The familiar creak of the front door echoed through Ethan's childhood home as he stepped inside. The house was eerily quiet, the kind of silence that filled the spaces between thoughts. The smell of his mother's cooking was a distant memory now, replaced with the sterile scent of the late autumn air creeping in through the windows.
Ethan had returned home, but in many ways, he wasn't the same person who had left just hours earlier.
He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, breathing heavily. His body ached, bruised from the fight with the rogue metahuman, but it was more than just physical pain. Inside, his mind was a tangled mess of questions, uncertainty, and fear. He had just faced his first real battle—his first true test as a speedster. And while he had come out on top, the victory felt hollow.
What did I just do?
Ethan glanced around the room, the familiar surroundings offering little comfort. His childhood bed sat against one wall, clothes scattered across the floor, the remnants of his old life. It should have felt like a refuge. But tonight, it felt like a cage.
Am I really cut out for this?
His hand brushed over his forehead, the sting of the metahuman's last attack still fresh in his mind. The way the ground had cracked beneath his feet, the air warping around him, it had all been so surreal. He wasn't like Barry. Barry had always been in control, poised, calm in the face of danger. But Ethan? He had barely managed to stay on his feet. He was fast—faster than he'd ever thought possible—but speed wasn't enough. Not if he couldn't control it.
And the Speed Force… Ethan thought, sinking down onto his bed. 'What is it?'
The surge of energy he felt after the STAR Labs explosion still reverberated in his chest, like a second heartbeat, a pulse that he couldn't ignore. It was everywhere, a constant presence inside him. It had given him power, sure, but it was also a reminder of how little he understood about what was happening to him.
Ethan's eyes drifted to the wall across from him, where a picture of him and Barry hung in a simple frame. It was a photo from their childhood, taken just after they had won a local science fair together. They had been inseparable back then, always laughing, always competing. That image of them, both smiling at the camera, seemed so far removed from the person he had become now.
Barry... Ethan thought, clenching his fists. 'How much should I tell him?'
The thought of confessing everything to his brother made him anxious. Barry had always been the one with the answers. He had grown up surrounded by science, surrounded by knowledge. He was the one who had become the Flash—who had embraced his powers and the responsibility that came with them. Ethan, on the other hand, was still trying to figure out how to control his speed without running into walls—or worse, hurting someone.
He lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, his mind spinning. 'Who am I supposed to be in all of this?'
The Speed Force had spoken to him—had assigned him a quest. "Protect Barry Allen, the Paragon of Hope."
It was the first time the Speed Force had communicated with him directly, and the weight of those words felt heavier than anything he had ever felt before. Was he ready for this? Was he ready to stand beside Barry, to protect him?
The sound of a door creaking downstairs broke his train of thought. Ethan sat up quickly, his senses sharp. It was probably just his parents, returning from their evening outing, but a sense of unease gnawed at him. His body was still on edge from the fight earlier, every muscle twitching with the adrenaline that refused to wear off.
He hesitated for a moment, but then the footsteps became louder, drawing nearer to his door. Before he could even react, the door creaked open.
It was his mother.
Ethan's chest tightened, and he quickly wiped his face, brushing away any trace of the sweat and fatigue that clung to him. He didn't want her to see the confusion in his eyes, the uncertainty that was so obvious to him but that he was desperate to hide from everyone else.
"You're home late, sweetheart," his mom said softly, her voice always so calming, so gentle. "Everything okay?"
Ethan forced a smile, pushing his emotions aside. He couldn't let her see the storm swirling inside him. "Yeah, just had a late study session with Barry," he said, though he could already hear how fake the words sounded. "Just needed to clear my head."
His mom studied him for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly as if trying to discern if he was telling the truth. Ethan held her gaze, doing his best to appear normal. She was one of the few people who still saw him as the son who had never really changed—always the same Ethan, always dependable, always here.
"Alright," she said after a long pause, smiling warmly. "Well, your father and I are heading to bed. You know where the leftovers are if you're hungry."
Ethan nodded, giving a small wave as she walked out. Once the door clicked shut, he let out a long breath, the tension he'd been holding in his body finally releasing. 'Why can't I just be normal?'
The speed. The powers. The quest. It was all so overwhelming. It felt like the life he had known—his simple, easy life—was slipping through his fingers, replaced by something he wasn't prepared for.
But then, as he sat there, a thought occurred to him. 'Maybe I'm not supposed to be prepared for this. Maybe it's not about having control.'
Ethan closed his eyes, leaning back against the bed. The Speed Force wasn't just a power—it was a presence. It wasn't something he could master with his mind. It was something he had to understand with his heart.
Protect Barry, the Speed Force had told him. Protect the Paragon of Hope.
It wasn't a quest to be taken lightly, but it wasn't one that could be ignored either. He had been chosen. He didn't know why. He didn't know what the future held. But as he lay there in the quiet darkness of his room, Ethan felt a spark of something inside him—a sense of purpose he hadn't known before.
The Speed Force wasn't just a gift. It was a calling.
'I can't ignore it. I won't.'
As he stared up at the ceiling, Ethan made a quiet promise to himself: No matter how unprepared he felt, he would rise to the challenge. He would face whatever came next. After all, the quest had already begun.