That evening, Alicia found herself out to dinner with Barry. Barry was filling her in that Henry Hewitt had successfully fused together with Stein, and that he seemed to be a good match, but they still needed Jax. Alicia had gone back to the station after leaving Jax's garage, deciding that she was needed at work more than at S.T.A.R Labs. She had grabbed lunch with Eddie and Iris, asking Iris how the meeting with her mom had gone. Iris informed her friend that she had decided it was best for her to keep her distance from her mother, Francine. Alicia could understand. Iris' mother made her think that she was dead all these years and all of a sudden because Iris was becoming a mother and a wife she wanted to be back in her life? It was bullshit, in Alicia's opinion. Now, Alicia found herself at an Italian restaurant by the water, dressed in an envelope, sweetheart-cut black dress that showed off her curves, and black, velvet heals, her hair, which was normally wavy, was straightened. Her lips were painted a deep plum color, and her eyes were bronzy, her makeup complimenting her blue-black hair that now was highlighted with deep, purplish-reddish tones. When Barry had run them to the restaurant, he had commented that she looked gorgeous. Alicia found herself now sipping at a glass of Pinot Grigio, and eating a lemon, butter, caper sea bass over Champaign risotto, Barry indulging in a filet Minong with red wine reduction over smashed potatoes.
"To health, happiness, love," Alicia said to him with a smile once their food came.
"So, how was work?" Barry asked her.
"The usual," Alicia said. "Nothing too exciting happened, though I am helping Patty track down her man-shark. But I did spend my lunch hour with Eddie and Iris."
"How's Iris doing with her mom?" Barry asked.
"She decided that she wants to keep her distance from Francine," Alicia said, cutting into her sea bass. "She just looked pretty upset. I can tell that she wants a relationship with Francine, but Francine had missed out on just about everything in her life, from her and Eddie getting engaged, to her graduating from college, to her getting a job as a reporter. I mean, I'm worried about her."
"Iris can handle anything; she's tough," Barry said. "She'll get through it."
Alicia nodded as she bit into her sea bass, indulging in the fresh fish. "Though I am sympathetic," she said. "I mean, my uncle pretty much got erased from my life after my aunt divorced him and moved her to Central City. I would be shocked if he showed up at the door tomorrow, asking for a second chance. Because even though I like to give people second chances and I am forgiving, my uncle just did so many things that were unforgivable."
"Well, you need to try letting some of that go," Barry told her gently, squeezing her hand across the table.
"I am happy that I managed to get out early, and that we managed to get out for the night. We've needed this," Alicia said.
"With crazy jobs like ours, yes," Barry said with a smile, sipping at his red win.
"Besides, you know what day we are getting closer to," Alicia said with a smile.
"Yeah, the time period where Oliver came to Central City to help us out with catching Bivolo," Barry said. "But that will also count as our one-year anniversary."
"Yeah, I know," Alicia said with a smile, her tone hinting that she was hoping Barry was planning something special for their anniversary.
Barry grinned, silently telling her that while he hadn't made plans yet, they will be made very soon. The couple finished their meal and paid the check, but then Alicia got a text from her partner, Patty, about a break-in at Mercury Labs.
"I'll see you at home. Patty needs me," Alicia explained.
"For what?" Barry asked her.
"Another Goddamn day at the office," Alicia said. "Eddie and Joe are going there as well. Apparently, somebody tried stealing from Mercury Labs and Tina wants to talk to me, Joe and Eddie about it all. Now, I have to go home quickly and get changed into my jeans and a long-sleeved top."
Barry nodded. "I can get the both of us there in a flash," he said with a smile. He got them both to her and his apartment, and Alicia quickly got dressed. She ran towards their open balcony window and flew towards Mercury Labs. She landed down right before Patty arrived with Joe and Eddie. All four detectives went inside the building; Alicia's hair tied back in a tight bun rather than left down. They entered the lab and saw Tina there.
"Hi, Dr. McGee," Alicia said.
