I2
DOE Retold
By James
Episode 61 — Flesh and Blood
"Break time?" Lothar asked.
"Break time," Flash groaned. He sat the weight down and eased onto the bench, his bare arms sore from the exercise.
"So what's she like?" Lothar said with a grin, sitting beside him as he rolled his neck.
"Kayla?" Flash asked, in mock confusion, knowing full well whom Lothar had meant — the woman he'd taken out yesterday. The woman he couldn't stop thinking about. "She's...pretty nice," he offered quietly.
Lothar's smile widened. "And?" he pressed.
Flash heaved a sigh. "All right. We kissed."
Lothar nudged him. "Not bad, old boy."
Flash frowned a bit. He looked at his lap. "I don't know how far I want to take this bond. I keep on wondering, 'Is it too soon?' "
Lothar paused, then patted his back. "I think that Dale would want you to be happy."
Flash thought back to several years ago — to a moment when Dale herself said that. "If anything ever happens to me, I want you to find someone else to love." Could it be that he actually had?
Lothar squinted. "How did Rick react?"
"I haven't quite managed to tell him yet. I'm pretty sure he's not gonna take it well."
"All you did was go out on a date. It's not the worst thing you've ever done."
Flash chuckled. "Not even close." He squirmed for a second while thinking on that.
"Oooooh," he said, teasingly. "It sounds like you've got some secrets, my friend." Lothar giggled. "Tell me about your darkest deeds."
Flash fell quiet as the words sank in. He turned to Lothar, then looked away.
Lothar's tone grew a little bit deeper. "You all right?" he gently asked. Apparently, he'd sensed Flash's seriousness.
Flash recalled a day he could never forget, a moment that had haunted him for years. He'd never told anyone about it before. Perhaps it was time to do that now. If he really wanted to move on in life, he had to begin letting go of Dale — which didn't just mean making peace with the good, it meant making peace with the bad as well. It meant owning up to something he'd done, so that it would finally stop following him. "A long time ago..." He cupped his hands and eyed the floor.
Lothar waited.
"Me and Castra..." He had to pause. "Well, one night...me and Castra made love." He hesitated, then faced his friend, hoping to find empathy in his gaze.
Lothar looked absolutely stunned. He cleared his throat, then glanced away. "Was this before you'd married your respective spouses?" He held a palm up. "Never mind," he uttered. It seemed that he'd just figured out the answer. Why would Flash be upset if it had happened before?
"We were lonely, angry, drinking..." Flash said. "We were having problems in our marriages...and we ended up turning to each other in time." He shook his head. "The mutual attraction was always there, and it simply got out of hand that day."
"So when Castra came here and set us up, thinking that you'd done something to her husband..."
"She thought that I wanted her again, and that I had hurt her husband out of jealousy." Flash scowled. "Ming knew about our fling. That's part of why he was able to convince Cas—"
An alarm blared. The voice of Dynak filled the base. "Alert. Alert. Attack at Delaney Industries."
Flash shot up. "Paul's buildings are being hit again!"
The Defenders landed at the site and spread out. According to a new report from Dynak en route, the perpetrators had been identified as the League of Flesh and Blood.
Good, Flash thought, gripping his rifle. He'd been waiting for this. Those machine-hating idiots had nearly cut the power at a hospital the other day. He absolutely could not wait to put a few laser rounds in the first one he saw.
A nearby pop caught his attention. He noticed a woman, her back turned, firing a weapon of her own at a generator.
"Hey!" he yelled, aiming at her.
She turned around.
Flash froze. It was Kayla.
Scene Commentary
Lothar's smile widened. "And?" he pressed.
Flash heaved a sigh. "All right. We kissed."
Lothar nudged him. "Not bad, old boy."
Flash frowned a bit. He looked at his lap. "I don't know how far I want to take this bond. I keep on wondering, 'Is it too soon?' "
The order of events was deliberately changed a bit from how they play out in the episode.
Overall, I love the way that Flash is written in "Flesh and Blood," but I did feel that there would be more repercussions in his personal life. If he was going to date someone, he'd probably think about Dale. He'd likely think about Rick. And what if he and Castra had a very big secret?
I've always been intrigued by Flash's bond with her; it reminds me a little of Krotan and Jedda. While I'm not exactly rooting for a Castra/Flash pairing, I like how the show explores the idea of people from different 'sides' growing close (Phantom/Hadea, Castra/Flash, Krotan/Jedda), as this can lead to character development.
----------
Chapters
Four of the Defenders are captured by Queen Hadea.
Flash and Lothar discuss Flash's new romantic interest.
Held prisoner on Mongo, Jedda makes a bargain with Zorelda, believing that they can change the world for the better.
LJ's discusses his relationship with his father.
Hadea intends to make radical changes with the Necklace of Oros.
Jedda reveals the details of a recent vision.
Castra frees her brother and encourages him to change his ways.
Comments
Post a Comment