96 follows? 69 faves? Wow, I never actually thought my little online novel would actually gain this kind of success...
Thank you all soo much for your never-ending support, yours reads, your reviews, for everything you've done! I seriously appreciate it!
Also - did you guys hear about Tom Felton? I legit broke down into tears of happiness and joy and disbelief and other emotions. I cannot wait to see him take on a role opposite Grant Gustin, that too in my favorite TV show! Julian Dorn is going to slay! I hope I'll be able to finish this story before Season 3 premieres.
Anyway, thank you for reading and please leave a review! I hope you enjoy this next chapter :)))
He'd insisted on staying with me, and asking him to leave me alone with futile by that point. I groaned and complained about it, telling him I wasn't in the mood to put up with him and that - really - I'd feel better if I was alone, but he swept out of the room with a loud whoosh and returned in pajamas.
He crossed his arms in front of me, and arched an eyebrow stubbornly.
"Ugh," I muttered in exasperation, grabbing an old nightdress from my closet before I went to the bathroom to change, "If you're going to be a baby about it, then fine. You can stay."
But, secretly, I felt relieved. Having Barry around always made me happy. And happy was a good contrast from the intense frustration I had felt all day.
When I emerged, I found him sitting at the edge of the bed, quiet as he stared at the floor with sad green eyes.
"Bar - what's wrong?" I asked, kneeling down to look up at him.
Yeah...
What's wrong, other than the fact that your friends clearly don't trust me? And the fact that the man who saved your life thinks I'm going to hurt you?
"I wanted to apologize," he answered, avoiding eye contact, "For yelling at you earlier."
"Nah, it's fine," I answered, taking his hand in mine, overwhelmed with guilt, "I probably should've been a little bit more mature. I just - I don't know, she just told me she didn't trust me, and the next thing you know, there's a bruise on her face."
"Still, though, I should've listened to your side of the story before judging. I mean, you're not the kind of person who'll go around hitting people without reason, and I have no reason to question your-"
"Barry, for Christ's sake, stop apologizing," I interjected, placing a small kiss on his forehead as I rose, "You didn't do anything wrong. Now just... just stop giving me a headache, and get into bed."
He smiled, and murmured something about "two nights in a row." I rolled my eyes in response, and fixed the covers over myself.
"Yeah, well, if you're going to make a habit of it, you might as well just move in."
"Huh. That escalated quickly," he mused, clearly satisfied with what I just said.
"No, it didn't. You already have the keys to my place, and well, we're pretty happy together. If you wanted to make it a thing, then I'm comfortable with it."
"Well, then," and he wound an arm under my shoulders and around my frame, pulling me in against him and relentlessly placing soft, fast kisses all over my face, free hand tilting my jaw for a more open angle.
"Barry - agh - stop. Stop," I protested, unable to pull or turn away from his smothering, "I take back what I said - you're too annoying for me to tolerate you round the clock."
"'Course I am," he retorted, dropping a last kiss on my cheek before settling down, still cuddling me.
"Hmph."
Truth be told - the little frenzy of kisses made me feel better, the unexpected euphoria fighting the uneasiness.
But worry was still knotted in my chest. And I didn't do well to hide it from Barry, who leaned over to face me.
"Hey... What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"I'm going to try that again," he declared gently, "Tell me what's wrong."
"I told you. Nothing."
"Alright, unless you want me to start kissing you again..." he threatened softly, his hand gently turning my jaw towards him again.
I let out an angry sigh and leaned my forehead against his shoulder. "Barry, it's Caitlin and Dr. Wells... Wells, I can deal with. But... I don't want enmity with Caitlin. Or Cisco. And I know what they mean to you. I don't want for you to have to choose between me or them."
"Cisco's just been a bit clumsy with his words today. I bet my life that he'd never even remotely dislike you," Barry asserted kindly, "And don't worry about Caitlin... She's on the same page as well."
"No, she isn't," I replied, my voice muffled against his shirt.
A hand soothingly rubbed my back in consolation, and I was warmly hugged. "Trust me. I had a rather pointed conversation with her. Both this morning and just now, while you were busy moping in your room. Let's just say she's been... thoroughly...convinced."
"What did you say to her?"
"I told her the fact that she didn't trust you broke my heart, and she needed to make her own decisions rather than giving into everything that comes out of Dr. Wells's mouth."
"Why is Dr. Wells so evil in the first place?" I asked, annoyed.
"I - he's not evil, he's just-"
"Extremely biased against me and sees everything I do as a possible threat? What have I done to deserve that, other than accept his invitation to come work at his Lab?"
"I'm not happy with that, either. Nobody is. I had genuinely believed that his opinion of you had changed when we told you who I was-"
"On a scale of 1 to 10, how mad would you be at me if I knocked his teeth out?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I hate working with him, Barry. There are moments between us when I just feel so... resented. It's obvious he'd be much happier if I wasn't around. I can't explain why, but I think he feels that I'm just... getting in the way."
He tipped my chin up so I was looking at him. Even in the darkness, I could tell he was surprised by my statement.
"Artemis-"
"Yeah, he's outwardly nice to me, but that's only because of you. I'm certain that if it wasn't for our relationship, or for the hyper electron, he'd never bother keeping me here. It's like... it's like I owe him something, and he's keeping me around because he wants me to repay that debt."
