Reaper

Pre lightning. Kinda quite dark.

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It was October 4th.

Barry didn't like October. It was almost always the busiest month for the CCPD.

Sure he used to like Halloween and dressing up and going door to door for free candy, and the kids were still pretty cute, but now all he could associate the month with was the painful number of crimes that came with it.

And as always, the Reaper.

The Reaper was a serial killer, who didn't come out any time other than October. The CCPD had been trying to catch him for years. Only for two of those years had Barry been in the program. But they'd made no more progress in those two years than any others. Barry wanted nothing more than this murderer behind bars. Hopefully this was the year they would have a breakthrough.

Already the first cases had come in. Yes. Plural.

There was no pattern to when the Reaper would strike. No one ever saw anything. And no one ever survived.

Barry's nose was buried in the tests he was running when a knock sounded on the door. Barry started upright and Joe winced apologetically.

"Sorry, Bar," he said, "but we've got another one."

*****

Barry wanted to be sick. He probably would be later, but for now he shoved aside his emotions and did his work.

"Anything new Allen?" Otto, the senior investigator asked.

His lips pressed into a thin line as he shook his head no, "Not easy enough to see right away. Any prints?"

Otto shook his head. It didn't surprise them. There were never prints. The Reaper was appropriately named the way he came and struck without warning, leaving only death in its wake.

Otto clapped Barry on the shoulder, "We'll look a little longer, hang in there buddy."

Barry turned back to the scene.

!WARNING! SLIGHTLY DISTURBING DESCRIPTIONS!

There were two children, probably about ten, laying in a dark pool of blood that had gushed from their slit throats, the signature of the Reaper.

There was nothing except them. There was no trace of struggle or even a third party. It was like their throats were slit where they stood and they collapsed into a quick death. The Reaper never beat the victims or did anything to them other than swiftly kill them. There was no pattern to the victims either. There was just death.

OK IT'S DONE. I KNOW IT WAS A SMOL PART BUT SOME PEOPLE HAVE VIVID IMAGINATIONS.

Barry took measurements and looked for prints and did everything in the book to find a clue.

But the shadows might as well have killed them for all the evidence left behind.

Barry paused.

His brows furrowed. There shouldn't be a way to go undetected. Shadows couldn't kill people. There were no footprints on the ground... but what about the walls?

Every murder done by the Reaper had taken place in an area that had at least two walls of some sort near to each other. Once it was between two semi trucks. Another it was the corner of a store.

Barry shined his flashlight on the wall and started dusting. He would dust the whole damn wall if he had to. Something was telling him he was onto something and he wasn't gonna lose it for not being thorough.

He had gotten a ladder and gone up higher on the wall.

There.

"Otto!" Barry yelled. He refused to take his eyes off the spot because of the irrational fear that if he looked away the print would disappear.

Otto was next to him in a heartbeat.

"What is it.... oh," he breathed, "Oh! Barry you've found a print! I didn't even think to look that high up on the walls you genius."

After five years, they finally had a print.

*****

Barry growled in frustration and slammed his head down on the table. Otto looked up.

"I don't understand!" Barry groaned, "We finally have a print but it's virtually useless because there isn't a single thing in any database that looks even remotely like it."

Otto glanced at the clock, "Barry, take a break. Go home. You just made the most helpful discovery in nearly six years. Let your mind rest."

"But-"

"No buts Barry," Otto said firmly.

Barry squinted hard at him. He really didn't want to stop, if he stopped, the Reaper would have more time to strike again. But he felt his eyes droop and realized that he wouldn't be much help if he didn't at least take a nap.

"Fine," he consented.

Otto smiled, "get outta here, I'll lock up for the night."

Barry slung his bag over his shoulder and headed down the stairs. Joe and Singh were talking and Barry waved, "I'm heading home for the night."

Singh frowned slightly, "Stay safe Allen."

Barry flashed a dorky grin. He'd be fine.

Probably.

*****

He was not fine.

Barry wished he'd hired a cab. Why didn't he hire a cab? Why was he so stupid? He sprinted past every alleyway and sped walked the rest.

