Here's another chapter for you guys.
And of course one big:
Merry Christmas to you all out there, hope you're all having a lovely and memorable evening with your friends and families.
So now, Enjoy!
Chapter 10: Plastique
Inside of a crowded bar, was many people having a great time. Drinks of various kinds in the costumers' hands. Music blaring around in the confined space. Costumers either chatting with their friends. Some of them actually playing with the billiard tables.
The big stage of the bar was empty, for now.
At the far end of the bar stand was one Barry Allen looking towards his friends from their place at a table. Cisco who was watching Iris fawn over Eddie shooting a dart, that hit right in the center of the target. Caitlin was also there but for some reason she kept looking down at her phone.
Barry was thinking of suddenly how he had gone from not having many friends to suddenly have many friends. The coma changed his life in a lot of ways, not just granting the powers of superspeed. But also, his social life, granting two great friends who saved his life.
His eyes suddenly went to Iris was pulled into a kiss by her boyfriend Eddie. His thoughts were about Iris once again. Hoping that the relationship between the two of them would change. Hoping that she would become more than just a friend to him.
But that wasn't possible now, so he would have to settle for friend now.
Iris went to his side and said. "I'm glad that you invited Caitlin and Cisco."
Barry smiled, "They're cool, right?"
"They saved your life, Barry." She said seriously before adding. "That makes them the coolest people I've ever met. It's nice that you guys became friends." She held up her shot. "To friends, old and new."
The two of them clinked their glasses. Downing them the second after. Iris feeling the effects of her shot buzzing through her body. Barry didn't anything from his shot… which worried him.
"Ooh. I'm up." Iris said before playfully punching his shoulder. "Wish me luck. Oh yeah, do you know why Caitlin keeps looking at her phone?" She asked, only getting a shake of his head before going back to the dart game.
Eddie, Cisco and Caitlin looked in the direction that Iris came from, and then looked behind her. Cisco coughed on his drink as did Eddie when they saw who was at the bar. Caitlin remained stoic, since she didn't see the big deal about him being here.
Iris saw the looks she getting and turned around, as did Barry. Both of their eyes widened in shock to find the last person they expected to find there.
The five sets of eyes were solely focused on the form of one Detective Joe West, who was making his way through the crowd to the bar. When getting to the bar, he began speaking to the small young blonde woman behind the bar.
Iris got curious when she saw the two of them laughing together. Barry and Eddie wondered if there was something between the two of them, since the blonde woman gave him a drink without Joe having to pay for it.
The five of them looked to each other for direction and all decided to make their way to the bar. When getting there, Iris stepped forward. "Hi, Dad." She got Joe's attention.
"Hi baby girl." He gave his daughter a hug. "Didn't think any of you would be here tonight." He looked around and saw his partner, his adoptive son and the S.T.A.R. Labs scientists.
"Yeah, well. Thought it would be nice to just… unwind." Cisco said awkwardly.
"And nothing says unwind better than a trip to our fantastic little haven." Said the female bartender with a twirl, the guys looking at her with wide eyes. "oh yeah, name's Joan Cecile, but you can call me JC."
"JC brought me down here, saying that something special was about to happen here tonight, but she's rather skeptic about the details however." The detective directed at the bartender, who winked. The other guys found it unbelievable cute.
Iris looked between the two of them and asked, "How do you know each other, Dad?"
"Don't worry Iris. We're just friends. We know each other through a colleague of mine." JC clarified for her, relieving her of any worry. JC then looked at the clock and smirked. "Looks like it's showtime." With that said, she placed her hands on the counter before jumping over it. The others watched as she made her way to the big empty stage.
Grabbing hold of the microphone, she announced into it. "Hey everyone!" she got their attention. "Hope y'all having a good time. Cause it's about to be better now." A round of applause came forth from the crowd as they all waited patiently. "Well I know y'all would love to hear me ramble on, but how about we get on with it!"
A masse wave of people exclaiming "Yes!" came. Taking that as her cue, JC announced. "Then without further ado, ladies and gents, give a big round of applause to your beloved new singer… Seth Rogers!" she lashed out her hand to the side, where, to the surprise of the six specific persons by the bar, Seth Rogers came running through.
Giving the young blonde woman on the stage a hug, Seth waved to the crowd. Caitlin amongst the audience saw how close the two of them stood and felt jealousy washing over her.
The mutant looked around the audience and saw Joe by the bar, and to his surprise five other specific individuals beside him. Making eye contact with the female doctor, he gave a wink. The other doctor blushing and couldn't peel her eyes from him.
After JC walked down from the stage, he grabbed hold of the mic and announced. "You are guys are in for a treat." He pointed a finger at the band that had gathered behind him. "Hit it!" As he said that, the band begun playing. (Song: Miracle by Shinedown)
Say it once
Tell me twice
Are you certain I'm alright
Just a sign
To remind me
Tomorrows worth the fight
Ever changing
The story line that keeps me alive
Joe's, Barry's, Cisco's and Eddie's mouths gaped as they listened to Seth's voice being spread out from the speakers.
So make a wish and say
Give me life
Give me love
Star lit angel from above
Not so low
Not so high
Keep it perfectly disguised
Ever changing
The story line that keeps me alive
Iris was suddenly enchanted by Seth's incredible voice. And his movement around the stage was so enthralling, forcing her eyes to remain on him.
My Mona Lisa's making me smile
Right before my eyes
Take another look
Take a look around
Its you and me
Its here and now
As you sparkle in the sky
Ill catch you while I can
'Cause all we are
Is all I am
I just want you to see
What I've always believed
You are
The miracle in me
The moment he sung "Miracle" his eyes along with a wide smile went to Caitlin who had a mouth gaped from the phenomenal singing. His eyes were locked onto her eyes for a while before he looked back into the crowd again.