Barry propped himself up on an elbow, frowning down at me. "Hey, you don't owe him anything. And this is the first time I've ever heard you say something like this. Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"
I sat up and hugged my knees, scowling. "Because. Your life is shit."
"How so? And what does that have to do with you hiding all of this from me?"
"You don't think I notice you being treated like dirt at work just because of your age? Or the fact that you're always putting your life on the line to stop thieves, thugs, psychopaths and scoundrel metahumans?" I scorned quietly, "Honestly, how heartless would I have to be to have you worry about something so trivial as an unstable relationship with Wells, on top of all the other issues you deal with on a normal basis?"
He rubbed his face with both hands, obviously irked, before drawing me in, hand cupping my cheek. "I don't care. If you have an issue with someone or something, you're supposed to tell me. What kind of hero am I supposed to be if I'm always running around saving strangers, but can't stop to look out for my own girlfriend?"
I pulled away and placed my hands at his shoulders. A stubborn push had him sinking onto his back, his hands at my elbows, holding me over his torso.
"I'm not going to give you any more tension than you already put up with, Barry. That's not the way this is supposed to work."
He scowled darkly at me. "Not telling me is only going to make me worry more, genius."
"You can't worry about something you don't know about. And thanks for the compliment."
"Artemis, you know nothing of what a relationship should be like."
"Really?" I scoffed, "Then I apologize for my lack of knowledge. Do entertain me, Barry: What is a relationship supposed to be like then?"
His lips spread into a tiny smirk, and he caught the back of my neck with his hand. "I'm glad you asked."
Before I could object, he pulled me down for a kiss that instantly turned satisfyingly dizzying.
I hesitated for only a second before slinging my arms underneath his neck and shoulders, kissing him back just as harder as he pulled the blanket over us.
[Dr. Wells's POV]
"Listen, sir, I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do for you anymore," Warren growled, sitting across from me at my desk, "There's no way you can continue to stay and work here."
"Warren, this lab is my-"
"Life's dedication, most prized possession, yada yada. I understand, sir," he answered sternly, "But you're not doing anything productive, and you're making zero profit whatsoever. You have no business plan, your budget is underwater, and your capital? Nonexistent! As your bankruptcy lawyer, I've done everything I can to protect you. I've been the one responsible for dealing with law suit after law suit. I've had to clean up the financial mess your little probable accelerator created."
"It's a particle accelerator, Warren-"
"I've been the one arguing your cases while the city rotted away because of you, I've been the one managing what's left of your budget, overlooking your debts and you haven't so much as lifted a finger to help," he scorned, his thin blonde hair shaking on his head as he spoke, "You had some significant investments left, Dr. Harrison! You were supposed to use that to fix up your mistakes, but your lab is still in shambles. What exactly did you do with the money?"
Oh. Right.
The remaining investments...
Was he talking about the investments I had used to nurse Barry out of his coma... so he could become the Flash?
Or the investments Cisco used to build tech... specifically, the Flash suit?
The ones Caitlin used to sustain her medical wing... to look after the Flash?
The investments I was using to sustain the particle accelerator as a prison... to hold the criminals who went after the Flash?
Or the investments I had used to spoil Artemis, and guide her towards synthesizing vankleissium into a super-powered electron... so she could one day try to murder the Flash?
"The money was used to pay my remaining scientists, Warren..."
His nostrils flared in disbelief. "And what exactly have your scientists been doing?"
"I-"
"Mr. Harrison, your lab is headed for a permanent shutdown! Irreversible foreclosure! I've done as much as I can to let you keep your facilities, but you are out of money. Unless you start making capita right away, start doing work that will contribute to society again, the government will take this lab facility, and everything in it, away from you."
I fell silent.
The money had been an issue since I let the accelerator explode. I knew I'd start losing my wealth because of my actions. Law suits, repairs, going out of business. Hiring a third scientist was a big risk, but the ends justified the means, and I had always had a safety net when it came to accrued wealth.
And now I didn't.
I had worked so hard to keep everything a secret, and now, at the hands of an issue I considered negligible, I'd be legally ruined once the government found out what I was actually doing.
Where would I hide the metahumans? I couldn't kill all of them...
And Cisco's tech, for Barry?
Caitlin's archive of medical information, all those meticulous files, research and paperwork?
Artemis's electron-based inventions?
I'd never be able to make it back in time if we couldn't find a way to support ourselves fast.
"Thank you for letting me know, Warren."
He gave me a dull handshake to seal his threat, and picked up his belongings before he left.
I followed him outside in my wheelchair, into the Cortex.
Artemis arrived just as he was about to leave via the exit hallway, and gave the tall, wiry blonde man a confused look.
"Hello," she greeted, surprised to see a new face this early in the morning.
"Hi," he answered dryly, holding out his hand, "Warren Dutra. I'm the lab's financial attorney."
"We have a financial attorney?" She asked in a small voice.
"Not for much longer," he muttered, before striding down the hall.
She watched him leave, puzzled, before she turned to me with the same innocent, confused look. She then noticed the thick ribbons of pink glitter streaking across the floor, work desks, and walls, like someone had tried to paint the Cortex with shimmering rose-colored tiger stripes.
