.:4:.


Cadence pulled her hair back over her shoulders and placed her fingers on the piano keys that sat in front of her. Then she shifted to make sure the piano bench was in just the position she liked it not too close to the instrument, but not too far away to reach the keys.

Glancing up at the pages that sat in front of her, Cadence started on the classical melody that effortlessly flowed through the room. She focused on the keys on the piano and the pedals under the instrument. Her gaze shifted back and forth from the keys to the sheet music. Beside her, Harrison leaned back in his wheelchair. Eyes closed, he bobbed his head as the notes twisted and twirled, filling up the space of Harrison's large house. The notes reverberated back to them against the high ceilings.

Cadence ran her fingers up and down the keys until the end of the song and brought her hands back to her lap. She turned her attention to Harrison. He opened his eyes and was silent for a brief moment before saying, "You rushed the second half of the song."

Cadence rolled her eyes. "Of course that'd be the first thing you have to say about it. As far as I remember that's always the first thing you point out."

"Because the point of playing the piano is that you give each note the proper attention it deserves," Harrison pointed out with a small smile. "Other than that, it was as good as you typically make it."

"Thanks, Harrison, that really helps."

At Harrison's smile, Cadence knew he recognized her sarcasm when he heard it. As a matter of fact, when she was very young and her parents—Kent and Maya—had mentioned they wanted to get their young daughter to play an instrument, Harrison had jumped at the chance to teach her how to play the piano. Once a week for an hour she would go over to his house to marvel at the grand piano he had before learning how to play her scales, then onto nursery rhymes, her own favorite songs, and those of classical composers until she was nearly as good as he was.

That was all before she knew he was her birth father.

"You're welcome, Cadence," Harrison remarked. He backed away from the piano and moved to the living room. Cadence got up from the piano bench and followed him. "What I meant was—"

"I knew what you meant, Harrison," Cadence interrupted. "I was just thinking that at some point there was something else you could say about my playing. I'm not as good as you but I did come over to give you some company. I think I deserve to have something nice said about it."

Harrison chuckled and picked up a bottle of whiskey and poured it into two glasses. He handed one to Cadence before taking his and took a small sip. "Your piano playing is astounding and you're certainly giving me a run for my money considering I cannot play as I used to." He nodded towards her. "But as for what you've mentioned…I'll admit I do get pretty lonely at times."

"Which is why I'm wondering if you want to come to Metropolis with us?" Cadence sat down on the leather couch. She started to slide her feet up onto the cushion then froze and brought them down to the floor once more. It was still so engrained in her head that she couldn't treat expensive furniture badly.

Harrison hesitated, placing his glass on the coffee table. He rested his hands in his lap. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea. You haven't truly spoken to your parents in a long time and neither have I."

"All the more reason for you to go," Cadence remarked. "So it can take some of the attention off me." She ran a hand through her hair. "Not that we need to worry, Brady's going to get all of the attention anyway."

"I seem to remember there was a time where you enjoyed receiving their attention," Harrison reminded her.

"That was before I realized how they can be."

Harrison pressed his lips together and let out a long breath through his nose. He had his own problems with the two that had been his best friends at one point. Maybe it was hard for him to come to terms with it as well. "Have you spoken with your mother and father since you've gotten back from Metropolis?" He finally asked.

"No. Not really." Cadence rested her cheek in her upraised palm, using her other hand to gently tap at the piano keys. "I haven't really planned on it."

"So you haven't mentioned my involvement in your life?"

"Not really." Cadence wasn't sure what to say about it anyway. Just call up her parents and say 'by the way, I've been hanging out with my birth father this whole time despite the fact it was a semi-closed adoption'. Cool beans. That'd be the kind of situation that Hallmark needed to make a card for. Condolences for meeting my birth father and not telling you.

Harrison finished off his glass of whiskey while Cadence finished hers half way. He then reached up and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. "I'm sure that's not the conversation you're trying to have. But I'm not going to pry."

"Because you don't deal with emotions, you just deal with science?"

"No, because I'm not sure if, at this point, we're close enough to speak about it," Harrison said honestly. Cadence nodded. She had only just learned of her true parentage and they were still learning how to act around each other as father and daughter let alone co-workers. Despite the certain boundaries that were difficult to break through. "And as you know, I'm a private man and I'm sure one of the things you'd want to talk about is something that I would rather not bring up."

"I guess you're right," Cadence agreed. She looked at her watch and stood up. "So are you coming to Metropolis or not?"