Show me faith
Like you do
I'm amazed at how you move
Side to side
Front to back
You know how to make it last
Ever changing
The story line that keeps us alive
My Mona Lisa's making me smile
Right before my eyes
Take another look
Take a look around
Its you and me
It's here and now
As you sparkle in the sky
I'll catch you while I can
'Cause all we are
Is all I am
I just want you to see
What I've always believed
You are
The miracle in me
The audience began singing along with Seth. As did many of the co-workers as they saw their co-worker sing his heart out
These are the moments
That you can't pass by
Lets turn the water to wine
One more time
Take another look
Take a look around
It's you and me
It's here and now
As you sparkle in the sky
I'll catch you while I can
'Cause all we are
Is all I am
I just want you to see
What I've always believed
You are
The miracle in me
The miracle in me
You are the miracle in me
As the band slowed down their rhythm, Seth gave a big bow to the appraising audience who was in awe of the young man's voice.
Straightening his back up again, he looked to bar again, seeing the gaped mouths of his male friends and the blushed cheeks of his female friends. Looking to the female doctor, he gave a quick wink before making his way down from the stage and to the bar.
"Hi guys!" he greeted to the stunned faces of his friends, who could only wave after hearing his amazing voice. Shrugging he turned to the detective. "So do you believe me now Joe?"
Chortling a bit Joe patted the mutant on his back. "I do now. Remind me never to underestimate you again."
"Deal." Seth said as he looked over the bar and grabbed an open bottle of whisky and took a gulp of it. The others were surprised to see him do that, especially in front of the bartender. Placing the bottle back on the table he asked JC. "So Boss, how was it this time?"
"Amazing as always, my little minion." Said she with a smirk. She pointed to Seth's friends. "And I'm guessing your friends didn't know you could sing?"
"That is correct. Though most of them are my friends, while the others acquittances, more or less." He stated to her. His words rose eyebrows around him with questioning faces to match. He caught the expressions on their faces and explained. "What? I hardly know Iris or Eddie, aside from their names of course and their relationship."
"Wow, you're still… something, Seth." Stated Iris, unsure of how to actually describe her dad's friend. "So me and Eddie will go back to our game. Any of you wanna join?" She asked the others. They told her that they would go back to their table.
Seth reached over the counter and pulled out his black leather trench coat. After putting it on, Joe told Seth that he was glad to see him sing and was going to take his leave.
"What? Already?" Seth asked curiously.
"Yeah, got some paperwork that still needs to be done. Otherwise the captain's gonna have my head soon."
"He's gonna lose a great detective, if that happened." Seth told him before bidding his farewell to him.
Deciding to have some fun with Iris and Eddie, he turned to them. The S.T.A.R. Labs saw the evil smirk on the mutant's face and got worried. Following his eye sight, they saw him focused on Eddie and Iris.
Eddie was reeling his hand back a bit, a dart ready to be thrown. Snapping his hand ahead he lunged the dart from his hand. His dart following a straight line through the air, keeping on the trajectory it possessed it surely hit its mark.
But what fun would there be in that?
Spreading his senses to see if anyone looked at him, and only finding the gang of his three friends by table there, Seth pursed his lips and inhaling a small amount of air. Before shooting it out again as exhale. His air bullet locked onto the dart and in a matter of seconds, hitting its mark. Knocking it off course and falling down to the ground.
Both Iris and Eddie looked to be dismay by the sudden dart's change in momentum and looked to each other. Neither of them seeing Seth smiling like evilly. His partner praising his host for the fun they had.
Chuckling he made his way to Barry and the others, and to his surprise found Caitlin keeping her eyes locked on his form.
"Guys? I have a problem." Barry got the others attention, a line of shots in front of him. Caitlin still keeping her eyes on Seth who was making his way through the crowd.
Cisco turned around and saw Seth. "We all do when guys like him exist."
Barry followed his gaze, placing her eyes on Matt. Caitlin had a dreamingly expression on her face as she kept it in the same direction.
"Yeah, he's so hot." The guys turned their eyes to the female doctor, and they rolled their eyes and frowned. Realizing what she said, she snapped her head back to the two males with her, and smiled weakly. "Uh, I mean, genetically speaking. Because I'm a geneticist, of course." She tried to cover meekly before adding. "oh, my God, do I sound like Felicity?"
"Hi guys, watcha doing?" Seth said as he reached their table.
"I'm not talking about Seth." The mutant looked to the speedster, wondering what they said about him. "I'm talking about this." Barry downed the four shots before him, saving the last one. The four he downed, didn't affect him at all. "I can't feel anything."
"Yeah, that's usually what happens when you drink too much." Cisco played it off as a joke. Caitlin looked to Seth who made eye contact with her and gave a wide smile.
"No, the alcohol is not affecting me. I mean I literally feel nothing." Barry explained.
Seth reached over the table and took last shot glass. "That would be your hyper-metabolism, Speedy." He quipped as he blew a heated exhale on the shot, the alcohol catching fire immediately. The others looked at him worriedly about what he was going to do now. Looking at the eyes he was getting, he shrugged and downed the shot after blowing out the flame. "Ahhh, gotta love it when it's still warm."
Cisco and Barry were wondering if Seth was really a doctor or not, since he did everything more dangerously than the one doctor they knew.
"Seth's right. It's your hyper-metabolism. I need a sample." Caitlin said excitedly, as she looked through her bag.
"I'll get more shots." Said Cisco as he went to the bar.
"I swear, I had a Vacutainer here." Caitlin said as looked through her belongings.
Barry was turned surprised by what she said and asked curiously. "Wait, you carry a blood collection kit in your purse?"
"You have your hobbies." Caitlin defended herself.
Seth stepped closer to them and said. "If you think that's weird Barry, then you do not want to know what I carry around."
Barry looked at the smirking mutant like he had two heads before asking with hesitant courage. "What do you carry around exactly?" Caitlin listened closely and so did Cisco after he came back with more shots.