"What the-"
"There was a metahuman attack yesterday," I clarified for her.
"Right. The time travelers," she responded numbly, stepping over a pile of glitter to reach a desk.
"Time travelers?" I asked, playing dumb.
Yes, Artemis. The time travelers.
"Barry and Cisco met a young girl who time-traveled here with another speedster," she explained.
A young girl who time-traveled here with another speedster?
You mean - a girl with tech that could slow down Barry with a single shot of molten glitter? And another speedster? A speedster, who happened to be your son, and my grandson - and looked like my mortal enemy no less, because you and Barry just won't be able to keep it in your pants?!
God, if my shoulder still wasn't so sore, and if my timeline hadn't been disoriented, I'd strangle her to death in this very moment.
"Who the hell taped lightning bolts and smiley faces on the lenses off all of our flashlights?" Cisco shouted from his workshop, entering the Cortex. He dropped a pile of lights in front of Artemis, and raised an eyebrow up at her, demanding an explanation.
She stifled a grin, and clicked one of the lights on, shining a beam of light onto the wall, with the jagged bolt-shaped space cutting through the middle. It resembled the emblem on Barry's suit.
"Get it? They're 'Flash' lights..."
Cisco scowled.
"You think you're cute, or something?" He scoffed gently.
"Maybe?"
He exhaled and gave a single nod. "That actually was pretty cute. Gotta hand it to you for seeing the pun through on that one."
She high-fived him before they embraced each other, and Caitlin stepped out of her medical ward, nervously clearing her throat to get Artemis's attention.
"Hey..." she greeted numbly.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite drug addict," Artemis teased.
Caitlin smiled in guilty fashion and opened up her arms. Artemis rolled her eyes and grinned as she accepted the hug, before she noticed me watching with dread.
"I'm not hugging you," I muttered.
"Good. I didn't want to," she snapped back, before she began stalking towards me, "You and I-"
"Yo, I'ma let you butcher Dr. Wells and all, but what's with the scarf?" Cisco called out, "It's August. It's like, 94 degrees out."
Artemis paled, and a hand caught at the fabric circling her throat, adjusting it. "Oh, it's nothing. I've just got some... mosquito bites. They're really embarrassing."
"Mosquito bites?" Caitlin inquired, instantly pulling out a bottle from her purse, "Here, let me see. Covering them up is only going make the irritation worse, especially in this heat. This stuff'll treat them instantly."
"Caitlin, no-" she protested, backing away from the scientist, bumping right into Cisco.
Artemis yelped as Caitlin took advantage of her vulnerability and yanked the scarf off of her neck to diagnose the bug bites, finding instead several dark blotchy bruises, identical to one another in size and shape, adorned in neat rows down her neck.
Hickeys.
Both women turned a deep shade of red, before Artemis snatched the scarf back and fixed it back over her neck, no doubt uncomfortable with the revelation.
"That's one hell of a nice mosquito you've got there, Van Kleiss," Cisco joked, before he walked away with a surprised smile, shaking his head in disbelief.
I loudly cleared my throat to break the ice, and Artemis turned her attention to me, eyes fixing on me with a cruel glare.
"Dr. Wells. You and I have a few... personal... issues we need to work out. You owe me answers. A lot of them."
I tried to ignore the cold, liquid shiver that shot down my spine at the sound of those words.
"You're fired," I answered immediately, before I could take the words back.
Caitlin made a small squealing sound. Cisco stuck his head out of the doorway of his workshop.
My knuckled turned white as I gripped the armrests of my wheelchair with shaking hands, unable to look her in the face.
She folded her arms over her chest, her presence demanding my attention.
"I can't afford to pay all of you. The lab is going under foreclosure."
"What?" a small, faraway voice whispered.
"Sir, what are you saying?" Caitlin inquired softly.
"Dutra came in this morning to tell me we've officially run out of money. I can't support all of you. We're bankrupt beyond what is considered legally acceptable. The government is shutting us down."
"We'll work for free, then."
"Yeah. The Team sticks together."
"No. You and Cisco get to stay," I answered grimly, finally acknowledging Artemis's fierce scowl, "But you leave. I don't want you here anymore."
The side of her lips tipped up in a cool smirk.
"What? You're not mad?"
"Nope."
"What will you do?"
"Nothing, I'll just take my electron to-"
"Van Kleiss. You're under arrest," a third male voice interjected, several footsteps arriving in the Cortex.
"I'm all kinds of lucky today, aren't I?" She muttered to herself, before turning around, "David. What'd I do this time?"
Captain Singh, flanked by Lieutenant Mark Briggs, Detectives Joe, and Eddie all arrived, each dressed in fresh dress suits. Barry lingered in the back of the group, dressed the same, hair combed handsomely to the side.
Singh stepped forward and crossed his arms as he looked down at her. She returned the gesture with a glower that would've sent John Cena crying home to his mother.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you," David warned.
"Oh yeah?" She challenged, "Try me."
Cisco dropped his jaw, and Caitlin paled.
You do not answer an officer, warranting your arrest, with a snarky comeback.
We watched in charged silence as the duo scowled at each other.
