#nobody can guess my second bias from looking at this compilation

[minhosblr]

2023-2024 : One year with @minhosblr! ♡

A compilation of the year that has gone by

[cisco-fics-4-all]

Not What You Expected

I started this story during season 2, and here we are, right after season 3, and I’m STILL UPDATING IT! Not sure if that means I’m lazy, or this is a ridiculously long ass story, but either way, here's a new chapter for you everybody! Enjoy!

“Miss Warren,” Jay Garrick addressed her respectfully, as though she weren’t someone who didn’t belong in this universe, using a name that belonged to a dead woman, “I think you and I have a few things to discuss.”

Amy stared at him for a moment, contemplating whether this seemingly upstanding hero of a man was worth the conversation, or if she were better off blasting her way away from him, and cutting her losses. I had seemed logical at the time, contacting the CCPD for any information they had on Zoom and his henchmen, after all whatever information they did have would be far more organised and detailed than whatever she could cobble together from the internet. But impersonating a dead woman was a tricky thing, and even with her Felicity Smoak degree in hacking, stealing her doppelganger’s identity had proved to be a pointless endeavour the moment she saw CSI Barry Allen, and he had recognised her.

One hour previous…

Barry Allen prided himself on his record keeping. His filing cabinets were the most well organised in the entire precinct, if there was something that needed to be found, he was the one who would find it. It came with the territory of being a CSI, finding things was his job, from crime scene, to lab, to court room, he could dig through the clutter and find the important information. Barry’s pride in his work had recently been bossted ten fold, when the infamous Hero of Central City, The Crimson Comet himself, Jay Garrick had entrusted him specifically to find information for him. The task was a simple one, dig up all he could on a woman named Amy Warren, and report all he found to Garrick to aid in his hero work. Investigating people was literally his day job, Barry could do it in his sleep, but this search was rapidly turning into a rabbit hole of peculiarity, and Barry was beginning to wonder if he should continue with it.

His initial search for the name ‘Amy Warren’ had been a bust, nobody by that name was living in Central City, or any of it’s surrounding cities for that matter. There were several residents with the sername Warren, and a handful of women named Amy, but none of them matched both criteria, so he switched tactics. Amy was a short name, short names were often nicknames, used in place of their longer tongue twisting counterparts, so Barry began to fliter his search by names that could possibly be shortened to Amy for some reason or another. That got him a total of seven results, three were women names Amelia, two of which had relocated to other cities by now, two more were women named Amaya, which he admitted was a bit of a stretch so he discounted them soon after weeding them out. The last two were almost instantly discounted as well, as both of the were dead, but Barry noticed something about the very last listing, that gave him pause.

Amaryllis Warren had died the night of the Star Labs incident, her body was found near that of a male near her age, a colleague of hers by the name Francisco Ramon. The picture that came up with her obituary was from her Highschool graduation, but her death was not the first occasion to land her in the papers. A scientific achievement award had been given to her in college, she’d earned it as part of a team project for something or another, Barry hadn’t bothered to read too much into the article, it was the picture that he had been interested in. Four smiling young students in white lab coats, the two in the middle holding a trophy together, Amaryllis on the left, and Francisco Ramon on the right. The image was old, and his face was far more easy going than what the CCPD had on file for him, but Barry saw him and realized instantly, the man holding the trophy beside Amaryllis, was Reverb. That single piece of information alone, set Barry’s investigative senses tingling, but as he dug deeper, he realized that Amarylis Warren wasn’t as dead as she appeared to be on paper. Following the legal trail of Francisco Ramon’s lawsuit against Star Labs, he was able to find a current address, a posh penthouse apartment, paid for with Star Labs money, merely a few blocks away in the Central City Palisades.

Deeper and deeper down the rabbit hold Barry went, too caught up in the absurdity of what he was finding to bother contacting his superiors for a search warrant, he hacked into the building’s security feed right there in his office. The current feed didn’t provide him with much, just a view of passers by, and a few interior hallways with little foot traffic in them. But due to advances in technology, and changes in laws that Barry remembered, he knew that apartment complexes like the Palisades, stored their security camera footage for a minimum of one year, and so that was where Barry dug next. Days of footage sped across his screen, sparse glimpses of residents coming and going flickering like blips in the tape. Then suddenly, the images he was looking for were there, two people, one following the other entering the lobby of the building. The one in front, Barry recognized as Reverb, and after squinting for a moment, Barry’s mouth dropped open in utter surprise, as he recognized the features of the woman with him from her graduation photo,  Amaryllis Warren.