"I'll think about it. Is there anything else you want to know?" Harrison leaned over and held out his arm

Cadence grabbed it and slung it over her shoulder before hefting Harrison up out of his seat, half dragging him to his couch. "Yes. What were you like when you were younger?"

"How much younger?"

"About three decades," she replied.

Harrison chuckled and lifted his arms, allowing Cadence to drape a blanket across his lap. "I'm not that old."

Cadence walked into the sprawling kitchen and let out a low breath, twisting her mouth to the side as she looked at all of the cabinets. Why Harrison decided to continue living in a house so big when he couldn't completely navigate it, she wasn't entirely sure. As a matter of fact she tried talking him into moving into a smaller place that had more amenities for him but he politely yet firmly refused. I certainly got my stubbornness from him. Cadence started to open and close doors in the cabinets, searching for his medicine.

Finally finding it, she flipped the top open and dumped a few pills into her hand. Then she found a glass, filled it up with water, and walked it back into the living room, holding it out to Harrison. Cadence laughed when he popped the pills into his mouth and made a face before he could chase it down with water.

"That's the same face Brady makes whenever I have to force medicine into him," she remarked. "You'd think at your age you would be used to it. It's not going to get easier by the time you're in your retirement home."

"That's not for another twenty years at the most," Harrison joked. He handed the glass back to her. "But I've never liked the taste of these things. You'd think with the advancements in technology they'd find a way to make medicine taste a little pleasant."

"Then people would be overdosing," Cadence pointed out.

"Yes, well, with my condition I don't suppose overdosing on anything would be so bad." He glanced down at his lifeless legs before his blue eyes lit up with mirth. "I believe I could dare Cisco to make something and he'd be able to come up with it within a matter of days."

"As soon as you put the words 'bet you can't' anywhere in a sentence and Cisco will have a vendetta against you. Just to specifically prove you wrong." Cadence looked at her watch once more and found it was time for her to leave. She took the glass back into the kitchen and rinsed it out before going back into the living room to say goodbye to Harrison.

Cadence laughed again, this time quietly, finding he was already starting to nod off.

She made sure his blanket was tucked around his legs once more before leaving.

Visiting Harrison had been a good break from having to think about seeing her parents again, but it was time to get back to the real world.


Barry set his menu aside and looked at the condiments that sat on the table in front of him. He reached out and started to rapidly shift them around, as if doing a magic trick with cups and a ball. Around and around they went, his eyes moving as fast as his hands to watch them as they moved around.

"Wow, if I knew you were going to be bored I would've gotten here sooner," Becky said as she came over to the table. Barry immediately halted his movements, suddenly realizing that he may have just revealed his secret. A rush of fear moved over his body as he watched Becky sit across from him. "How'd you do that so fast?"

"Practice," Barry explained. He gave a small smile. "You spend enough time in Iron Heights, waiting to see people and you'll learn how to do some things quickly." Becky gave him a sympathetic look and he took in a quick breath. "I'm okay," he said. "I've made peace with it."

At least the best he could. He shouldn't have brought it up in the first place. Shouldn't have showed off his powers like that. It was stupid, really. He had no idea what came over him. Stop being so hard on yourself, it's not like anyone could even see you, he reminded himself.

"Still, we were all really shocked when we heard," Becky said slowly. She picked up a menu and started to look through it. "But I'm glad things are going so well for you right now. Your job and everything…that's going okay?"

"Yeah, I love my job at the CCPD," Barry said. He smiled a little as he always did when he spoke about his life's work. Even if he hadn't gotten into it because of his mother's death a field in the sciences was something he certainly was going to fall into. (Though at first it was to be an astronaut). "Every day there's something new and it's never boring."

Becky's nose wrinkled for a moment. "So…how often do you have to work with dead bodies?"

Barry laughed. That was something he was asked a lot when speaking about his job. "Not as much as the medical examiner does. Basically my job is to look at suspicious cases and find evidence to pass along to the detectives. I'm called on scene sometimes; it really depends on the case. Otherwise the Medical Examiner works with the bodies."

He continued to laugh at Becky's disgusted face. "I promise it's not as bad as it sounds."

"Right, but we're about to eat and it's all I can think about now."

"You were the one who brought it up."

"And now I'm really regretting it."

The two laughed again. Becky set her menu down and laced her fingers together. "I think I'll just get a—"

"—Lemonade with a lime?" Barry interrupted. "I already ordered it for you."

She blinked in confusion. "How'd you know that's what I wanted?"

"It's all you ever get, Becky. No matter where I took you the first thing you looked for was lemonade. And if they didn't have any you resorted to lemon-water." He shrugged and leaned back in his seat. It wasn't until then that he felt how awkward it was to sit here with someone he had dated for two years and hadn't spoken to since then.