"Thank you for coming, Detective Galloway," Tina said, smiling politely at the young cop.
"Dr. McGee, this is Patty Spivot, my new partner," Alicia introduced.
"Nice to meet you," Patty said with a smile.
"What do we've got, Doctor?" Eddie asked.
"On the phone you've mentioned this was a sensitive matter," Joe said as Patty disappeared around the corner to get some evidence.
"It is, and I called you directly," Tina stated. "Because I've always appreciated your discretion in the past," she added.
"Of course; can you tell me what was stolen?" asked Joe.
"It's not so much what was stolen, but who stole it," Tina said. "The person who broke into my facility tonight was Harrison Wells."
"Wait, wait, wait, as in the man who confessed to unleashing the Mardon brothers to kill my father and admitted to killing my boyfriend's mother? I thought he was dead!" Alicia asked, horrified.
"I seem to recall the circumstances around his passing were a bit inconclusive," Tina said, eying Alicia sympathetically. "Is there a possibility that he could be alive?"
"No, there's no way," Eddie said shaking his head, giving Alicia a look. After hearing of doppelgangers and other earths, he wondered if Harrison Wells from this earth had a doppelganger.
"I've known the man for over twenty years I know who I saw," Tina said. "The only thing distinctively different was he's walking again. Like I said, I trust your discretion. You have full access to the facility."
Alicia nodded her thanks. "Patty, scour this area and look for evidence," Alicia called to her partner. "I want that evidence on my desk tomorrow so that I can give it to Barry immediately so he can test anything that he can. In the meantime, I am going to head home and try to get some sleep."
"Sure thing, Alicia," Patty said to her partner.
Alicia turned to Joe and Eddie. "If you two find anything, call me immediately, because if this becomes a problem, we need to nip it in the butt," she whispered to the two of them.
"Of course," Eddie whispered, squeezing Alicia's shoulder gently. "Just head back home to Barry and get some sleep."
Alicia nodded and left the laboratory, feeling uneasy and sick to her stomach over the idea of Harrison Wells being back. Eobard Thawne who had disguised himself as Wells was dead; if this guy was a doppelganger version of Dr. Wells then she didn't know if she would be able to swallow it down. She knew that she wasn't telling Barry; he had enough on his plate. She flew to her and Barry's apartment with a heavy heart, still wondering if she should tell Barry that Harrison Wells had been stealing from Mercury Labs that night. She walked into the apartment and proceeded to fix herself and Barry two cups of chamomile, seeing Barry sitting on the couch dressed in a grey t-shirt and sweats. Alicia heated up the water and went off to get changed into some loose-fitting plaid pajama pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt so that she could sleep comfortably.
"Hey, babe, is Tina all right?" Barry asked.
"Yeah, she is. She was just concerned about who was attempting at robbing Mercury Labs," said Alicia, rubbing her hands and sitting beside Barry on the sofa, cuddling him as he threw a blanket over the both of them. "I just want to get lots of sleep tonight," she added.
"Of course we will. Tomorrow, we are going to give Jax a chance to see how well he is compatible with Professor Stein. You can be at the CCPD tomorrow, helping Patty with her man-shark and also working the evidence from this break-in. What was being stolen?" Barry asked.
"Honestly, Tina didn't tell us what was stolen from Mercury Labs," Alicia said. "That didn't really concern her too much at all, what had been stolen from her facility. She just wanted me, Joe and Eddie there because she trusts us to be discrete."
"Of course," Barry said. "Our whole lives revolve around keeping secrets safe. I mean all the secrets we keep about Ollie, Felicity, Laurel, your sister, us, Cisco, Cait, Wells, everything."
"I haven't heard from Ollie in a while," Alicia said softly.
"He's busy," Barry replied. "He's got a lot on his plate with his new bad guy, Damien Darkh. I heard from him a few days ago. This guy is mystical. I mean, I do not think that anything is impossible anymore."
Alicia nodded and further snuggled herself into Barry, feeling him kissing the top of her head.
