What was wrong with me? 

The amount of times I'd fainted since being bought back, especially since I'd discovered the truth about Barry... It made my head hurt just thinking about it. 

The fact that his friends and family were trying to help me through it made me feel even worse. They tried so hard to look at me with a smile, but I could see the pain in their eyes. I was an intruder, a ghost of the person they originally loved. But it wasn't like I had any choice in the matter. 

Then there's the fact that I didn't feel like myself anymore.  I didn't dress, act, speak, even think the same way as I used to, and it scares me. I was changing, evolving into someone I never wanted to be, acting in ways and speaking words I'd never thought I'd ever use... yet there I was, acting and speaking in unimaginable ways. 

I kept having dreams, memories that felt so real but definitely weren't my own. I often had flashes of visions that looked... I don't know how to explain it. As the images played out before me it seemed as though they was real, as if it were me suffering the pain being endured when, in fact, I was safely tucked away at home. 

What was happening to me? More to the point, why was it happening to me and how could I prevent it?  

I winced as my eyes opened slightly, the white light overwhelming my already throbbing head, tightly squeezing them shut again. The feeling of being lifted began to nauseate me and I knew it wouldn't be long until I slipped back into a state of unconsciousness.  I felt as though there was something important for me to say, something that might impact the entirety of my future, but I didn't know what. 

That's when the images hit me again. 

***

I wanted to scream, wanted to yell out for help, wanted to wake up from this cold, dark place... but I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried, I didn't know how. I was back in the dark, open room, gathering my bearings as I noticed the cages and chains. I was stuck there, staring at a sight I never thought I'd witness. 

His brown hair was streaked with red, his green eyes hollow and bloodshot, dark smears of blood dotting his bruised and torn skin, a tangible contrast to his pale complexion. Although he was thin, lack of food had made him ghostly, sickness evident as he desperately tried to provide moisture to his cracked lips.  

My breath caught in my throat as I tried not to retch at the sight, not out of disgust but shock. I wanted to look away, needed to tear my eyes away, but I could not. His eyes looked into mine, refusing to look anywhere else. You could tell he was confused. Under the clear signs of growing insanity, there were sparks of human emotion. Confusion, sadness, anger, fear. 

I inhaled deeply, taking a slow step forward, not losing eye contact. Almost simultaneously, he rose to his feet, only to lose his footing and slide to the ground, banging his head in an attempt to grab the bars for support, leaving a smear of blood and a cry of pain in his wake. It was then I noticed how brutal he looked. His feet had practically been torn apart, a pool of dried blood in the centre of the floor. He glanced up at me, cradling his injury, agony and sorrow pooling his eyes, almost as if he was apologising for his state.  

I kneeled down, coming face to face with the man I should've recognised, concern written all over my face. 

"Barry?" I asked, my tone uneven and awkward. "Are you Barry Allen?" 

He nodded, opening his mouth to say something, yet the only sound produced was cracked and rigid. He sighed, looking down sadly. 

"It's OK," I said softly. It must've been months since he'd spoken a word to anyone. "Take your time." 

He smiled sadly and continued to try and formulate words. It took him a couple of attempts before his harsh mumbles formed into words. 

"What... Who...you?"

"My name's Chase," I told him slowly. "I'm sorry but I don't know why or even how I came to look like you. Sorry... I know this must be weird." I paused for a moment to let him process this. "Who did this to you?" 

"D-demon," he breathed. "-on't know w-y". 

"I'm so, so sorry that this happened to you". 

He gave a slight smile. "It's OK," his speaking ability returning to normal. "It wasn't your fault". 

"Do you have any idea where you are?" 

He looked around, shaking his head. "I was knocked out when I was taken here. I haven't seen outside at all. I'm sorry, but I'm as clueless as you". 

I stood up and nodded, looking around myself until I located an entrance. I sighed, glancing over again at the frail man before deciding it was a time of urgency. Going against my better judgment, I used my new found ability to run around the facility, trying to get my bearings. Thankfully the Demon guy was trying to go inconspicuous, so made his 'lab' in an area under an apartment block dedicated to housing drug users, so an address was pretty easy to come across. I retuned soon after. 

"You're a speedster," Barry mumbled as I once again knelt before him.  

"Among other things". 

He looked at me despairingly.  

"But the speedster thing is because of you. All my other abilities I already had. I'd explain it in more depth, but it's a long and complicated story". 

"The one good thing I had and now it's pretty much gone," he muttered. "And now you have that, and so much more". 

"You're not the Flash anymore?" 

He gave a half-laugh. "Really!? Do you think that with me stuck down here, constantly in agony, I'd still be him? Do you honestly think--"  He stopped himself, pausing for a moment as he calmed down. "Speedsters have the ability to instantaneously heal themselves, no matter how bad the injury is. With my legs still in tatters after the 184 days of me being stuck down here, do you really think I still have that ability?" 

I bit my lip. He did have a point. 

"You said your name is Chase?" 

The question caught me by surprise. I nodded. 

"What did you look like? Before all this happened, I mean". 

I smiled sadly before shrugging. "I guess you can say I had almost spiked brown hair, same sort of coloured eyes, tanned skin--" 

"Were you short?"  

I winced upon hearing this. "I thought I'd finally escaped all the short jokes, but apparently not". 

"I think I remember you". 

The statement took a while to process. "You what?" 

"Well, not exactly remember you. I remember hearing your name, seeing flashes of you for moments. Some guy called Cliff kept going on about how you were practically dead, how he had a large amount of money to pay the Doctor if he found a way to save you". 

"Please stop," I cut in, noticing tears beginning to blur my vision. 

The two of us sat in silence, unsure what to say.  

My vision suddenly became blurred. For a moment I thought it was because of the tears, but those had since dried up. No, this was a different type of blurred. It was the type you get when you slowly begin to wake up in the mornings, crusts of sleep lining your eyelids, watering your eyes as you blink out of your dream. I was waking up, returning to consciousness. 

"Barry," I exclaimed, leaning forward to grab onto the bars of the cage to steady myself. "I promise you I'll get you out of here. I will find you and I will get you back home before anything happens to you". 

He smiled gratefully, opening his mouth to say something, but the vision was gone. 

***

I jolted awake, heaving in deep breaths as I willed for my eyes to adjust to the sudden exposure of light faster. I knew where I was. S.T.A.R Labs, it had to be. I glanced over at the clock on the wall. 2:30 pm. Had I really been in that state of dream for three hours? It felt like only fifteen minutes. 

I brushed off the concerned calls of the others, running strait to one of the monitors, muttering to myself as I did so. 

"Chase, what're you doing!?" Caitlin asked solemnly, grabbing my shoulder from behind. 

"Vanity Street".

"Vanity what?" 

"It's where he is. I need to find him". 

"Where who is?" 

"Chase what the hell is going on?" 

I rolled my eyes and turned around to face the others, a dour expression resting on my face. "Look, don't ask me how or why I know this, because it's hard to explain. But this address, 34 Vanity Street, it's...." 

"What? It's what?" 

"It's where Barry is". 

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Hi guy!!! I'm so, so sorry for the lack of updates!!! I forgot my username XD I know, pretty pathetic excuse. But I'm back now so I'm hoping that I'll be able to update more :) Again, I'm so sorry about not updating, so thank you all for being really patient and still sticking with be even through my absence :) 

As always, please let me know what you thought of this chapter as well as what you'd like to see happen in the next chapter!