By now, she had been dead for years, the coronor’s report listed her as being dead on scene, electrocuted to the point of cardiac failure, her funeral was part of a memorial service held by Star Labs after the incident...but there she was, living, walking, and willingly following one of Central City’s most wanted meta criminals into his apartment building. It wasn’t possible, it was ludicrous, it was like a story out of a television show unfolding in real life, like some absurd murder mystery dinner theater. How was she alive? How did she so thoroughly fake her own death? And why had she done it, only to be so careless by being caught on camera?  Barry could already guess why Reverb hadn’t bothered with hiding his face, he had a reputation for being cocky, he had likely walked in and out of that apartment building a thousand times, maybe even looked for the cameras just to make a statement of his dominance as a meta. But Amaryllis Warren, she was a ghost, she didn’t exist anymore, why show herself now?

Jay’s words resurfaced in his mind, he’d said she might have information that could help him fight Zoom. The pieces started falling into place quite clearly then, Barry watched her follow Reverb into the building, her head turning to take in her surroundings, she was a double agent. Barry compiled the report using all his professional preciseness, doing his best te keep it devoid of personal opinion or bias, even going so far as to print it out on his personal office letterhead. He was nearly twitching with excitement as he straightened the papers, and tucked them away in a manila envelope, a proud smile on his face as he grabbed his jacket and briefcase, ready to set out and meet with The Crimson Comet. He exited his office with a skip in his step, greeting two officers enthusiastically as he made his way down the stairs. But halfway down, his gaze was lifted by the sound of the elevator’s doors sliding open, and his briefcase nearly dropped from his hand as he recognized the woman who exited it with hesitant steps. Amaryllis Warren was here.

“Ma’am,” a passing officer approached her curiously, “is there something you need help with?”

Barry didn’t even bother trying to remember the officer’s name, his long gangly legs were already running him down the stairs towards her. “I’ve got it!” he cried, stumbling to a halt beside the confused officer and her, “woo, excuse me officer, I’ll take care of this woman, she’s here to see me.” He smiled, hoping his story was believable, even as Amaryllis’ eyes went wide when she saw him.

“Oh, my apologies Barry,” the officer apologized, “I’ll leave you to it then.”

Barry thanked them politely, before turning back to Amaryllis with wide eyes of his own. “Miss Warren,” he greeted her, extending his hand to her eagerly, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, our uh...mutual acquaintance, Mr. Garrick, he told me about you – or um, rather he mentioned you, and had me...look into you,” he shook his head realizing that sounded less than welcoming, “the point is, I’m happy to help you in any way I can, I am at your service.”

Amaryllis stared at him as though he’d grown a second head. The hand he’d extended to her was left un-shaken, her eyes flitting over his face as her face went pale, ironically she was the one who looked like she’d seen a ghost. “Barry?” she spoke his name in a near whisper, her hand finally slowly reaching out to take his, “Barry Allen?”

Barry nodded, slightly confused by her odd behavior, “Yes ma’am, CSI Barry Allen, at your service,” he shook her hand and smiled, “has uh...Mr. Garrick mentioned me?” he asked her hopefully, a little thrill of excitement at the idea of Jay Garrick speaking highly of him.

Amaryllis frowned at him. “Mr. Garrick?” she asked, the hesitation her body language held when she first disembarked the elevator back again.

Barry nodded again, “Well…yes, Jay Garrick? He’s….well he’s...” the gears of his mind began to grind as a realization forced its way to the surface, “you do know who he is, don’t you?” The hand Barry still held in his twitched, and a glimmer of fear shone in Amaryllis eyes as they began to take in her surroundings. She was looking for an escape. Barry cursed himself for assuming he knew what was going on, his entire background of CSI training screaming at him to never make conclusions without all the evidence. His hand clasped tighter around hers, desperately hoping he could hold her by it if she made a run for it. “Miss Warren, I realize that I may have just made an incredible mistake in mentioning Mr. Garrick, but I assure you that my offer to help you still stands, and if you would just follow me up to my lab, I’m sure we could-”

There was a sudden gust of air, and the unmistakeable sound of electricity crackling through the air, sent Barry’s head swiveling to find The Crimson Comet himself standing beside him. “Mr. Allen,” Jay greeted him politely, “I see you’ve found Miss Warren for me.” Barry opened his mouth to speak, but his brain was firing too rapidly to decide what to say. Amaryllis stared at Jay in disbelief, tugging her hand free of Barry’s grip as she looked Jay up and down, taking in his striking red uniform. “Miss Warren,” Jay Garrick addressed her respectfully, as though she weren’t someone who didn’t belong in this universe, using a name that belonged to a dead woman, “I think you and I have a few things to discuss.”