The next morning, Alicia found herself sitting at her desk across from Patty, sipping at her iced matcha tea with coconut milk and eating a cream cheese lox bagel with scrambled eggs. Alicia was worried about the break-in at Mercury Labs, curious as to why someone who looked like Harrison Wells would be stealing from there. It made her uneasy. However, Alicia decided to distract herself by going over the pieces of shark teeth that Patty had brought forward for her and Barry to look at so that they could find this man-shark that was supposedly walking around the city. Alicia had gotten a text from Barry telling her that they had managed to get Jax to S.T.A.R Labs and that he was also compatible with Stein, which was good, but, Jax was also a little reluctant about doing it too, which was understandable completely. Maybe with Jax it just wasn't meant to be with him. Additionally, Caitlin had said a few things to Jax that further made him doubt himself. Alicia let out a sigh. She couldn't force the former high school football star into doing anything that he didn't want to do. That left Henry Hewitt as the second half of the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M matrix. Alicia just hoped that with Henry it was going to work out. Alicia studied Patty. Patty was a lot like her in the sense. However, she missed having Dick around; the partnership, the chemistry that they had as co-workers and as friends, the brother-sister bond that they shared, those were all the things that she missed. She just hoped that he was doing well out in Bludhaven with his beat cop position, and that he was taking care of things well out there.
Alicia was distracted from her scrambled thoughts when Joe came up to her.
"Hey, Alicia, honey, can I talk to you for a sec?" Joe asked.
"Sure, Joe, what's up?" Alicia asked, getting up from her desk. She followed Joe up into Barry's crime lab. "What's wrong?"
"Francine, she was here this morning; she said that she needed to tell me something important. I made it clear to her that Iris and I want her away from us and out of our lives, but, she insisted that she talk to me. Apparently, she's sick, and she's dying, and she wants to spend as much time with Iris as possible. But, I just, Francine, she cannot be trusted. She has a history of being a pathological liar and just doing so many things wrong. I feel that I cannot tell Iris, but I feel that I should," Joe admitted.
"I think that you should tell her, Joe. It's clear that Francine wants to make up for that lost time now before she has to get admitted into a hospital and actually dies," Alicia said. "You should allow Iris and Francine to try."
"Iris made it clear that she doesn't want to," Joe said.
"Well push her too. Because I would give for anything to have two more minutes with my father," Alicia whispered. "When I went back in time to accept Eobard's offer, I altered something. I changed it from my father being shot in the head to him being shot in the chest, and sure I got a few seconds with him, but, I haven't accepted his death yet; not even a second." Alicia felt her eyes burning with tears. She wiped them away quickly.
"Alicia I'm sorry," Joe whispered.
"That's part of why I told you to tell Iris the truth about her mother. Because one day, Francine won't be here, and Iris is going to be very sorry that she didn't have a relationship with her birth mom," Alicia said. "Just talk to her about it please, if not for anyone else then for me."
Joe nodded and gave Alicia a tight hug, walking out of the crime lab. Alicia took a seat at Barry's desk, needing a couple of seconds to her. However, she was distracted when a voice entered the crime lab, the sound of heavy footsteps.
"Sulking there, Licia?" a voice asked a voice that belonged to the one and only Dick Grayson.
"Dick!" Alicia gasped, shocked to see her former partner there. She got up from Barry's desk and hugged Dick tightly, breathing in a scent of leather, burning metal from his batterangs, and cologne. "What are you doing here?"
"I took a day or so to come and see you. I took a red-eye from Gotham after I got together with Bruce and my old girlfriend, Barbra," Dick explained, pulling out of the hug. "I'm just gonna be here for two days at the most before I have to leave for Bludhaven again."
"Well it's good to see you," Alicia said with a smile.
"It's nice to see you too. You look good," Dick said with a smile.
"Do you have a hotel, or. . .?" Alicia asked, noting the duffle that Dick had brought with him.
"Well I heard you and Barry have your own place now," Dick said.