Seth, after moments of thinking, responded. "Knives, grenades, guns, a first-aid kits, needles, an alien life form from another planet from another universe. Oh and my entire saving." Everyone looked in disbelief before looking down at his body, finding his words unbelievable. "Symbiotes are like pocket dimensions." He explained after seeing the looks of disbelief.
The four of them after a moment took a shots glass each and clinked their glasses together before downing the. Cisco exclaiming a weird sound from the alcohol's effects inside him. Caitlin remaining stoic the entire time, a fact Seth took notice after he downed his own shot. Barry looked like he didn't want to be there anymore, after learning of his disability to get drunk.
"Still nothing?" Cisco asked.
"I can't get drunk. I mean, I'm only 25, and my drinking days are already over." The speedster said frustratingly.
"The curse of being speedsters, the most annoying type of powered people in the world. Sounds like karma." Seth stated, the others giving him "are you serious"-eyes.
Eddie and Iris walked over to them. "Come on, Allen. You're up." The detective gestured to the game, they were playing. Barry was about to answer him when Eddie's phone beeped. Taking it out he had gotten a message and read. "There was a bombing on 8th and pass." Barry turned wide eyed. "I got to go babe." He Eddie gave his girlfriend a quick kiss before going. "Sorry guys." He told the others.
"I got an early shift at Jitters." Iris said sheepishly. "Barry, we'll catch up tomorrow." she added, Caitlin fake yawned at the same time.
"It's getting late, anyway, so I'm just gonna…" Barry stated as Iris passed by him, before walking away. Or running off to the bombing sight.
"Aren't you going with him?" Caitlin asked Seth, who remained seated on his stool.
"Nope. Wanna see how he's gonna handle this one. Besides he's faster than me, remember." The others couldn't disagree with that, Venom was more leaping than running, unlike the Streak.
A second later, Cisco got a call from Barry's earpiece and spoke. "Barry, what is it."
"Guys, there's a window washer, and he's gonna fall." Came the reply from the speedster.
"Don't try and catch him. You don't have super strength, unlike Seth." Cisco reminded Barry.
Caitlin cast a look to the mutant, seeing his eyes focused on the phone. She wondered why he didn't go out with Barry. Is it because he didn't trust Barry out in the field? Or was it because of another reason entirely. This worried her.
"Well, is there, like a bed store near here? What if I get a bunch of mattresses and stack them?" Barry asked.
"How this is guy is still alive, is beyond me?" Seth thought as he rubbed his forehead.
"Perhaps that will change… hopefully." The symbiote pitched in.
"Barry, this isn't a roadrunner cartoon." Caitlin berated the speedster. They heard screams of "Help!" coming from the other end of the connection.
A moment later, Barry asked, "How fast would I need to go to run up the side of a building?"
This perked the mutant's interest as well as the symbiote within him.
"How far do you need to go?" Cisco replied, unsure of what to tell him.
"I don't know. 50 meters, give or take." Barry said.
Cisco began taking a piece of paper out and pen out, and began calculating the speed he would need. Caitlin looked between his calculations and him.
Seth however was impatient and wouldn't wait for some results from calculations, he trusted experience over calculations. With that in mind, he took hold of the phone and brought it closer to him, "Barry it's Seth, listen closely." The others listened as well. "Just run really fast and you'll do fine. But make sure you run with the same velocity down otherwise you're gonna be the new street art." He stated casually.
"What?" came the reply.
Sighing Seth simplified. "You're gonna go splat."
Cisco and Caitlin looked at Seth like he was crazy for speaking like that. But they couldn't disagree with him on what he told the speedster. They then remembered that he had years of being a hero, more experience than Barry have, and more than they had behind the computers in The Cortex.
"Great." Said Barry, before cutting off his earpiece.
Caitlin stepped closer to Seth, who gave a smile. "You wanted Barry to learn how to run the building, right?"
Chuckling, he answered. "More or less. I remembered that 8th and pass, was the place where I used to sleep at when I didn't have a place to crash at back then. Also, the building has a nice view of the city. And with a bombing right there, then thought it would be good training for Barry. You know, to expand his arsenal."
"His arsenal? What do you mean?" Cisco asked.
"Right now, Barry solely relies on his speed, on running. So far that and a few speed punches is his arsenal, frankly, a small one at that. And he's still new to this life, so he gotta expand himself, surpass his former limits. Learn what he can do with his superspeed, and how to use it in the field. Not just relying on running. Otherwise he's gonna experience a lot of trouble out there… unless I'm with him."
They couldn't disagree with him on that. Seth was right. His arsenal was bigger than Barry, not just with his abilities and control over the six elements he possesses, but also with his fighting experience that they've seen from footage of his previous activities as Venom.
"Can't argue with you, Barry's still a newbie. But good thing he's got senior Venom with him." Cisco said gleefully to Seth, who gave a thumbs up. "Well gotta pay for the tab."
"Just tell JC, you guys are with me, then it's for free." They looked at Seth with baffled eyes. "Price for singing and taking care of rude costumers." He added.
Cisco gave off a wide goofy smile and ran off to the bar.
Caitlin stepped closer to Seth and looked deep into his eyes. "That was quite the song you sung before. Didn't know you actually sang Seth?"
"Used to sing to my little sister when I was a kid. Now, I've been doing it whenever the boss lady wants me to." He gave her heartwarming smile. "Besides I had some great inspiration for singing this particular song."
Caitlin blushed from the eyes she was getting. She did find Seth attractive but she didn't know if he felt the same way about her. Or if the feelings she had for him was even mutual. But from the way, he used to talk to her or about her, it seemed to be like he did have some feelings for her. But she could be wrong. Couldn't she?
"Gotta apologize for something actually." Confusion came over the female doctor. "About how I reacted before. You know, at the Cortex… when I suddenly got angry and told you what I said about your fiancée. Sigh… what I'm trying to say is. I'm sorry for being so harsh and saying it like that, you know. And for scaring you back there. It just brought back some… memories." He said, not wanting to remember what Carnage had done to his loved ones again.