He certainly didn't feel tired anymore. Just horribly paranoid.

Barry was walking up to another alley, getting ready to sprint past it. But he stopped.

At first he wasn't sure why he froze. He had yet to pass the alley and he couldn't hear a thing. Ever so cautiously, he peeked around the corner, not letting more than the left side of his face become visible.

An older looking man was sleeping on the side of the alley Barry could see. Something kept Barry glued to the spot.

Then it happened.

A glint of silver and an almost imperceptible woosh.

A red line appeared on the man's throat.

Barry threw a hand over his mouth and ducked back behind the wall. He wanted to be anywhere but there. Anywhere anywhere. Not here. Nope.

Barry had never before feared so much for his life. He wanted to run far far away, but his terror glued him to the spot. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. His instincts were screaming at him to freaking MOVE. But his feet wouldn't work.

So he dropped to his knees instead.

A frighteningly familiar woosh sounded right above him where his head had just been.

Barry's heart might as well just have stopped. Then resumed beating at a remarkably rapid pace. The trance that was over him broke like a dam and Barry whipped around and scrambled back. His eyes flew upward to see a very angry cloaked figure with a barely visible stubble holding a scythe. The Reaper's bright blue eyes told him that he'd be dead before the month was over if the Reaper had his way.

For a moment, the reaper just stared down at Barry, who found himself glued to the spot again.

So much was going through Barry's mind. Things he didn't tell people. Things he didn't finish. Things he didn't get to do. The fact that if the Reaper killed him at this moment it would break the killer's trends and leave clues. And that if he did live through the night, he now had actual information about the Reaper they could use.

The last thought woke something up in Barry and he jumped up and ran. Ran faster than ever before. He ran straight to the precinct, never stopping. Only once did he glance at the rooftops.

His suspicions were confirmed when he caught a glimpse of what could have been a shadow the way it flit across the rooftops with immeasurable grace. But Barry knew better.

The precinct was within his sights and Barry ran harder, nearly causing himself to trip. Barry had never been so relieved to be within the precinct wall so much before, but still he ran. He bounded up the stairs, taking two at a time.

Several heads turned when the stairway doors burst open with a loud clang. Barry's breathing was ragged as he burst into Singh's office.

The Captain and Otto were talking and immediately they shot upright, hands going to their weapons before they realized that it was just Barry.

Otto was at Barry's side in a moment, "Barry! What's wrong."

Barry couldn't answer right away, he was too busy trying to get oxygen back into his lungs. Singh passed him his water bottle, and Barry gratefully took sips.

Once Barry seemed to recover enough to speak, Singh stared him down, "Explain. Now."

Barry's eyes betrayed his fear as he spoke, "The Reaper," he breathed out, "I saw him. I know how he gets around. He's fast. I know his weapon. I know what he wears. I know his height and physique. I know his eye color."

The older men's eyes widened at the implications of Barry's words.

"I swear, only you Allen," Singh muttered, "did he follow you?"

Barry nodded.

"How far?" Otto asked.

"It was, uh, maybe four or five blocks? I was a little busy running. He had um, just uh, just killed someone in an alley." Barry explained.

They stared hard at him.

"You saw someone get killed by the Reaper." Otto stated.

A dry laugh escaped Barry, "Yeah. Right before he tried to kill me."

Singh let out a very colorful curse. "You are not leaving the precinct without at least two officers as an escort. Understood?"

Barry gave a terse smile and nodded.

"Dear God," Otto said, running a hand over his face.

"On the bright side," Barry said, "We know a crap ton more about him than we did a few hours ago."

Singh snorted disdainfully and Otto shook his head.

"Only you," they said in sync.

To Be Continued (Probably)....

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A/N- HOLY CRAP! I'm not dead guys! :D

I am sooooo so sorry for not posting for like... a very long time. I have no excuse really other than I just didn't have any fanfic writer juice. But I'm taking a forensics class and it made me think of Barry and then BAM! inspiration.

I cannot promise frequent or consistent updates, but I will try and post more often than once a year, and if I know I'm not gonna post for a while I'll let y'all know.

I hope you guys are doing good.

I love y'all so much :)