David would be furious.
Nobody talked back to him and got away with it, especially not a bratty trouble-making physicist. And nobody called him by his first name, not to his face anyway.
He'd be ruthless against her. She'd go straight to jail for whatever she did. Or better - prison. My hands would be clean. I'd be ridden of my burden.
David and Artemis surprised us all by suddenly cracking grins and laughing. David shook his head disapprovingly, before clasping the woman around her shoulders in the quick side hug.
"I swear to God - you are the biggest smartass I have ever met," David complimented, letting go.
"If you ever try to arrest me for real, I'm going to be screwed, because I have no idea whether or not you're joing," Artemis responded, flashing him a friendly smile before she faced the other men, "Please tell me you didn't come all the way out to our humble lab just to crack an inside joke. And, uhh, what's with the suits?"
"There's a law enforcement conference out in the state capital. Proper dress is required," Mark Briggs answered, glancing around curiously at the pink streaks.
"It's more of an over-glorified meeting, really," Eddie continued, frowning at the rose-colored stuff spread out over the floor, "You all been redecorating?"
"Yeah, we're trying to go for a seventies theme," Artemis answered, scrunching her eyebrows, "If it's a law enforcement conference, why are you taking Barry? He's not a cop..."
"It's not like he's going to do work while we're gone, anyway, so why not just bring him with us?" Singh joked.
Artemis threw him a dirty glower again. I knew for a fact she didn't appreciate Singh's constant berating of Barry.
"Anyway, we came here on actual business," Singh began again, facing her in seriousness, "All evidence proves you know who the Flash is."
I nearly coughed from surprise.
She silently studied the Captain for a moment, before she blinked skeptically. "Excuse me?"
"Look, we could go for a formal interrogation and hook you up to a polygraph and all that, but we don't need to do that," Briggs interjected, "We know you better than be super-technical about it."
"Um. The Flash?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows in mock confusion, "That one metahuman who runs around super fast? Wasn't he called the Red Streak?"
"Look, don't play dumb with me," Singh answered, "I know you have a history with speedsters..."
"Accurate choice of wording..." Cisco murmured behind me, before Caitlin gently hit him in reprimand.
"You obviously don't know me as well as you think, then," Artemis countered, "I have no affiliations with the Flash whatsoever."
Aside from the fact that you've fallen asleep in his arms twice in a row.
Minor detail...
Eddie opened his mouth to speak, but Singh put his hand up, silencing him. "It's okay. Of course she'd deny contact with him. It's what we'd expect. She's hiding other metahumans too.. But Artemis, you need to understand he can't keep running away from us forever. He's a dangerous super-powered freak, and he's showed up at almost every metahuman showdown in the city."
She shrugged casually. "I'm not saying you're wrong about the Flash, David. I'm just saying you're wrong about me knowing him."
"Look, please don't make us bring you in," Eddie pleaded, "Just... make things easy for us, and admit it. We know you have connections with him."
"Oh, it's more than a connection," Cisco crooned softly, smirking, before I glared at him.
"I won't admit a lie."
"Van Kleiss, when you first arrived in the city on the day that Andrew Thompson attacked and held you hostage, the Flash saved your life," Briggs countered, "Then, when Roger Wahlberg was using his earthquake abilities to destroy Downtown, you came in contact with him again and helped him take Wahlberg down."
"That means nothing. We were both just in the same place at the same time."
"Here's where it gets sketchy," Joe spoke up, forced to play along, "The day Thompson kidnapped you, the second time?Several sources say the Flash was sighted searching through the city for something... or someone."
"Joe, who says he was looking for me? Maybe he was looking for Thompson."
"Aha. Knew you'd say that," Singh replied, grinning as he and Briggs walked over to the first computer at the main desk, "Hey, can someone help me use this thing, please?"
Caitlin stepped forward and helped Singh turn it on. He signaled with a finger for Artemis to join him behind the desk. I wheeled myself over as well, and Cisco followed up beside Caitlin, the three of us watching nervously.
Singh accessed the police database - little knowing it was hacked into on a daily basis here - and pulled up traffic cam footage. He typed in Fountain Lane, South End, and selected an option from a drop down bar, until he had what he wanted.
On screen, Hartley Rathaway was terrorizing the nighttime street with his sonic wave-emitting gauntlets, and the Flash was failing in his attempt to take him down. Singh fast-forwarded the footage to where a familiar car dared to arrive on the road, and a second hooded figure wielding a large carbine-style gun stepped out of the vehicle.
He paused the video, and looked to Artemis expectantly. "Look me in the face and swear by the name of God that's not you. I've seen you in that jacket, and the car's license plate numbers match up with yours. This person appears to have the same build and weight as you do, Van Kleiss. I know it's you here."
"Congrats. You must be great at Guess Who."
He was unimpressed by her witty response.
"I don't get it," she objected carelessly, "So what? I stopped a bad guy, and the Flash happened to be there..."
Singh hit the play button on the screen, and fast-forwarded to where Artemis was trying to resuscitate Barry, weeping. When he came to, the two embraced, and Singh paused the film again with another suspicious look on his face. "You're hugging him."
"So?"
"That means you two have a bond."