"You remembered that?" Her eyes widened in pleasant surprise. A small smile tugged at her lips before it broke away to a brighter smile.

"I remember a lot of things, Becky. My job is to remember things." That was an easy way to downplay it. Otherwise, Iris and Joe might've been right. It might've been a mistake to meet up though it had been almost ten years since they'd seen each other. "So what's going on with you? I heard you were in Pharmaceuticals."

"I am!" Her eyes lit up as she nodded. "I actually got into the job on accident. I sort of fell into it. But I've moved up so many times. And it pays well," she added with a laugh. "That's the plus side. And I'm always traveling around even though I guess what I'd call home now is Gotham."

"How are things going over there?" Barry asked.

Becky pursed her lips before she responded, "Kind of strange," she said slowly. "There's this guy named the Joker who's always creating some sort of trouble. But we have Batman to keep things calm." She sat up straight. "I heard there's this guy called The Flash running around Central City. He sounds like a real hero."

Barry couldn't help but feel a swell of pride move through his body as it always did when someone talked up The Flash. "Yeah, there's been a lot going on here as well but The Flash and Flare are really keeping things safe around here."

"And you've never thought of moving away?"

"Central City is my home. Despite what's happened…I don't think I could ever leave it. Plus, my dad is still here and my friends are here…"

"Your girlfriend?"

Barry was so startled by the question that he knocked over the drink the waitress placed on the table. It shifted and started to fall to the ground but Barry used his speed to right it back onto the table without a drop hitting the floor. When everything moved back to its typical speed Becky didn't notice anything but a sudden gust of wind in her face.

"Whoa, what was that?" She asked.

"I think that AC must've turned on," Barry said quickly. He cleared his throat and sat up straight. Then he brought up his hand and rubbed his neck. "I-I don't have a girlfriend," he explained. Then he frowned. Why in the world was he acting so awkward around her; like he did when they first started going out? Otherwise he would've let that glass smash to the floor and now he was stuttering? He at least liked to think he had become more confident since then.

Becky's eyebrows rose, her hands up in the hair as she tried to pat the fly away strands back down. "None at all? I don't believe that, Barry. You've always been an amazing catch. Sometimes I even wonder why I let you go."

Barry smiled politely, a little unsure how to respond. "I don't have a girlfriend."

"Not even Iris?" At this Becky gave him a knowing smile. "Even I knew you've been into her nearly as long as you've known her, Barry. Actually, I don't think she even liked me, half the time." She chuckled, twirling some of her hair around her finger.

"Iris liked you just fine; she was just really protective of me since what happened with my mom and dad." Barry cleared his throat once more. As for the second part of what of what she had said, "I used to like Iris, a lot…but she has a boyfriend now and we're just great friends. I'm over that."

A twinkle came to Becky's eye as she looked at Barry curiously. "So no girlfriend at all?"

Barry pressed his lips together his thoughts immediately betraying him as they shifted towards Cadence. The girl who had been by his side the moment she announced her presence in Central City with a bright smile and friendly personality but who could be as much of a ruthless hero for the city as needed to be. And within the next few hours he was supposed to be going to Metropolis to aid her in being around her family for a while. As positive she was trying to be about it he could tell she was anxious.

Besides, maybe being away from Central City for a while could help move things along.

"It's complicated," he finally said. Which certainly was the best word for his relationship with the fire metahuman. Especially in terms of not wanting to overstep any boundaries. "What about you? Any boyfriends?"

Becky laughed at his final explanation. "I'm free as a bird. Traveling so much it's hard to have a steady relationship but it's not like I'm not looking." She started to say something else then looked at Barry strangely, her eyes moving down. Barry followed her gaze and saw his hand rapidly shaking, much like it had when he first found out about his powers.

A light gasp escaped Barry lips and he grabbed onto his hand, willing it to stop shaking. Finally, after a few seconds it stopped. He quickly got to his feet, noticing for a split second that Becky had done the same.

"I'm sorry, I have to go!" They blurted out at the same time.

Barry quickly threw some money down onto the table for their drinks while Becky hurried from the restaurant, zigzagging around the tables as she went. Barry hurried out after her, racing all the way to the West house. Once he arrived he went to the bathroom and stared at his reflection, watching and waiting to see anything out of the ordinary, to see any other exhibition of his powers.

Nothing.

It was if it never happened.


"Are you sure you don't want us to stay at a hotel?" Caitlin asked as Cadence pulled on the steering wheel to turn into the neighborhood. "We don't want to put you out or anything."