He looked at his hand when he felt something warm take hold of it, his eyes widening when he saw a smaller hand take hold of his own. His cheeks burned up immediately when saw the two most beautiful dark brown colored eyes looking back at him with such warmth and comfort that could be matched by an angel sent from Heaven above. And her smile was shining brighter than any shining stars in the vast night sky.
This was the first time that Seth had ever seen her like this and it was really surprising to see her like this. She didn't have her usual stoic face. This was a sight of wonders. Her face was full of comfort, warmth and concern. She showed so many emotions, that it was blinding. But no one could peel their eyes away from her, it was that enchanting.
"I know. It's the same I feel, Seth. But promise me one thing." He listened. "I don't think you're being totally honest, especially about what happened in your past." He had to hand it to her, she's a smart woman. "So, when you're ready to talk about your past, your fiancée, your life before coming to Central City, our universe…. I wanna be the first person to hear about it, deal?"
"I promise, Caitlin, you'll be the first one to hear about it." He said with a determined voice.
"I hope so." she quipped.
Smiling a wide grin, Seth raised a hand before putting up his little finger. "I pinky swear."
Putting a hand to her mouth to keep her from laughing, she raised her own hand and wrapped her own pinky around his. "Good. Otherwise I'll have truth serum you."
Tilting his head, he responded. "You guys have that here too? Damn this universe got more in common with my own that I thought."
Caitlin leaned in with wide eyes. "Wait it's actually a thing in your world? Really?" she asked excitedly.
Leaning in he answered. "Sorry Dr. Snow, I'm a committed SHIELD agent. You're gonna have to try a little harder to get the truth out of me. Or truth serum me." Adding a wink at the end, he noticed Cisco waving them over. Caitlin saw the same. Both of them stood up from the table, Seth looked to the table again and surprise met him.
"Been a long time since you've done that." The symbiote stated at the sight if a small iced surface on the table, the same spot where his hand was placed when Caitlin grabbed hold of it.
"Last time something like this happened was… with when I dated…Stef." Seth thought to himself as he looked to the female doctor who was speaking to her colleague. As he did, he rubbed the ring around his finger. He smiled warmly when remembered his fiancée again, her smile, the way she spoke, her soothing voice, and most importantly, the way she would hold Bucky. Like a lioness cuddling her child…
Like a true mother protecting her child. Holding on to them for dear life.
But then his mind also went to Caitlin. Caitlin was truly a phenomenal woman, someone he would like… love to learn more about. Right now, his mind was conflicting with emotions upon emotions. More than that, his heart hurt from the memories of his loved one.
"She would want you to be happy, Seth. That's the kind of a mate she was." The symbiote assured the mutant host of his conflicting feelings. "And Caitlin feels the same as you."
"What do you mean?" Seth thought back curiously as broke off the ice and removed it before anyone could see it. The last time his powers activated like that, on a subconsciously, was because his emotions went out of control… because he met Stef, because of his feelings for… her.
"Ever since you've shown yourself to her and her team, we felt a conflict of emotions within the young doctor rise and rise higher than ever before." His "other" told the host. "And don't forget: like you, she too lost her mate. The circumstances of his death and of Stef's death are nothing alike. But the pain of it is still the same nonetheless. The only thing that you two can do is move forward…"
Seth looked at the female doctor again, while making his way towards them he spoke to his partner. "Difference between me and Caitlin: She thinks that she's to blame for Ronnie's death. I know that I'm to blame for Stef's death… and Bucky's. Caitlin can move on. I can't move on, not before… I've ripped Carnage's head in two pieces and burned his entire body to nothingness." He thought darkly and angrily.
"That pestilence will rue the day he came to be…"
"Agreed." Seth muttered under his breath before seeing Caitlin waving him over. Smiling, he made his way over to the two S.T.A.R. Labs employees.
X
(S.T.A.R. Labs, the next day)
"Your body is unlike anything I've ever seen before Seth." Caitlin exclaimed excitedly to the mutant. The two bioengineers were overlooking his scans. It's scans from a handheld device that the female doctor had. It was essentially a handheld MRI scanner.
Something Seth was extremely happy for since he and his "other" didn't do well with sound waves. Though he hadn't been asked about his weaknesses yet, so it was still unknown.
"Why thank you, Caitlin. You're pretty great as well." Seth quipped to the other doctor with a smile.
She blushed in response to his words before correcting herself. "No. No, I meant your body's biology, Seth. Don't get the wrong ideas." Seth continued smiling, and she couldn't stop her face from turning pink. "I mean your body's temperature keeps fluctuating from cold to warm in a matter of seconds. And your scans here?" She pointed to the computer screen with said scans of his body's internal. "It looks like something inside your body is moving." She added the last part unsure.
"That would be the elements residing inside my body." He coughed before continuing. "My X-gene changed my body completely. During puberty I didn't just get a deeper voice, but also the ability to store and manipulate elements. And after….certain events" He said grimly before continuing, Caitlin taking notice of his tone. "I got an arsenal of six elements, and later on I met an alien life form that literally reduced my private life to zero."
A deep voice in the back of his head chuckled. "You didn't actually have much of one at the beginning partner, and that is the truth. Besides, having us around is like having a second mind… besides that pile of juicy and delicious meat that you call a brain."
Seth gulped in a loud gulp, whenever he heard his partner describe a body part of his, or an important organ, in such a manner, always made him fear the worst. In cases of that he had insurance.
Walking over to a drawer, he got out three chocolate bars. Caitlin noticed him opening one up and, strangely enough, put it into his pocket.
Seth walked over to her and held the one of the bars in front of her. "Want one?" he asked, she nodded and took it before opening it up and taking a bite. But she still wondered why he put it into his pocket. The mutant saw the look of curiosity on her face and explained. "Another fact about symbiotes is that they feed on their host's adrenaline, which usually released into the bloodstream during fight-or-flight responses, as you know. They've also been shown to depend on a supply of phenethylamine. And as you know it's a chemical compound that's found as a neurotransmitter in the human brain."