"I wouldn't necessarily call it that. I was just extremely relieved to find out he was alive. Haven't you ever performed CPR on a dying person, David? Wouldn't you feel relieved if that person lived?"
"You had the Flash vulnerable, and you didn't unmask him?" Eddie interrupted.
"No," Artemis responded firmly, "He didn't deserve that kind of disrespect in my eyes. He was trying to save the city from a threat, and he put his own life on the line. Eddie, if that was you, or any of your men, or any other person who was doing that, I'd have done the same. I was not giving the Flash any special treatment."
"How did you know where to find the Flash, in the first place?" Barry questioned, finally speaking up.
"Who said I was looking for the Flash?" Artemis retorted to him, "I just wanted for the soundwaves to stop. They interfered with my cell signal."
Barry and Joe cracked tiny smiles at each other because of Artemis's joke, smiles that immediately vanished after Briggs turned to face them.
"Gentlemen, have you ever considered asking Iris these kinds of questions?" I asked, irritated, "Iris has been searching for information regarding the Flash since he first appeared. She's a professional investigative journalist. My physicist here has only been in the city for a mere three months."
"Iris's father, boyfriend and stepbrother are all members of the CCPD," Singh explained, "She wouldn't dare hide that kind of information from any of them."
"Then, associatively, I assure you that you have no reason to doubt Artemis either."
Artemis gave me a quizzical glance, before Briggs took her attention again.
"So anyway, let's talk about this gun you're holding here," he accosted, pointing a finger on the screen, "What is it? It took down a metahuman in a single go. Our firearms don't do that. Even the best of our rifles are nothing more than toothpicks to some metahumans."
"Oh... Well..." Artemis began, her tone uncertain, "I kind of discovered a subatomic particle that vibrates at an exponentially faster rate than its normal counterpart, and used its synthetic nuclear form to create weapons?"
Briggs, Singh and Eddie all looked at Artemis as if she just said something insane.
Which she did.
She pursed her lips before she went to her lab, and returned with a large shielded steel case, long and rectangular in shape. She unhitched the locked clasps, and brought out the dangerous weapon.
"I managed to analyze the different types of brain waves, and calibrated a nuclear force that could counter that," she described, placing the gun in Briggs's hands, "You shoot this at any being with a brain, they're paralyzed and unconscious for as long as their bodies can handle. You're promised a good half-hour of paralysis, at least."
Briggs nearly dropped the carbine in astonishment. A moment of silence passed, before the men burst into a cacophony of questions.
"You lie-"
"How did you build something like that?"
"If it can actually do that, that's wicked cool-"
"Will it work on anything?"
"Are there other guns like this?"
"Can I keep it?"
"All else aside," Singh announced, his voice silencing the others, "I want to know more about this weapon. You said you built it?"
"Yes."
"And... do you have permission to build such a firearm?" He asked cautiously, "Legal certification? You need a license to do this, Artemis. Because, if you don't, I will unfortunately be forced to arrest you by law."
She paled, and gently shook her head no. "I - can I call my lawyer, or something?"
No, you can't call your lawyer. He went missing, you dolt.
"How much did this thing cost you to make?" Briggs inquired curiously, ignoring her question.
"The total rounded out to about $7,600," she admitted.
"You spent almost $8,000 on a gun?" Eddie asked incredulously.
"It's not a normal firearm, Eddie," she admitted, "Each and every bit of it is hand-crafted. I built the tritium nuclear generators inside it myself, along with the quantum helix and the Tesla fusion chambers. You can't find devices like that on the market. And there's a lot of precision involved, and money goes into testing and research-"
"We'll take it."
Artemis paused. "I - gentlemen, it's not for sale."
Singh and Briggs threw each other questioning looks, no doubt reaching a tacit agreement.
"Artemis, our metahuman task force is helpless against threats. We're no better armed than our SWAT team. Ensuring the city's safety is becoming more and more dangerous, and we need something like this. You built a game-changer here."
"We'll take ten of them."
"Umm... I appreciate the support, but how will you... pay... for all of these?" She asked, rubbing her neck, "If you want ten of them, it'll take around $80 thousand dollars to create them... Not to mention the fact that I'm supposedly breaking the law by building them?"
"There's going to be a representative from the Department of Homeland Security at the conference today," Eddie stated, "We know a guy on the inside who can get you a grant."
"A grant?" Caitlin asked.
"Yeah, to support you so you can support us. The DHS is well aware of our fallout metahuman crisis. They're just as worried about the metahuman problem as you are."
"A grant would do us a lot of good," Cisco stated, "We're out of funds, and we need some serious support to get back up and running."
"We'll drop your charges and I'll work with the licensing agency to give you legal rights ASAP if you agree to it, Artemis," Briggs stated hopefully.
What?
This was almost too good to be true...
There was no way she could turn this down.
An $80,000 grant - it wasn't as large as other grants I'd received, but it would be enough. I'd just have to show proof of it to Warren Dutra, and my lab would be saved. Nobody could shut down my lab once we had a financial foundation started. We'd only go up from there.
Accept, Van Kleiss.
Say yes to it.
Artemis gave me an apologetic smile, before she faced the police with it.
"I'm sorry, gentlemen, but you'll have to commission Mercury Labs for it."
