Multifandom One-shots

The Flash (Team Flash Helps Meta Reader)

(Requested by ab1nsur)

(Slight Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. crossover but you don't need to watch it to understand)

I still remember the night the particle accelerator exploded vividly. It was unforgettable. Nothing ever stuck with me like that night. I had heard what sounded like an animal knocking over the trash cans in our yard. When I went out it was dark and storming. There was a lot of lightning. It lit up the yard for a brief moment and I saw what looked like a person laying on the ground by the cans. I had considered going back inside but I was worried about them.

Lightning flashed again as I crept closer. It was a man. He looked terrible and he was wearing a jacket with a bird on the shoulder. He might not have even been alive. I had reached down and touched his arm. A sharp electric shock jumped through my arm. After flinching away, I reached down again, this time firmly grabbing his shoulder. That was when the wave from the explosion hit.

When I woke up it was morning. My neighbor was shaking me. She had looked deathly afraid and was holding a phone to her ear. She had seen me and the man on the ground when she had come outside that morning. I looked over at him. He was dead. No doubt about it, laying there with his eyes open. The police arrived soon after, followed by an ambulance. My parents came out when they heard the sirens. Some people came and took the body of the man away. I had given a statement and was contacted no further.

It had been a few days before anything unusual happened. I was on my phone when my cat fell off the top of the fridge and landed on me. It scared me and I dropped my phone. Once I was sure my cat was okay, I looked for my phone. I was bewildered to find it darkened and smoking. After school the next day I went to the store to see if it could be fixed. They said it was beyond repair and that I would need a new one. I was understandably upset. The lights in the store all started to flicker and I was distracted by that. That's when it had stopped.

For months I would gradually notice more and more things like that. I tried to control it, but it never worked. I just lived with the little accidents and avoided situations where it could go south. Years passed like that and metahumans became known. And often feared. I was afraid that someone would notice what I did, but I was able to keep it hidden.

Recently things have started to get out of hand. The surges of electricity are becoming stronger. It's more difficult to avoid accidents and being exposed. It's time to get help. Star Labs has been suspiciously associated with a lot of the meta activity in the city. I'm surprised more people haven't looked into what they do there. They're my best chance at controlling my powers as far as I know. I need to go to them.

When I go inside the ground level there's no one there. I walk around for a bit and find the elevators. The doors open on a lower level. As I am stepping out, a man with long hair rushes into the room.

"Ah-ha, who are you and how did you get down here?" he laughs nervously, putting a hand on my shoulder and guiding me back to the elevator.

"Wait, I was hoping you could help me." He stops trying to push me out and squints at me with suspicion.

"With what...?" he asks.

I hesitate for a moment, knowing that if my suspicions are wrong, I could be in danger. But I know if I do not take a chance I might lose control at a bad time and end up worse off. So, hesitantly, I bring up a hand and let electricity travel between my fingertips.

He looks at my hand then at my face, seemingly contemplating something.

"All right." He nods. "Come with me." I follow him down the hallway he came from. "My name's Cisco by the way. What exactly do you need help with?"

"I have a hard time controlling my power. It's getting harder and harder."

"We'll see what we can do."

Cisco leads me into a larger room filled with all sorts of technology. There are two women standing at a long desk thing with advanced computers.

"This is Caitlin–" Cisco says, gesturing at one of them. "–and Iris" He gestured at the other. They look up at us.

"Who's this?" Iris asks. Cisco opens and closes his mouth.

"I never got your name," he says, turning to me. I introduce myself to them and they shake my hand in turn.

"So, what are your powers?" Caitlin asks.

"I can control electricity. Well, I can't really control it, that's my problem," I tell her.

"All right, can you tell me where you were and what you were doing when you got your abilities?" She asks.

"I was in my yard and I was helping an unconscious man who had knocked over my garbage cans."

"Hm, were you doing anything with electricity? Was there anything odd about him?" Caitlin asks.

I shake my head. "Well— actually, he shocked me when I touched him."

"That's a starting point!" she says, giving me a bright smile.

"Have you ever been able to use your powers at will?" Cisco asks.

I explain how I can use them but can't control them well, and how there are also times when my powers go out of my control even if I don't intend to use them in the first place.

"I can help test their abilities," Iris suggests.

"That would be great," Caitlin says. "Can I have some non-invasive DNA samples from you first?" she asks me.

I hesitate but agree. After she takes them, Iris and Cisco wave me over.

"Come with us while Caitlin starts running those tests. We're going to see what you can do in action," Cisco tells me.

I follow them through a few halls and into a larger room.

"This is where we put metas' abilities to the test," Iris says, gesturing around. The room is spacious and looks safe.

"Could you generate some electricity for us?" Cisco asks.

"Sure, but I'd feel more in control if I had something to aim it at."

He nods, holding up a finger, and walks away. A minute later he comes back in holding a rubber ball.

"If I toss this in the air do you think you can hit it?" he asks.

"I'm not sure..."

"Would you be kind enough to give it a shot?"

I nod, stepping back in anticipation. He tosses it, underhanded, into the air. I'm nervous and I try to hit it too quickly. A thread of lightning strikes the wall, which thankfully seems to be designed for resistance to that.

"That's okay, try it again," Iris says with a nod and an encouraging smile.

"Pretty good for a first try. I'm impressed and a little scared," Cisco chuckles.

My heart flutters with nervous relief that they're not upset. I hadn't expected this much support, and it warms every part of me right down to the fingertips. It's in my finger tips that I feel the electricity have a welcoming hum for the first time.

"Ready?" Cisco asks.

I nod.

He throws the ball into the air.

This time I'm ready for it. No panic. Just the calm in the center of the storm.

My lightning strikes true.