I say, my voice wavering as I cry.

"What if I told you that she's proud of you? And of the man that you've become?" She says.

"Who's telling me that... the Speed Force or my mother?" I ask.

"Both," She says, her hand on my cheek.

🔥⚡️

I'm now sitting down on the couch, my mother next to me, holding a book in her hands. "Do you remember this book? It was always your favorite," She asks and starts reading from it. I watch with a smile, feeling truly happy. "Once there was a little dinosaur called a Maiasaur, who lived with his mother. One day, he told his mother, 'I wish I were special like the other dinosaurs. If I were a T. rex, I could chomp with my ferocious teeth!'

"'But if you were a T. rex,' said his mother, 'how would you hug me with your tiny little arms?'" I finish from memory, staring at her. "I wish I were an Apatosaurus,' said the little dinosaur, 'so with my long neck I could see high above the treetops.' 'But if you were an Apatosaurus,' said his mother, 'how would you hear me in the treetops when I told you I love you? What makes you so special, little Maiasaur?' said his mother. 'Is it your ferocious teeth or long neck or pointy beak? What makes you special is out of all of the different dinosaurs in the big, wide world, you have the mother who is just right for you and who will always'"

"Love you," We day in unison

"You're ready," She says with a nod as I nod back. I stand up as the figure speeds in front of me. I open my eyes to find myself staring back at me. And then suddenly, I'm in my suit, the figure gone.