"What?" I barked.
"Huh? Why?" Singh asked, worried.
"Stephen Hawking here has unfortunately terminated me from my position as an engineer here," she answered, faking woe, "I was hoping Dr. Tina McGee would take me in. I've heard good things about her, and no doubt she's heard of me by now as well."
"You've been fired?" Barry asked quietly, looking away from his girlfriend to me, with an unforgiving glare.
He'd never let me live this down.
"We can work out our issues," I assured quickly, silently begging Artemis to concede, "Our differences might not necessarily require your termination."
"Are you sure?" Artemis asked softly, "I mean, you really don't seem to enjoy having me around, and you've told me on several occasions that it's better for me not to be involved in your work-"
"I love having you around," I grumbled, forcing a smile with gritted teeth, "It's always nice having you involved in my work."
The policemen watched uncomfortably.
"I mean, jeez, Dr. Wells, nobody's forcing you to keep me here if you don't want to," she answered, playing with a curly strand of hair, "You'll manage just fine with Caitlin and Cisco, like you said earlier. And I'm sure Mercury Labs won't turn me down... They'd love a grant from the Department of Homeland Security."
A fine attempt at manipulation.
Forcing me to comply with her, in front of the police, no less.
And if I didn't give in, my Lab would eventually be shut down, while my rival lab would only thrive, once Artemis patented her electron too.
"No. Stay," I responded, keeping my voice kind, "You won't have the same kind of freedom at Mercury, that I give you here, when it comes to research."
"Oh," she murmured, a pleased victory reigning in her eyes, "Well, if you insist."
She turned and gave a so-be-it nod to the police. "I guess I'm in."
"Good choice," Briggs asserted, as the two shook hands.
"Because if you refused, we'd actually have to arrest you," Singh laughed, taking his turn at shaking her hand.
"You're hilarious," Artemis answered dryly.
"I...wasn't kidding," he conceded.
"Mmm... Pretty sure your CSI wouldn't be too happy with that. He seems to be kind of attached to me."
Barry raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her, and smiled.
"You're not above the law," Eddie teased.
Artemis gave him an unimpressed look that seemed to ask Who gave you the permission to speak?
"Alright, Van Kleiss, we'll see you when we get back, hopefully, and we'll bring good news," Briggs stated, turning to leave, "Gentlemen, let's move out. The traffic's not going to like us at this hour, and we don't want to be late."
Briggs and Singh left, and the other three men stayed behind.
Joe and Barry grinned and approached Artemis.
"Never thought I'd ever have to say this to you, but I'm glad you didn't get yourself thrown in jail," Joe declared, embracing Artemis proudly, "And for the record, that gun was pretty cool."
"Thanks, Joe," she replied, and he left, giving her one last smile.
"Yeah, Barry, how'd a sweet guy like you end up with someone like Artemis for a girlfriend?" Eddie joked, "She's tough as nails."
He clearly wasn't getting the memo that he was no longer welcome in our Cortex.
Barry focused a sad smile on her.
"What is it with you and these run-ins with the Flash?" He asked, worried.
"Run-ins. Flashlights. Speed dials," Cisco muttered, pouring himself a mug of coffee from the other table, "These two are disappointing."
Artemis shrugged.
Barry wore a worried pout. "What am I supposed to do if you keep getting in trouble with vigilante superheroes?"
"Personally?" Eddie interrupted, dulling Barry's smile, "I think the Flash might actually have a crush on her..."
Barry's smile melted off completely, and Artemis rolled her eyes. The man was a pro at ruining conversations between other couples...
"Eddie, that's... pretty insane," Artemis intoned, lacing her fingers through Barry's, "The Flash and I have never spoken or seen each other for more than a few minutes."
"No, but it definitely seems as if he shows you special treatment, like he used to with Iris," Eddie advised, "Barry, trust me. You don't want some metahuman hitting on your girl. The Flash's a creep, the way he'll show up in the middle of the night to flirt. Don't know how Iris couldn't see it as anything but platonic. And Artemis, you gotta be careful. He has some pretty... violent...tendencies..."
No doubt, he was talking about the incident where Barry had attacked Eddie while under the influence of the psychological effects of the Rainbow Raider, which was several months ago, before I had let Artemis on the team. Barry had liked Iris, then.
Barry tipped her chin up with his index finger. "Is the Flash aware that you're a taken woman, Artemis?"
"Don't know. He should be, though."
Eddie cleared his throat.
"Eddie, what the hell do you want?" She questioned.
"I... just wanted to ask if I could take the gun with us? To show at the conference? It could really back up our case with the representat-"
"No."
"Oh - alright then..." and Detective Thawne left as well, finally leaving the five of us in privacy.
Barry immediately focused a scowl on me the second the door was heard shut. "You fired her?"
"In case you weren't listening, I hired her back," I grumbled.
"Yeah, but only because there's money involved this time," Barry argued, "You can't keep treating her like this."
"Woah," Artemis protested, placing a hand at his chest to push him back, "Back up. I told you last night that I didn't want you upset about this. Back. Up."
"Do you have any idea how much stress you're putting her through?" He asked, ignoring her altogether as he narrowed his eyes at me.