"Let me guess? You were hoping to crash in our guest room?" Alicia asked around a smile.
"Yeah, yeah, you could say that, kiddo," Dick said with a grin. "Besides, what's new with you?"
Alicia took a seat, and explained everything to Dick: how when they stopped the singularity from destroying the city, they had opened a wormhole to an alternate earth called Earh-2, how that Earth has its own Flash and Angel, and how she and Barry had been warned of Zoom and Desdemona being sent to Earth-1 to kill them. It was something that Dick had not been expecting to hear about at all.
"Wow, that's a lot," he said.
Alicia nodded. "You're telling me," she told him.
The next morning, Alicia, Barry, Dick, Stein, Cisco and Cait found themselves in the cortex of S.T.A.R Labs, watching a news report that had come up. Iris had called them and told them to turn on Channel 8 immediately. The previous night, Barry had been more than happy to see Dick back in town, even if it was for a day or two. But now, they had pressing matters that they needed to take care of.
"–what's being described as a 'spontaneous energy malfunction' erupted last night at Eikeimer Technologies; wanted for questioning is scientist Henry Hewitt," the reporter was saying.
"Hewitt's dormant abilities must have been triggered when we attempted the merger," said Caitlin.
"This could be catastrophic," said Stein. "If his powers are anything like mine, he requires a grounding mechanism to stabilize his volatility. Otherwise –"
"Yeah, he's gonna pop his top," Cisco quipped.
"And he's got a long history of violence according to the CCPD database," Dick added. "He's got a police record."
"I didn't find a police record," said Caitlin.
"That's because this guy is good at concealing it. It was sealed," Dick said, taking a seat at the computer. "And I know about his police record because I look deep. He's got records of one count battery, two counts of aggravated assault, and court-ordered anger management therapy. If you want another half of Firestorm, I highly don't suggest this guy. This is bad."
Suddenly, they were all distracted by Stein twitching, shaking violently, his eyes going wide as he went pale.
"Stein, are you okay?" Alicia asked in worry.
Stein suddenly became stable again. "It appears Mr. Hewitt's stability isn't the only one in question," he said. "I think I need to lie down."
"Yeah, I'll come with you," Cisco said, guiding the professor to the med bay.
"He's getting worse," Caitlin whispered.
"We need to get Jax," Alicia said.
"He won't do it," said Caitlin.
"Well I suggest that you go talk to him, because it's not a matter of you not believing in him, it's because he doesn't believe in himself," Alicia said.
It was later that afternoon when Caitlin found herself going to Jax's garage, not knowing exactly how to make her apology for the things that she had said earlier to him that made him further have self-doubt.
"Let me guess, you don't got car troubles," Jax said.
"Look, I feel really badly about what I said the other day," Caitlin said. "But we really need your help to save Professor Stein."
"That desperate, huh?" Jax asked.
"Yeah," Caitlin said. "My husband, Ronnie, he used to be Professor Stein's other half. He actually helped build the particle accelerator, and when it exploded he was affected by it too. Ironically, that's how he got the chance to show the world what he was truly capable of. And he died saving this city."
"Wait, he was that guy that flew into the black hole?" asked Jax. "That was him, along with that Green Lantern, Star Sapphire, the Flash and the Angel?"
"He was a hero," Caitlin said. "You can be one too.
"I never wanted to be a hero," Jax said. "What I wanted was to go to college, but we couldn't afford it. Football was my way in, until that got taken away from me."
"I know; look I know the particle accelerator took something from you, but it also gave you something in return, something more than spectacular, the opportunity to be part of something bigger, to be part of a team that's working to protect people from losing what you lost. I believe you were meant to be a hero."
Suddenly, that was the moment that electricity in the air started to spark, and Jax was left confused as to what was going on. He assumed that it was a shortage in electricity again, but when he and Caitlin turned around, they saw Henry Hewitt himself standing there, looking rather pissed.
"I've been looking for you, Dr. Snow," Hewitt said.