"Wait!" she interrupted him, which he expected. "Does that mean you're…gulp… cannibalistic?" she asked fearfully.
"No." He assured her, Caitlin exhaling in relief. "The symbiote is… kind of. Some symbiote bearers are unable to actually stop themselves from eating other humans. Others are more willing align themselves with that impulse to… jam their teeth into a human brain. But others, like me, found a better solution." He held up his chocolate bar. "Eating tons of chocolate."
"The same compound, phenethylamine, is also found in processed chocolate?" Caitlin finished off the mutant's explanation. He nodded his confirmation. "Thank God, was scared that you might wanna eat me." She joked.
"Assure the young doctor that we do not want to eat her, would you?"
"When the hell did, I become the messenger?" Seth shook his thoughts before looking to the doctor. "Don't worry, he does not want to eat you Caitlin. Like me, he considers you more than a friend." He told her truthfully.
Caitlin smiled a wide smile and went into The Cortex with Seth walking behind her. "Can I ask you something Seth? Something you don't have to answer."
"Oh those are always the weirdest ones." He joked before answering. "Shoot."
Caitlin took a seat by the console and asked after an extended sigh. "How was it to suddenly get those powers? And at such young age? I can't imagine what that most have been like. Barry was freaked at first but then he was excited from getting the powers."
Seth half-expected a question like that would pop sooner or later. And he did expect Caitlin to be the one to ask it. "Honestly? It was scary as hell. My powers only worked back then after I absorbed an element. Which was a small fire from a matchstick I used to play around with when I was 11 or 12 years old. And when I first got fire into my body, then it became difficult to control almost impossible to use it. But with time it became possible." He lit up one finger with fire, empathizing his point.
"That's sounds amazing." Caitlin said with a dreamingly smile on her face.
"But it was thanks to that I wanted to become a doctor." He stated with a smile. "To dedicate my life to use my skills as a bioengineer to help mutants who are scared of their own powers, of themselves even. To insure them that what they have, isn't a curse. That they're not a freak of nature. That they could live with it and still have a normal life."
Caitlin listened to his words and registered them. She was captivated by his words. And his tone was full of determination and conviction, and overall confidence. Just from his words alone she could hear that Seth has a strong and powerful passion for helping mutants and other powered people.
His desire to help others… drew her to him. His will to support others in their times of need, of comfort… of aid. Seth made it his life to do so. To help those who felt like a curse.
"That's amazing, Seth. And I can't thank you enough for being part of our team now." She expressed her gratitude with a wide smile.
Leaning forward, Seth responded. "Well it'll be easier to keep Barry from dying from the inside of his team." He said with a shrug before adding, "That and I keep can my promise to you… and make sure you don't lose me."
Smiling she grabbed hold of his hand and gave it a small squeeze before going to work on the computer.
Looking up, he saw Cisco coming into The Cortex. "Hiya Cisco!" he greets the machinal engineer.
"Yo Seth!" he greets back to the mutant before taking a seat by the adjacent computer of console. "Hey gotta say I know your suit is your partner, that symbiote inside of you. But could you imagine if that could be applied to Barry's suit?" he asked.
"No, and I honestly doubt a living alien life form could reside in host who's pumped full of dark matter and lightning from both a particle accelerator and a lightning bolt." He stated honestly, having remembered the scans of Caitlin's previous tests of the novice speedster. "Also, it's a he not a thing." He defended his partner, who cooed sweetly in response… though with that deep demon-like voice the symbiote has, it's an impossible task.
"Sorry." Cisco apologized to both Seth and his partner.
Then Barry came into the Cortex, with a file in hand. "Hey guys, we might need some help with the bombing from last night."
"Nice job on running up the side of the building, Barry." Seth congratulated the speedster who smiled in response to his words.
Barry then gave the file to Cisco who exclaimed surprisingly, "A VA file number is all the info you have on the bomber?"
Barry sighed and explained why the lack of information. "CCPD's been ordered off the case."
"Well, who has the power to do that?" Caitlin inquired.
"Anyone with a higher authority than the local police, most likely the army." Seth said, the others in the room looked to him and didn't find him anywhere. They then looked around but still couldn't find him. They briefly wondered if he had camouflaged himself, but then they heard, "Up here, guys!"
They looked up and threw their heads back in surprise to see Seth wave down to them from sitting in a squatted position on the ceiling. "Another one of my abilities is crawling on any surface." He told them as he crawled over to the them while still on the ceiling.
"That's freaky." Barry stated before continuing. "But yeah it's the army who did it. Some general. His name was Eiling, I think."
"General Wade Eiling." Harrison corrected as he rolled into the Cortex, he briefly looked up at the ceiling, seeing the mutant give a wave from up there.
"You know him, Brains?" the others looked up to mutant on the ceiling with confusion in their eyes. Seeing the looks, he stated. "What? Thought that Brains on Wheels sounded cool."
The other males briefly wondered if Seth actually found amusement in Dr. Wells' paralyzed state, but considering he's a doctor like Caitlin, then that wouldn't be the case… right?
Chuckling to the mutant, Dr. Wells responded. "It's an interesting choice of name, Mr. Rogers, so thanks. And I do not mind the name." Seth gave a thumbs up from his place on the ceiling. Harrison then went back to the matter. "And yes, I know the general."
"About ten years ago, general Wade Eiling contracted S.T.A.R. Labs to develop enhanced gene therapies for soldiers. I was interested in the potential medical benefits for civilians. General Eiling really wanted to develop mind reading capabilities for interrogation purposes. I stopped the study when I saw his techniques up close, but our split was less than amicable."