Cadence snorted. "Trust me when I say there's no way you're putting anyone out. There's plenty of space for all of you."

Cisco, who sat in the backseat with Brady, leaned forward and placed his head between their seats. "Are you looking at these houses? It's twice the size of my mom's and dad's. And you've seen my parents' house, Cait!"

Cadence smiled for a moment then let out a long, anxious breath. She didn't really want to be going back to Metropolis but if there was going to be anyway to reconcile her relationship with her parents this was the best time to do it. There weren't many metahumans they couldn't go back to Central City to take care of within a few moments, she had some vacation time saved up from the CCPD, and if she had to suffer she was glad her friends were coming along.

"You haven't been back to see your family in a long time," Caitlin remarked. "What's making you so worried about it?"

Eyes narrowing, Cadence said, "I'm not sure how they're going to be. Are they going to be the parents that I knew before I got pregnant? Are they going to be the ones I had when I was still pregnant who berated me every step I took? Or…is knowing what I know how going to make them completely different?"

"You mean with your dad's brain tumor?" Caitlin asked.

Cadence nodded.

She felt a big lump form in her throat and blinked back tears that were threatening to come. That was always a hard topic of conversation. A big part of her loved her father; he wanted the best for her and she was very much a daddy's girl. It was also where her source of contempt came from. The constant pressure to be as perfect as possible to make sure she didn't ruin his image throughout Metropolis became harder and harder as time went on. Then finding out he had a brain tumor brought on by a head injury from when he was young made her feel guilty knowing she still felt some anger towards him.

"And that's partially why I thought it'd be a good idea to go back. It's a happy occasion for him; he's had his advertising business as long as I can remember. He and mom don't get to see Brady much. And I figured if you guys came along you'd at least tell me if I'm the one that's crazy."

"You're crazy," Brady piped up from the back seat.

"Thanks bud, but I didn't ask for your opinion." She reached around her seat and started to pinch at Brady's legs, causing him to laugh and squirm away.

"I'm sure they're not that bad," Caitlin reassured her. She went even further by pointing towards Cisco and saying, "His parents are that bad. My mom is bad. I think yours will be just fine."

That made Cadence a little curious. She had never met Cisco's or Caitlin's family and Barry's father was in jail. It was something that tied the four of them together in their friendship in a way; their strange family makeup.

"And any way, thank you for inviting us along."

"You're welcome, I'm glad you guys are coming." All of a sudden, Cadence felt a surge of excitement and she started to bounce up and down in her seat. "I can't wait for you to see where I grew up and the places I used to hang out and where I went to school and to the Daily Planet and to the basketball arena and the Superman Museum and Metropolis University." She paused to take a breath. "They have the best English and Journalism departments there. And there's LexCorp and Steelworks and maybe we can go over to Gotham one day, it's not too far."

Cadence then glanced over and suddenly pulled hard on the steering wheel, causing Brady to make a sound of surprise and Cisco to almost fall to floor of the car. "Sorry, I almost missed the driveway."

She carefully pulled up the winding drive, being careful to bypass the fountain that sat in the center once they reached the top. Her mother must've been waiting for their arrival for the front door opened almost as soon as Cadence turned off the car.

Maya Nash grinned with a mouth full of pearly whites as she waved to her daughter and grandson, carefully traversing the brick sidewalk in her high heels. "Hey Cadence."

"Hi, Mom," Cadence greeted as she got out from the car. Turning towards her mother she found she actually had missed her due to how long it had been since the last visit. There was a level of suspicion still within her but still she missed her.

"You made good time on the way up here," Maya commented. She smoothed out her silk blouse then opened her arms for Cadence to give her a hug, which was brief. "I thought you wouldn't show for another hour or so."

"There was something I had to take care of, first," Cadence replied, but didn't go any further than that. She didn't need to know about Harrison yet. "Oh, these are my friends Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Nash," Cisco said politely, shaking her hand.

"You have a very lovely home," Caitlin added.

"Well, thank you very much, Caitlin. We put a lot of work into it. I like to look into updating the design every few years." She motioned to the fountain in the driveway. "That was just put in a few months ago." She then looked at the group. "Weren't you supposed to be bringing another friend with you?"

Cadence, Cisco, and Caitlin all started to say something in unison but the sound of a car door closing and all turned to find Barry pulling a bag over his shoulder as if he had just gotten out of the back of the car. He pointed behind him as Brady emerged, walking slowly as he continued to look at his handheld game device.

"I was helping Brady get his things from the car," he explained. "Hi, I'm Barry Allen."