"Hey, look man, we're –" before Jax could finish his sentence he was hit with a blast of energy.
Hewitt was gathering all of the electrical energy around him, making him stronger in power. "You did this to me," he told Caitlin. "But it's not what you promised, is it?"
Jax panicked. He couldn't allow this man to hurt Caitlin, so he grabbed a crowbar nearby and threw it at Hewitt, knocking him out.
"Come on!" Caitlin yelled. She ushered Jax quickly to her car, and they got inside. Caitlin threw her purse in the back seat.
"Where to?" Jax asked her.
"S.T.A.R Labs," Caitlin replied.
Caitlin and Jax arrived at the lab quickly, only to see Barry, Alicia, Cisco and Dick in the med bay.
"Cait, get over here," Dick told her.
"Why, what's wrong?" Caitlin asked.
"His vitals keep crashing," Alicia said with a heavy sigh. "If we don't do something soon he could die. I am picturing a ton of flames and him being burnt to a crisp."
"I do not think you are far off from that, Alicia," Cisco said with a sigh. They had managed to get Stein hooked up to oxygen and heart monitor. "But good thing you're here because this thing ran out like thirty minutes ago."
"His temp is a hundred and forty-two and rising fast," Barry said with a sigh.
"He's going into rapid oxidation," Caitlin said with a sigh. "We need to find a coolant."
"I think it's too late for that," Dick said with a shake of his head.
"I'll do it," Jax decided. "I'll merge with him." He looked towards Caitlin. "You said this is a chance for me to be part of something bigger than myself, to help a person; that's what I want."
"You're sure?" Dick asked him. "Once you merge, there is no going back from that."
"And you said I could fly right?" Jax added to Cisco.
Cisco grinned. "Damn right," he said.
"Okay," Jax said with a nod. "So what do I do?"
"Okay, well, here's the abridged version," said Cisco. He walked away with Jax to explain as Stein started to moan in his sleep.
"Jax is here," Alicia said to her former teacher.
"Jax?" asked Stein.
"Yeah, he's here. He's gonna do it," said Caitlin.
Cisco, meanwhile, had gotten Jax into the jacket that Ronnie had worn when he was Firestorm, and Cisco placed the quantum splicer onto Jax's chest.
"This is it," Cisco said to the kid.
"We've gotta do this now," said Alicia.
"You came back, Jefferson, thank you," Stein said as Alicia and Dick supported him forward.
"Well, like my coach always said, 'out of yourself and into the team,'" Jax said. "So how's this work?" he added to Cisco.
"Okay, well, are you're gonna do is touch him," Cisco stated.
"And then what happens?" asked Jax.
"You become Firestorm," replied Alicia. Everyone backed up, giving Jax and Stein room.
"And a little tip is to accept the balance and accept each other," Dick said. "Acceptance can be a powerful thing."
Jax touched Stein, and soon enough, the two merged into one human being, with Stein's mind being inside Jax's body, guiding him on how to use his abilities.
"Jax?" asked Caitlin. "Is Professor Stein –?"
"How will I know?" Jax asked.
Suddenly, they could all hear Stein talking to Jax inside his head. "Hello, Jefferson," he said. "Now you know."
"Oh, so I get Grey as my co-pilot," said Jax.
"Did no one inform you of that fringe benefit?" Stein asked him.
"So when do we get to take this for a test spin?" asked Jax, enthused.
Suddenly, the alarms throughout the cortex started to buzz. Cisco and Dick rushed towards the computers.
"Uh, how about now?" asked Cisco.
"It looks like Hewitt's recharging at Central City High School's football stadium," Dick added.
"Wait, that was where I got hurt," Jax said.
"Barry and I will beat you there!" Alicia said, rushing over to her Angel suit.
"Wait, you're the Angel?" asked Jax.
"Yeah, and Barry's the Flash," Alicia explained. She and Barry pulled their suits on at super speed. "We'll get the football players off the field and to safety." She and Barry ran and flew out of the cortex and towards the football field. They got everyone off the field.