While Barry spoke to Harrison, Seth couldn't help but see some similarities between Wade Eiling and William Stryker form his universe. Both generals who abuse their titles to bring their own version of peace to their countries. The kind who would use any measures to do so. Even at the expense of other innocents. But at some level, Seth hoped that Eiling wasn't like Stryker.
If proven otherwise, then he had to be stopped… for good.
Caitlin took notice of the lack of words from the mutant above, and saw him looking deep in thoughts. "Could he be thinking about his home? His world?" she wondered, while also hoping that she could make him feel more at home somehow.
"Well… Lucky for us, the VA finally joined the new millennium and digitized their records." Cisco stated before opening up the VA's files. "A lot of redacted info. But our girl's name is Bette Sans Souci, an EOD specialist for the army."
"EOD?" Caitlin wondered.
"Explosive ordnance disposal." Seth explained as he jumped down to the ground and landed in a soundless crouch. The others impressed by his athletic capabilities. "They're people in the army who specializes in bomb defusal. I've seen so many of them in back in SHIELD before, even more in war-threatened countries back there."
"Is there an address?" Barry asked, Seth looked at him and made eye contact. The speedster knew that him and the elemental mutant would be needed for this.
Cisco after checking out a few files, said. "One person in case of emergency. Cameron Scott. Inglewood."
Barry looked up to Seth with smirk. "You ready, Demon?"
Smirking himself, Seth let the symbiote engulf his body and spoke. "Born ready, Streak." He gave a menacing smile.
Cisco reached into a drawer and threw it to Seth. "That's a communications device, so we can talk to you too." Venom nodded and let the speedster drag him to Inglewood.
X
(Inglewood)
At the same time, a young woman with crimson-red hair and black leather jacket covering her bright blue shirt and her dark blue jeans, came down the fire escape. Her palms not touching the railing for some reason.
When she reached the ground, she started walking to the other end of the alleyway. She briefly looked behind her to see if she was followed, thankfully she didn't find anyone. When she looked ahead again, she didn't see the red blur storm towards her.
The blur stopped revealing to be Barry in his suit. "Bette Sans Souci?" he asked the red-haired woman.
In shock and fear of being discovered, she turned around and ran the other way.
CRASH
Only to stop when she a gigantic black being with the face of a demon stop her in her tracks. "We won't hurt you." Venom tried to assure her, but to no avail as she turned and found a third way and ran in its direction trying to escape the two powered beings.
Barry huffed and dashed in front of her again. "I need you to come with us." He reached her hand.
The woman backing away and warned. "Don't touch me. Please" Barry growing frustrated, grabbed hold of her arm.
Venom was about to intervene, but only to stop when the woman tried to push the speedster away. Her hand touching the lightning bolt emblem on his suit. Pulling her hand away from it, a dark mass of energy of sorts slowly spread around it. "Get whatever you're wearing off of you." She said hastily. Barry looking confused, only for the woman to exclaim. "Hurry."
Barry with hast, ran towards another direction of the alleyway. Running and running only for an…
EXPLOSION
An explosion of raw fire erupted around his blurring form.
Venom looked confused turned once again to the young woman, who saw the demon look towards her. "Stay away from me!" she said fearful, not wanting a good guy like the Demon to be hurt by her.
"We do not mean to harm you, Bette." He tried to assure her, only for her grab hold of a metal pipe with a jagged end as a weapon with only hand on the end of it. While she did keep him at the other end of a weapon, Seth could feel that she didn't want to hurt him.
"I'm sorry." She threw the pipe at Venom who was about to dodge…
EXPLOSION
Only for an explosion to erupt from the other end of the pipe, lunging it through the air with accelerated speed.
PIERCE
Because of the accelerated speed of the metal pipe, Venom was unable to dodge it. The pipe lunged into the left side of his ribcage. Venom bent down on one knee, feeling pain spread around his body because of it. Mostly because the pipe went through the symbiote and Seth's real body underneath it all.
"Son of a bitch." He thought angrily in pain.
X
(S.T.A.R. Labs)
"Barry? Seth? Can you of you hear me?" Cisco tried to contact the powered beings, but to avail.
"There must be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why neither of them are answering." Caitlin tried to reassure Cisco and herself, but inwardly she feared the worst for the mutant, and the speedster. "Seth?!" she exclaimed to the communications device, Cisco wondering why she seemed only to care about Seth.
WHOOSH
Sudden they both hear whooshing sound, Cisco looking to the right and seeing Barry putting on a new shirt. "Don't ask." Barry told the mechanical engineer.
Caitlin looking to the left, to her lab and saw Seth leaning against the door frame with a metal pipe sticking out of his body.
"Barry! If you ever drop me again at the speed of sound, I'll freeze your legs, cut off and stuff down your throat!" Seth threatened angrily at the speedster, who smiled sheepishly.
"Oh my god. What happened? Are you okay, Seth?" Caitlin asked concerned and immediately went to his side.
"Never been better, expect for being dropped off by annoying speedster." He answered through gritted teeth. The other males looked to him, and their widened when they saw his clothes slither away and into his body.
Caitlin saw the same and was more intrigued to see Seth do that. But even more when she saw the front of his torso covered by a black substance. "What's that?" she pointed to the covering on his stomach.
"My past." He answered cryptically. Inhaling a few deep breaths, he took hold of the metal pipe. The others trying to get him to stop, but to success as he ripped the pipe out of his body. The others worried if this would be fatal, but to no need as his wound was already healed. "Ahh, better."
"Oh my god, the wound is already healed?" Caitlin wondered curiously. "I think you heal faster than Barry does, actually."
"My dear old partner to the rescue." He said with a chuckle. "Yeah, I let him stay in my body and protect him, he gives me some nice powers in exchange so he can protect me. One of which is accelerated healing." He further explained while Caitlin touched his body, his cheeks turning red from the continued touching.
"That is so cool." Cisco said gleefully, that quickly faded when he turned to Barry. "Where's my suit?" he asked.