"I've heard a lot about all three of you and I'm glad you all wanted to come and help Kent celebrate this milestone." Maya smiled warmly and started to wave her hands. "Come in, come in! Don't stand outside all day."

Cadence reached out her hand and grabbed onto Brady's wrist to lead him inside lest he became so focused on his game he walked into a stone pillar. She dropped back to fall in step with Barry and asked out of the corner of her mouth, "Did you just get here?"

"Yeah and if it wasn't for your directions I would've missed it," Barry muttered back. As if to prove his point he lifted his shoe. Cadence looked down and found the sole of his shoe smoldering with a tiny flame and smoke coming out the heel. He stamped it on the ground to put the flame out.

Cadence reached out her hand and curled her fingers into a fist. The smoke and flames immediately disappeared from Barry's shoe, to which he gave his thanks.

"How was your lunch, Barry?" Brady asked, finally putting away his game.

"It was alright," he replied, sounding a little distracted. "It was good to catch up with an old friend." As the group stepped inside, his eyes widened, looking around the foyer. "Wow, this is a really nice house."

Brady grinned. "You haven't seen the pool yet." He turned and grasped Cadence around the waist, looking up at her with wide eyes. "Mom, can we get in the pool? Please? Please?"

"Your father is already on the deck getting the grill ready," Maya said helpfully. "I was going to suggest everyone eat outside but getting in the pool is a good idea, too."

"Yay!" Brady cheered, throwing his hands into the air. "Thanks Gramma!" He started towards the stairs then stopped, turning back to his friends. "Do you want to see my room? I have a lot of games."

"Can you show them the rooms they're going to stay in, too?" Cadence asked him. He nodded and headed up the stairs with Caitlin and Cisco following behind. Cadence watched him leave, holding her breath as she did so lest he managed to phase through the stairs with his powers still not under control.

The last thing I need is for mom and dad to find out about his powers before I can tell them, she thought. Rubbing her head, Cadence walked into the expansive den room and sat down on the couch, curling up into a ball as she did so. Then she brought a knee up and rested her arm against it, starting to chew on her nails. After the first bite, resulting in chips of nail polish in her mouth, she frowned and pulled her hand away. Great. I just got these done, too.

Then she rubbed her forehead, realizing how screwed up her priorities were.

"Are you okay, Cade?"

Cadence flicked her hair from her face and looked at him with a half smile. "Do you go to a lot of bars, Barry?"

Thinking about it for a moment, Barry took a few steps closer to her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "There were a few parties that I went to. And sometimes I went to the bar with my friends whenever we were trying to blow off steam after studying. But I didn't make a habit of it. Why?"

Cadence patted the spot on the couch next to her and he dropped down. "Because I could really use a drink right now but leaving as soon as we got here might be rude." She started to pick at her fingernails once more, taking off the dark blue nail polish even further. Barry said something to her and she blinked twice before shaking her head to clear the smoke that seemed to have suddenly slipped into her head. "Sorry?" She asked.

"I said, from what I've seen of your mom so far she really loves you. And I know a lot has happened in the past but it looks like she wants to try and change things. Maybe you should give her a chance."

Cadence glanced towards the ceiling. "Oh my mom hasn't fully shown herself yet. Just wait. Don't be surprised if she manages to embarrass you at least once." With a grin she reached out and poked him on the shoulder. "Not that it should be so hard, you get embarrassed very easily."

That was certainly one of the things she liked about him. Something that had him stand out from all of the other guys that tried to pretend they were the perfect specimen any girl would want. But above all, Barry was himself. He didn't pretend to be someone he wasn't. As Barry he was the nice, sweet, guy that would do anything for anyone who asked something of him and showed off his passion for his interests and hobbies in his everyday life. But when he was the Flash that was when he became more confident in himself and his abilities to help someone in ways that he couldn't do as well in his normal life. She liked that he always cared so much for everyone around him and was willing to drop everything for them.

But not as much as she liked how he could take her teasing him.

And the biggest pay-off of all was that he had agreed to come on the trip with them. Not only because her Flash family would be there but because if they were all going to go swimming she would at least be able to check him out in a swimsuit.

At least there was some brightside over the whole trip.


A/N: One thing I really enjoy about writing about Cadence compared to other OCs of mine that I've written is that she's really open in her personality as well as her feelings for another character (in terms of her POV). Usually I have it where my characters are a bit more closed off in that aspect so it's fun to be more forthcoming with it and see how it meshes with Barry's slightly more shy nature. Let me know what you guys think of the chapter.

There's plenty that's going on to happen with the group now in Metropolis. Any and all suggestions are welcome!

-Riles