"Barry, the silent arlarm at Rathaway Industries just went off!" The sound of Cisco's voice over the intercom broke his concentration and he reluctantly pulled his gaze away from the equation on the board. For days now he'd been working with Harry to find a solution that would make him go faster but so far they hadn't cracked it yet. Even with the schematics he got from Eobard Thawne on his latest trip to the past. He pushed the intercom button and sighed under his breath.
"On my way.." In a split second he changed from his regular clothes into his Flash costume and he was out the door, speeding through the streets of Central City.
When he got to the building people were already fleeing the scene. Employees with panic written all over their faces. On the top floor a window broke and shattered glass rained down on them. Barry looked up and saw someone tumbling down. He didn't hesitate and shifted into gear. With the speed of light he ran up the side of the building and plucked the woman out of thin air before safely putting her back on solid ground. Confused by what had just happened she wandered off into the arms of concerned co-workers.
"Do we know who's up there?" he asked his team back at S.T.A.R. labs and Caitlin answered,
"No, we don't. I picked up a high frequency sound but it's not mechanic."
"So we're dealing with a Meta?"
"I think so. Barry..be careful."
The corners of his mouth curled upwards as he bolted into the building. On the top floor he stopped and scanned the damage. There was a large office just off the elevators that was once separated from the hallway by a glass wall that was now completely shattered. Furniture was thrown across the room and in the middle of the rubble was a familiar face. He had to blink twice to be sure because she wasn't supposed to be there. In fact, it was almost impossible that she was there. Silver Banshee.
Alarmed by another presence she turned around and looked at him with anger filled eyes.
"You! I was looking for Supergirl but you'll do nicely too. Surprised to see me? Last time you caught me off guard but not anymore..Flash!"
She inhaled deeply and shrieked at such a high pitch that he had no choice but to cover his ears and put some distance between himself and the screaming Banshee. When the ringing in his ear subsided he touched the coms on his suit.
"Uh guys, we have a problem. Remember when I told you about the villain on Kara's world? She's here and it seems that she has more control over her powers. Last time we electrocuted her and Livewire but I doubt that trick will work twice. So what do I do?"
It stayed silent for a few seconds until Harry's voice sounded in his ear.
"Get her away from the city, Barry. Before she can do more damage."
"Got it," he replied and hurried back inside only to find her with her back towards him and in front of an opened safe in the wall. She was clearly looking for something specific.
"How did you get here!" he called out to her. She turned and quirked a brow.
"I thought you left. You must be glutton for punishment."
He glanced at the small object in her hands and then noticed the smirk on her face. This couldn't be good. Once again she inhaled sharply and the sound that come from her lungs had such force that it blew him backwards towards the now missing windows. His heartrate spiked and he heard Caitlin's voice call out to him as Banshee blew him over the edge. If it wasn't for his speed he would be dead on the sidewalk but now he managed to stop himself from falling and end up safe roughly a block away from the building.
As he was trying to catch his breath he heard Cisco say that Banshee left and he should come back to the lab but then he felt a gust of wind that made him smile. He turned around an looked straight into the face of a new old friend.
"Hey stranger. Need some help?" Kara smirked while landing gently in front of him.
"Hey Kara, I just saw Banshee and wondered..how..it's good to see you." He hugged her tightly and when he let go the wide smile on her face mirrored his.
"She escaped custody of the D.E.O when they were transporting her to another facility but I think she had help. Not from Livewire this time but someone on the outside. The same person responsible for creating a breach. I could really use your help getting her back to my Earth."
Barry listened with a small crease between his brows. The thought of breaches being opened between worlds was unsettling. What if another Zoom tried to cross into his world again?
"Sure. I would love to help a friend out and now you can meet my team. I was just heading back to S.T.A.R. labs."
"Great. Wanna try to beat me again?" Supergirl grinned.
"Try to keep up" he replied with smile and got into position. After a short countdown he shot away with Supergirl on his trail.
When they walked into the cortex they were greeted by a few curious glances. Caitlin looked up from her computer screen and smiled politely.
"Who's this?"
Barry stepped forward and beamed "this is Kara. The girl I met on the other Earth. Supergirl."
Caitlin's eyes widened but she quickly walked around the desk to greet the new arrival.
"You're Supergirl. Welcome to Earth. Or is that weird to say to an alien? Not that you're alien-like or anything. It's just that Barry has told us so much about you, including that part, and we don't have Supergirl on this Earth. Or Superman for that matter. So you're the first alien I've seen. Anyway, it's really nice to meet you."
Kara chuckled softly and adjusted her glasses.