"It's… Gone." He said, unsure of how to describe it.
"What do you mean, it's gone? What did you do with my suit?" Cisco asked again.
"It blew up, dude." Barry explained. "I managed to get out of it before it went, "kaboom.""
"My suit went "kaboom"?" Cisco repeated his words.
"Fun fact about Bette Sans Souci. She's not carrying bombs. She touched the emblem on the suit and turned it into a bomb." The speedster said before concluding. "She's a meta-human."
"With the ability to cause spontaneous combustion upon tactile contact." Dr. Wells explained her powers with different terms. "Mr. Rogers, are you alright?" he directed at the mutant, who gave a thumbs up.
"She blew up my suit." Cisco said with a sad voice.
"You have, like, three more." Caitlin said from her spot beside Seth, who seemed to be in deep thoughts. The female doctor took notice of the mutant's lack of participation and became worried.
"Okay, I have two. And I loved that one." He said angrily.
"All right, what do we know about her?" Barry asked them all.
"Oh, I don't know. She's pure evil." Cisco said frustratingly as he went to search for the metahuman. Seth looked to him with narrowed eyes, he didn't like the tone Cisco used. "We're gonna find this girl and send her butt into the pipeline." Seth clenched his fists slightly in anger from his words. "No one blows my tech to smithereens and gets away with it…" Seth was about to say something when suddenly Cisco's demeanor changed. "Unless she looks like that." He said at the picture of the metahuman.
Seth scoffed as Barry went to speak next. "I don't think she meant to hurt me or Seth."
"She didn't." Seth stated steadfast, the others looked to him. "My partner can feel emotions of people around us. Back there, Bette didn't want to hurt me or you. It was more like she didn't want people to come near her, for some reason."
"Have you seen this power before?" asked Caitlin, wanting to know if he had experience with this power.
Turning to her, he answered with a shaking head. "No. I haven't. I encountered mutants with strange abilities before but hers is different." He said unsurely.
"Well, her being a meta-human explains Eiling's interest in her." Harrison said.
Rounding a corner, Joe came into the facility and said, "And why he stole the case from us. He didn't want anyone to know what she could do."
Harrison turned to him and greeted. "Detective."
"Doctor." He greeted back, before turning to the picture of the newest metahuman. "So… Human bomb. Must be Tuesday in Central City." He joked, Seth not liking the tone of the others about this metahuman. Caitlin kept her eyes on him, seeing him turn angrily.
"Yes, and general Eiling's not one to give up a potential asset without a fight." Dr. Wells stated, knowing of Eiling's limitations.
"Awesome another awful aspect our worlds share." Seth stated hatefully, remembering his history with Stryker, the symbiote feeling anger boil within himself and the host.
Caitlin grabbed his wrist and brought him into her private lab so the two of them could talk alone. "Seth, what's wrong? You seem angry for some reason." She said worriedly.
Seth didn't want to tell anyone, but Caitlin was the one person he trusted the most in here. With an extended exhale, he answered, "In my world, there was a man in the army, a general like Eiling. His name was General William Stryker. He might worse than Eiling, actually he was. He saw mutants as weapons of war, something that could be used so human lives wouldn't needlessly put their lives on the line. That guy was the most horrible person in the world. He even kidnapped so many… mutant children, just so he could experiment on them. To exploit their powers for the good of humanity… in his vision."
Caitlin would normally never feel angry from a story, but the way Seth said it… it felt like he had some sort of insider's knowledge on it. "Eiling reminds you of this General Stryker?" Caitlin asked, she got a hesitant nod as confirmation. "Seth, I know there's something more to this than you're saying. And just know that you can tell me anything, all right?"
"I know Caitlin. And I thank you for being like this. It means a lot to me. It's just… sigh… It's horrific that people like him abuse their own granted title for their own needs. Even at the expense of others. This entire thing just brings back some memories, and not any good ones." He said, feeling his emotions growing almost uncontrollably because of the hate and anger that blazing into an inferno of hatred.
His emotions stopped when he felt slim and soft hands take hold of his own two. "I agree. But don't let that cloud your judgement, Seth. We and Bette too, needs you to be at your very best, if we're gonna save her Eiling. We need Venom, and more importantly we need Seth Rogers, M.D."
"Hope not that's short for Mutant Doctor, Dr. Snow." He got a laugh out of her. Giving a wide smile, Seth pushed a bang of hair away from her eyes. The gentle touch of his fingers grazing over her skin made her eyes flutter and her cheeks burn bright red. "Thank you Caitlin. It means everything… knowing that I can trust and count on you anytime and anywhere."
"Well the feeling's mutual." She said, she cupped his cheek as she continued. "You don't have to hide anything from me. I trusted you long before you showed your true identity… when you were still showing yourself as Venom."
Seth felt his cheeks burn redder with each loving word that she spoke. Her voice was like the voice of angels. Her touch was softer than anything that had ever touched his skin before.
"Hey Caitlin!" Both of them snapped their heads around and looked into the Cortex and saw Cisco looking at them with suspicious eyes. "Think you can peel yourself away from there and check the files on Ms. Sans Souci, while I try to hack into the army's network?"
"Yeah" she nodded. She gave the mutant a last look before walking out of her lab and into the opposite lab of The Cortex.
"She's special."
"Yeah, she is." Seth thought back dreamingly to his partner. His mind then turned to the newest discovered metahuman. "What seemed strange about her? About Bette?"
"We felt no hostility from the young woman when we faced her." The symbiote started off. "But we may have discovered something that seemed worth noting."
Perking his head, he thought back. "Her hands, right?"
"For some reason, she didn't use both hands when she held up that weapon against us before. Only one hand, for some reason. And more that she seemed adamant to keep her distance from us. All of which could only point to one fact."
Seth widened his eyes as he realized why Bette was behaving the way she was. The one thing that made her and other powered persons more dangerous than he is.
"She can't control it."