"Cisco, cut the power to the field so he cannot draw anymore energy," said Barry.
"I'm on it, stand by," Cisco said. Once the power was cut, Alicia and Barry rushed forward.
"Hewitt, you need to stop!" Barry called out. "This is not who you are!" That was when Firestorm landed beside the both of them.
"Stein, you chose him over me?" Hewitt asked, pissed. "That's who I'm supposed to be! I deserve the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M Matrix!" He threw a blast of energy at Firestorm, but Stein proceeded to coach Jax and tell him exactly what to do, how to focus himself. Once Jax got some control, Barry went beside him.
"You okay?" asked Barry.
Jax nodded. "I was a quarterback I know how to take a hit," he said.
"Hey, guys, cutting the power didn't work!" Alicia said. "It's like the more we anger him, the stronger he gets."
Suddenly, that was when Caitlin started to talk to them. "Hey, make him angrier, and he will blow his fuse!"
"You up for a little game of 'catch me if you can'?" Alicia asked Jax.
"Let's go for it," Jax said to her. That was when all three of them flew around the football field. Barry ran around quickly around the field that he remembered so well, the football field that he had to run laps around in high school and put up with harassment from Tony Woodward. It finally felt good for Barry to know that he was fast enough. Alicia flew circles at super speed, being seen as nothing but a blur of white and rose gold surrounding the field. She could see that what they were doing was working. She winked at Jax, noting that he and Stein were working together amazingly well. The chemistry between those two was there, without a doubt. Thank God.
Alicia landed down in front of Hewitt, but quickly rose to the air. "Catch me if you can!" she called out to him teasingly.
"Come on; hit me with your best shot!" Barry yelled out.
"NOW JAX!" Alicia screamed, and Jax and Stein worked seamlessly together, throwing a blast of fiery energy at Hewitt, taking him down.
"That was sick!" Jax said.
"Not bad for your first go at this," Barry commented to Jax.
"Well, I had a great coach to help me through it," said Jax. "Isn't that right, Grey?" he added to Stein.
"Despite my initial reservations, we make a great team," said Stein.
"Welcome aboard, Firestorm," Alicia said with a grin.
The next day, after saying goodbye to Jax and Stein, who were going off to further train and practice Jax's new abilities, Barry and Alicia found themselves that night patrolling with Dick as Nightwing, like the old days. Dick was taking the rooftops, jumping from roof to roof on his glider. Barry and Alicia ran and flew around the city, smiles on their faces. It felt good to know that they had saved Stein, and that they had managed a job well done. Alicia couldn't wait to go home that evening with Barry, and binge-watch Netflix with him and Dick over shots of whiskey. It just made her feel really good.
As Alicia flew above Barry, the couple was suddenly distracted when they were grabbed by something large with skin that felt wet and slimy, kind of like a fish. When they turned their heads, they saw a giant man-shark, the one that Patty had been after.
"Zoom and Desdemona want you dead," the shark growled out to them. However, they were then distracted when something shot the giant shark with a blast of the electricity and that thing put Barry and Alicia down to the ground. Barry and Alicia chased after their mysterious savior.
"Who the hell are you?" Alicia demanded. Who they saw in front of them shocked them. A man that looked exactly like Harrison Wells.
A/N:
Alright, so we met Harry Wells, and Dick came back in this chapter. He will be in the next chapter briefly, and then soon enough I am going to have Alicia meet John Constantine and have her be one of the people to help Sara get her soul back. I promise you that I will be making Desdemona and Zoom make Barry and Alicia their bitches, and that that chapter will be nice a long. Additionally, I am really wanting to bring Hal into this story again soon, I am thinking for the Gorilla Grodd chapter in this.
Additionally, I am going to be starting to write another fanfic on here soon, but I am making it a surprise one, so keep your eyes peeled for it. Of course, Flashraven already is aware of my plans for it. . .
XOXO, Dani