His volume was calm enough, but there was anger in his tone. "Dr. Wells, with all due respect, I am not just going to sit back and tolerate you harassing her like this-"
"Barry-"
"If I find out you're treating her like garbage again-"
"-llen-"
"That you're not appreciating her and her hard work-"
"-are you even listening to me?"
"Then I'm never going to be able to forgive you."
"Alright, DiCaprio, that's enou-"
"You just can't seem to understand what she's worth to this lab, and you're always trying to outcast her-"
"You can drop the mic now, dude-"
"And I hate it-"
"Barry, for the love of god, don't overdo it-"
"And I don't want to see or hear about it again, okay?" I'm worried about-"
She placed her hand at his mouth, effectively quieting him. "Aand you overdid it. Thank you, Barry, but you'll be late for your little conference. And you're always late."
He relented, frowned at me, before bowing his head to kiss her nose. He bid Caitlin and Cisco goodbye and turned to leave.
"Oh, and Barry?" Artemis asked, halting him in his tracks.
"Yeah?" He asked, facing her from the doorway.
"Do you want me to quickly take your temperature, before you go?"
"No? Why?"
"I don't know... You just looked pretty hot in that suit, that's all."
Cisco spewed his drink, much to Caitlin's irritation.
Barry grinned and grabbed her in a fervid kiss.
A growl was born in my throat, and I coughed out loud on purpose, forcing them to break apart, both glowering at me.
"What? Don't look at me like that. I'm not the one acting like a disgusting teenager."
"Continue this later?" Barry asked quickly, reluctantly dropping his arms from around her.
Eugh. I was going to be nauseous.
"Affirmed," she replied with a nod, and he turned to leave, throwing her a dashing wink before he disappeared behind the doorway.
Caitlin smiled. "You both are sweet."
"Thanks," Artemis murmured, carefully sweeping a piece of hair out of the way before fixing her scarf again. She faced me with a cool smirk, gestured an arm towards my office.
"Now, sir, may I have a word with you, regarding how I expect to be treated from here on out?" She asked, her tone almost threatening.
Any resentment I felt towards her wove into fear, and I reluctantly complied, following her into my office.
She was proving to be the bane of my existence by every passing second.
[Barry's POV]
[Several Hours Later]
"Knock, knock?" A careful voice behind me intoned.
I paused my work and turned to find Artemis entering my criminology lab, setting her satchel down at one of my tables.
"Oh, hey, you," I quipped, quickly removing my latex gloves before I walked over to embrace her, "How'd the thing with Wells go?"
She looked up at me with a dark grin that probably meant it didn't go well... for Dr. Wells...
"Suffice to say he'll keep his mouth shut if he has any problems with me from now on," she admitted with a wink.
"I don't blame him for thinking you're evil," I confessed, dropping a kiss onto her forehead, "You do have a ruthless streak."
"Speaking of streaks, how did our little Red Streak enjoy his visit to the state capital?" She asked.
"Oh, well, he was bored out of his mind, and probably should have stayed in Central City, because he has four metahuman cases due early tomorrow, along with their respective forensic analyses," I responded sheepishly.
I really didn't appreciate Singh forcing me to go with him to the conference, but there was no avoiding his orders. And, at 11 at night, while most of the patrol was probably asleep, I got to go home and change out of that suit into a sweater and jeans, and return to my forensics lab to finish up the work that - oh, right - Lake was demanding by 7 a. m. sharp tomorrow morning.
Her brows furrowed.
"Singh really is a bitch to you, isn't he?" She murmured, stroking my cheek.
"It's nothing I'm not already used to..."
"Barry, that doesn't mean it's fair of him to-"
"Look, are we just having a role-reversed version of last night's argument?" I interjected gently, carefully winding a piece of her curly hair around my finger, "Because we both know how that went down."
Her cheeks immediately flushed a shade of dark pink, and she looked away, uselessly trying to repress a shy smile. "All we did was... make out... a little more than usual... It's not that big of a deal."
"Make out a little more than usual, along with a few other details?" I asked softly, adjusting the scarf 'round her ever so slightly, my fingers softly brushing against the bite marks.
Her face flushed more deeply. "It's not like we did anything else, so to speak."
"Oh, don't worry. I know exactly what else you wanted to do."
"I hate you," she mumbled, still blushing like mad.
"I know you do," I murmured, before cupping the back of her neck with one hand and gently tilting her chin up with the other for a well-deserved kiss.
We were so wrapped up in our little moment that we both failed to hear the awkward scuffle of footsteps entering my lab, followed by quick knocks at the door.
I turned red from embarrassment at the sight of Captain Singh, standing at the door, just as uncomfortable.
"Why do our bosses never let us make out?" Artemis hissed.
"Because Wells hates you, and Singh hates me," I murmured, before breaking away from her and clearing my throat, "Uhh, hi, Captain."
"Yeah, sorry guys," Singh coughed shyly, "I, uhh, didn't know-"
"No, no-"
"It's perfectly fine-"
Artemis and I continued to stutter apologies, until Singh's eyes steeled and he raised an eyebrow, pretty much ordering us to stop looking like nerds.
"Van Kleiss, I actually came to talk to you, if it's okay with you..."