"You must be Caitlin. Barry has told me so much about you guys too that it feels like I know all of you already."
Then she tuned to face the others.
"You're Harry and that would make you Cisco, also known as Vibe."
Cisco shot Barry a surprised look but then smiled at the new girl. "I had no idea Barry told you everything. But you're right and I agree with Dr. Snow, welcome. I assume you're here because of the new Meta?" He directed his question at Barry. "What happened out there with her?"
"She's not a Meta. She's from Kara's Earth and I saw her take something from Rathaway's safe. A small device. Maybe a prototype of some sort?"
"Hmm," Caitlin replied, "I could give Hartley a call and see if he can tell me what was stolen. I wonder how she knew what was in that safe though." As she walked back to her station Barry followed her with his eyes. Hartley being one of the good guys still took some time to get used to. Especially since Caitlin and Hartley seemed to have developed some sort of friendship that for some reason bugged him to no end.
"This lab is much more impressive than our setup back home. Winn would just die if he saw all of this." Kara walked around the cortex with a childlike curiosity that made Barry smile.
He really was pleased to see her again since the last time he was on her Earth it felt like they had a real connection. Another superhero he could relate to, that had the same insecurities he was struggling with and knew what it was like to juggle a day job and trying to save the world while still having some sort of personal life.
At that moment Iris walked in, not noticing Kara standing to the side. She headed straight for Barry.
"Hey. I just came by to remind you of the dinner for Wally tonight. Dad's cooking and he's so proud of Wally getting accepted into the honors program. So it's kind of a big deal so don't be late."
He forced a smile and shoved his hands into his pockets. He knew Wally was Joe's son and Iris' brother and that they were excited about the new addition to the West family but he just wasn't feeling it. Every time he got together with Wally it felt forced and wrong. The fact that the kid had a massive chip on his shoulder didn't help either. But for Joe and Iris' sake he kept his thoughts to himself and made the effort.
"Crap, I totally forgot about the dinner. And I sort of made other plans.."
He glanced at Kara but then looked back at Iris.
"Barry, don't flake on me. Dad wants you to be there and so do I. What could be more important?"
When she looked over into the direction of Barry's gaze she noticed Kara and opened her mouth but no sound came out.
"Oh, I see. You have company. I didn't know. Hi, I'm Iris West." Iris extended her hand and shook Kara's while discretely eyeing the newcomer.
"This is Kara Danvers. She's a..a friend visiting from out of town." Kara and Barry exchanged a look where he signaled her with his eyes not to say too much. Kara understood because she flashed Iris a sweet and innocent smile.
"Yes, I was in town and decided to pay my old pall Barry a visit. Totally out of the blue. Spontaneous. Because that's me..spontaneous Kara.."
"Right," Iris replied while frowning slightly.
"He's never mentioned you before. How do you know each other?"
"Chatroom.."
"A case.." Barry replied at the same time but then stumbled "It was a case involving a serial killer that picked his victims from a chatroom. That's how I met her. "
He realized how lame that sounded and that Iris was never going to believe such an obvious lie but it was the best he could come up with. If Iris noticed she didn't let on because she didn't pursue the subject and turned the conversation back to the dinner.
"Why don't you bring Kara? I'm sure dad won't mind one more or less. He always cooks enough to feed an army anyway. I have to go. The mayor is holding a press conference and I'm covering it for the paper so I can't be late. It was nice meeting you, Kara. Barry, remember what I said. Seven..don't be late."
He watched Iris until the elevator doors closed and then Kara leaned in.
"So that's Iris. Is she always that bossy?"
She chuckled and nudged his shoulder but as they turned around they noticed the worried look on Caitlin's face.
"What's wrong?" Barry quickly walked over to Caitlin's desk.
"I just spoke to Hartley and it's worse than we thought. That device you saw is a prototype for a weapon that emits high frequency pulses so strong it can break up any kind of material at the sub atomic level. Without the actual gun it's useless and that's why they were keeping that in a bunker outside the city but since Banshee knew about the prototype in the safe, it's also safe to assume that she knows about the weapon itself. If she gets her hands on that..I don't even want to think about what could happen."
Cisco joined the conversation while drawing attention to his computer screen.
"This is where they're storing the weapon. It's a building designed and protected by ARGUS so I already contacted Lila to keep an eye out for Banshee. Since she hadn't made a move yet I think we should concentrate on designing something that will protect you from her Banshee cry. Somehow I think regular earplugs won't do the trick but I might have something else. It's something ironically Hartley and I have been working on together. It's based on his gauntlets. He got the idea when he defeated the Wraith.. anyway, he's on his way to lend a hand."