X
A while after, Cisco and Caitlin were the only ones in the Cortex. Seth went out patrolling, Dr. Wells was out "stretching his legs" as he said. Barry was out having a talk with Iris about something.
Cisco turned to Caitlin from his place in front of the computer. She was trying to find trying to find a possible address for Bette to go to from her files. But what he finds more surprising is that she had an smile on her face. A smile that never faded from her mouth.
She was smiling a lot… lot more since Seth had come forward with his identity. She seemed to have returned to her former self, the one she was when Ronnie was among them. The one who kept smiling each and every day. The one who wasn't burdened by the death of her fiancée.
The Caitlin that was actually happy.
Cisco rose from his seat and walked over to her. "Hey Caitlin."
She turned to her colleague. "Hey, I still haven't found anything that could point us to Bette's next possible location."
"It's okay, but that's not what I wanted to talk about." Caitlin looked to with curiosity. "You and Seth seemed to grown a bit closer since he showed his identity."
She showed a small but sad smile. "He's… just a nice guy."
"Yeah, he's… something, all right." He said sheepishly.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I mean, the two of you always talk together, and just before when I saw you two talking in your lab, you couldn't keep your eyes from each other. And Seth seems to care about you, Caitlin. He really does."
This brought heat to her cheeks. "And… I don't know, Cisco." She sighed. "Seth… is someone… I care about. But he's still hurting." Cisco drew a blank. "The day he came forward with his identity, he told me that he had lost… his fiancée too, in his world."
His eyes widened in shock. "What?"
"He told that 11 months ago, his fiancée died. He didn't saw how, but I could see how he much it hurt him, just from remembering it. His eyes were almost lifeless." She then chuckled. "I guess that's how I was after Ronnie died."
"No, you were just cold." Cisco joked, only to receive a cold stare from the doctor. "Sorry." He said before walking back to the computer. He stopped halfway and looked back to her again and said. "But maybe it's time for both of you to move on."
Caitlin returned to her task but her mind went back to Seth. "I do care about him. but is it time? More than that, is it right?" her conflicted mind thought.
"Yahtzee!" Cisco exclaimed as he contacted Barry and Seth with a way to find Bette. Caitlin too found a possible address for her.
"Yeah?" came the reply from the speedster after he picked up his own.
"Did you find her Cisco?" came the reply from Venom.
"We've piggybacked onto General Eiling's own surveillance. According to what they're saying, the lovely Ms. Sans Souci was just spotted in Inglewood." He then turned to Caitlin who announced her same information.
"The same neighborhood as Dr. Harold Hadley's office, the military surgeon who performed several procedures on her. That's why she was looking for the folder." She said.
Cisco then added, determinedly. "You got to get to her before Eiling does."
"Okay." Barry said back with a scoff before hanging up.
"Will do." Venom said before hanging up.
Caitlin then hugged her tablet closer to her body before thinking worriedly. "Be careful, Seth."
X
(Inglewood, Center for inflicted wounds)
Inside of his office was Dr. Harold Hadley doing some final paperwork. His eyes solely focused on the papers on his desk, not once looking up.
His eyes not registering the form of a familiar woman standing at the entrance to his office.
After a few seconds passed, a strange feeling filled the old surgeon, like he was being watched. So he looked up, and to his surprise saw a woman standing there at the entrance to his office. His eyes adjusted because of the dark. Widening when he recognized the woman standing there.
"Sgt. Sans Souci." He remembered her.
"You remember me. Good." The red-haired woman said as she stepped into his office. "Because I remember you, doctor." She started, filling her emotions go to darker places. "I remember waking up from a coma. You started cutting me open." she stated her painful memories.
"I was only trying to help ease your condition. You couldn't control it." The doctor tried to defend and justify his actions.
"You did this to me. You and Eiling." She snarled out the man.
X
(Outside of the Center of Inflicted wounds)
General Wade Eiling and his men stepped out of their vehicles. The soldiers immediately got their weapons out and trained them at the medical center, where Bette Sans Souci was.
Eiling was ready to give out the order to shoot.
X
(Inside of the Center of Inflicted wounds)
Bette walked towards the doctor, her hand outstretched and ready to touch the despicable surgeon who turned her body into that of a guinea pig.
WHOOSH
Feeling the forceful wind from behind her, she turned around and met a pair of familiar faces.
One belonging to the Streak's suit is now intact. The other belong to the same big hulking demon creature who she stabbed. Bette was inwardly hoping and praying that he did not hold grudges.
Barry and Seth looked at Bette, who had her eyes focused on the mutant. The speedster's eyes suddenly caught sight of a small concentrated green light that was trained on the other metahuman.
Seth saw it too and went to say something…. but.
BANG
Suddenly a bullet was shot forth from the outside of the building, going through the window behind them and into Bette's shoulder. The woman falling down in pain from the gunshot.
Venom spread his senses and caught the presences of multiple armed men outside. "Look after her, I'll shield us." He told the speedster before lashing out his arm towards the windows. His arm split off before coming back together with ice spreading around it, now forming a large ice shield to protect them.
"You okay?" Barry asked the downed metahuman. The surgeon used this distraction to run away… only for Venom to slam his fist into him and knock him out with giant ice-laced fist. "Look, I can get you out of here. I can help you understand what happened to you."
"How?" She asked, not knowing whether to trust him or not. Especially because she hurt his friend, who looks like a hell beast.
Venom turned to them and answered for the speedster. "The same happened to him." he got their attention. "Please, Sergeant. Trust us." He asked of the metahuman.
CRASH
The three powered people turned to the sound of a smashed window, where a flashbang was thrown through.
"Streak!" Venom warned Barry, who watched time slow to a crawl. Seeing the grenade about to go off, Barry grabbed hold of Bette and Venom and ran out of there.
To be continued….
Hope you guys enjoyed this one, people.
Next time, another aspect of the Venom movie will be revealed. So until next time, believers.