Much longer, hope everyone likes it. PLEASE review, I need to know what you think.

I own nothing except Alyssa, so don't touch her or sue me.

Chapter 11: Murder.:

"What's wrong Barry?"

"What?" The speedster looked up at Alyssa, who was watching him from over the top of her book.

"You seem upset. Your face reminds me of a patient, he got that look whenever something new triggered a painful memory. It was always something different."

"Does that count as breaking patient confidentiality?" Barry asked, genuinely curious.

"No names, I'm speaking in very general terms, I can get away with that much."

"What about your book?"

"I got permission for everything in there that needed it, especially anything specific. You're avoiding the question."

"Joe showed me pictures from the night of my mom's murder." Then he realized Alyssa didn't know the story so he told it to her, adding in what Joe had told him about how Cisco had managed this. "It means I must have gone back in time, and failed to save her." His hands were trembling and tears stung his eyes. "I failed."

A warm hand covered his and Alyssa let him cry into her shoulder, tears soaking her shirt as she whispered kind nonsense words under her breath. She did not know how long Barry would be able to stand such close contact with her, but perhaps grief outweighed fear. They stood there in silence for a few minutes after he stopped before the phone rang.

Alyssa muttered something in German that was probably rude and went back to her chair while Barry picked up his cell.

"Caitlin and Ronnie are in trouble, got to go." She waved him off. "And Alyssa? Thank you."

"It's what I do." She replied, the same warmth spreading through her that she got when a patient started moving forward on their own, but he was already gone.

Intense pain adeptly described the feeling of hundreds of tiny needles piercing his flesh. Barry yelped as Caitlin pulled another from under his arm. "This is going to take a while." She muttered.

"What would it take to arrest Eiling or stick him in the pipeline because that option is starting to look extremely tempting." Cisco muttered. Alyssa had, in great detail, explained the many cons of solitary imprisonment particularly in small places with so little human contact. After what the general had done to Hartley and their other encounters with him, those cons were looking like a suitable punishment.

Next thing they knew Martin Stein was captured and Ronnie was cutting into his skin to pass on a message. Then he and Barry raced off, leaving the rest of the crew to watch and worry.

Joe was having a more pleasant evening. Felicity had volunteered to cook dinner and Hartley had decided to join her, leaving Alyssa to complain that she really wasn't that bad a cook which led to a matching pair of "seriously?" faces that told Joe that if he asked there would be stories of Alyssa's past failures. It was enough to make him laugh.

He had understandably not liked the idea of Barry inviting two criminals (Alyssa would count as an accomplice) into his home, particularly when one of them had tried to kill Barry. But the twins were starting to grow on him. While he could definitely see why Hartley and Cisco hadn't gotten along, he could see why they did now. Hartley wasn't kind usually, polite at the most from what Joe could tell, but when he was with Alyssa, Felicity, or Cisco there was a kind of companionship in their actions, love from the first two and friendship from the last. He would never call Hartley nice, but the kid cared very strongly about who he called family. That was clear to Joe.

As for Alyssa, power to create fear none withstanding, she was kind. Joe had seen her comforting Barry, that he was sure she had no outward agenda instantly moved her from the "possible enemy" list to the "close family friend" list. She laughed often, especially with Felicity, and Joe had found great amusement watching their "computer wars", wherein they would each make a file to protect while trying to steal the other's. So far he believed Felicity was ahead in wins, a fact which clearly annoyed Alyssa. But at the same time, Joe knew something dark about Alyssa that he couldn't be sure her family did. He was certain that, if she felt it necessary to ensure Felicity and Hartley's safety, Alyssa would commit murder.

It was one thing to send a drunken man off to the streets and hope he would be run over, and another to kill in self defense, as she had on the stairwell. But Joe had been one of the cops called to that stairwell, had seen the bullet wounds, and known Alyssa had not aimed to wound, and was likely good enough that she could have. She was fiercely protective of Hartley and Felicity, and Joe could see Cisco moving into that list as well. He had seen an almost vicious look in her eyes when Eiling's name had been mentioned, a look that made him fear that if Eiling moved against one more person she cared about, Alyssa would put a bullet in his head without flinching.

Joe was pulled out of his dark thoughts by the phone ringing. "It's Cisco." The youthful laughter died away as all heads turned to him. "Everyone's safe, Ronnie and Dr. Stein merged properly and apparently were able to separate afterwards. Ronnie's going to stay at Cisco's again."

Relief swept across their faces and Joe felt the same. "You introduced Ronnie to me once." Alyssa said with a ghost of a smile to Hartley. "I wonder how he's doing partnered with someone as serious as Martin Stein." She toyed briefly with what was left of her meal then stood. "I need my bike."

"Do you want me to-"

"I'm fine Felicity." Alyssa interrupted. She pressed a soft kiss to the blonde's lips and left, taking her helmet and jacket with her.

҉

Eiling looked up. Outside his office his soldiers were dropping like flies, eyes rolling back into their heads. One fell against the door and was pushed aside by a figure wearing something like the face masks he'd seen in hospitals. She entered and closed the door with frightening calm, removing the mask and meeting Eiling's eyes squarely.

"General."

Yellow was all he could see, yellow and black. Adrenalin flooded his system and he tried to raise his gun, but found himself paralyzed.

"How did you find out about us?" Alyssa mused. Her casualness was forced, her hatred for Eiling, for Wells, for her condition and her brother's poured from her like a flood from a swollen river, intensifying her eyes and the force of their fear. The General was used to high stress situations, but something about this shut his mind and body down. "I never did know."

Eiling had found out about Alyssa Rathaway's abilities when she had caught the eyes of one of his soldiers who had gotten drunk off duty at a bar. The soldier had described the situation to him, a little investigation had yielded much more information. He had thought her ability could be useful, her brother's brains were an added bonus.

"Fear can act as a paralytic." Alyssa was speaking, her words just piercing the fog in Eiling's brain. "With the amount I'm pouring into you I'm not surprised." Her gloved fingers found the gun in his hand, pulled it free. She raised it to his head. "I liked Ronnie. I liked Dr. Stein as well, and I love my brother and soulmate more than anything in the world. You hurt him, and you will keep coming after us. You proved that, trying to find F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. Do you understand, General? I can't take that chance, so let's be through." She walked behind him and aimed the gun at the back of his head. "You wanted a weapon General, and look what's happened."

The shot rang out. The general's body slumped to the floor and Alyssa forced down the bile in her throat. She dropped the gun, replaced her gas mask incase the sedative was not gone from the air and left, stopping only to erase the security footage from the entire night.

Long periods of solitary isolation isn't good for a person's mind, it can drive them a bit mad, create hallucinations, make them a danger to themselves...It can do other damage but I believe that's the basic parts.