"You knew I was here?" She asked in disbelief.
Singh scratched at the back of his head. "Uhh, yeah? You're not as stealthy as you think you are?"
She grimaced. "Um. How much of our conversation did you hear?"
Oh shoot, I realized. She had called me the Red Streak... And, well, even hushed voices echoed in a long hall such as my lab...
Dear god, David, why'd you have to bust in on us now?!
"I didn't hear anything," he asserted, taking a seat at my coroning table, "Now we have more important matters to attend to, if you don't mind?"
"Oh, sure," Artemis answered, sitting across from him. Realizing I was no longer needed, I slipped on a fresh pair of gloves and returned to analyzing the bloodstain patterns from this week's metahuman murder. Their conversation didn't go unheard, though.
"So... I talked to the people at the state's firearm licensing department..."
"Yeah?"
"And, well, the fact that you have a legal record, albeit from a long time ago, meant I couldn't get you the proper forms. You'd need to have a plea from your lawyer, or a legal guardian in order for that to be waived."
"Um... I, uhh, don't have a lawyer? Or a legal guardian? Or a lawyer who happens to be a legal guardian?" She asked, "Can't I just get approval from the court, or something?"
"I'm... actually not too sure about that. You could try?"
"Wouldn't you be able to lease the forms to Dr. Wells? Since I'm working under his laboratory?"
"I can't, unless it's Wells who'll be buildings the guns. Which he won't..."
"Couldn't the FBI just run a background check on me? I'm clean."
Singh stopped for a moment, before he spoke up again. "A background check might actually work, if we work out a few other details to go with it. Anyway, fill out what you can, send the rest over to Lake when you're done, and I'll let the guy from the DHS know about it. You'll have your license, as well as your financial grant, in no time."
"Sweet," she answered, "I'll get these done ASAP. Your metahuman task force will be armed and safely prepped in a matter of weeks, on one condition."
"And what would that be?" Singh scoffed.
"You swear my inventions won't be used to hurt the Flash."
I almost knocked over a glass bottle of an acidic reagent.
"Listen, I don't get what your beef is with metas, or why you're so attached to them," Singh scoffed, "It's not your place to decide-"
"Fine, then," she asserted, "Stick to your little toothpick rifles. I hope they treat you well against the next 10 foot brick monster that shows up. In the mean time, I'll keep my metaguns to myself."
Singh narrowed his eyes. "You do realize we could barge into your lab at any given time with a search warrant, arrest you for illegally building firearms, confiscate your weapons and have the military produce copies of them for us?"
Artemis crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Oh? I doubt the military has seen the hyper electron before."
"The hyper-what?"
"It's a little subatomic particle I derived from a pre-existing element. I'm the only one who knows how to create it, and I'm the only one who knows how to mold it into the proper quanta that will paralyze your metahumans," she explained, "You lock me up, and I'll never tell you anything."
"Oh? The military has pretty efficient ways of getting information out of people that-"
"That are cruel, unusual, and most likely illegal and torturous?" Artemis concluded, slitting her eyes, "David, are you threatening a civilian in your own police station?"
He scowled. "Look here, you little punk. You're the one openly defying and disrespecting authority by telling us we can't target the Flash. You're in no position to tell me, the captain, what to do. I could file charges against you right this moment."
Hello. Superhero on standby in case these two started WWIII...
Artemis took off her glasses, and set them on the table, leaning forward. "Listen, I've agreed to build you your weapons, and arm your task force. I'm willing to do everything you ask of me. My one request is that you leave the Flash out of this. Why can't you agree to that?"
He studied her harshly. "You'd have to give me a good reason why. If you're not affiliated with him, and don't know who he is, and have no connections to him whatsoever, what reasons do you have to fear his safety?"
She exhaled. "He's saved my life twice, David. I don't want to be the reason why he gets hurt. That's it."
Singh sniffed. He stayed silent for a second more, before he spoke up. "Fine. I can respect you paying a debt. But know one thing: if the Flash steps even an inch out of line, he's toast."
"Don't why you're telling me that," she muttered, "It's not like I can relay the message to him, or something."
They both continued to give each other icy, remorseless looks, before slowly cracking up, then bursting into full laughter.
"Jeez, that was actually kind of intense!"
"Damn, kid, you almost had me scared for a minute there."
They... weren't going to kill each other? My girlfriend wasn't going to prison? All that arguing had been... a mere ruse, an inside joke?
Yup. These two were hopeless.
"So, to confirm, we have a deal?" Artemis asked kindly, holding her hand out, "I'll build you weapons, you keep them away from our little so-called hero?"
"Sure, sure... To be honest, I don't mind a guy running around in a costume, trying to help others, if it helps him sleep better at night... And if he stays in his place."
"Great. I'll get the licensing forms done as fast as I can," Artemis stated, smiling. "Thanks for not throwing my butt in jail, David.
He grinned back at her.
"Well, we here at the force really do appreciate what you're doing for us. It's pretty mind-blowing, seeing a kid your age doing the things you do. If there's anything else we can do to help you, let me know."
Artemis smiled warmly, before something set in her eyes.
"Actually, David, there was something I needed to talk to you about," she admitted solemnly, rising from her chair, "Mind if we discuss this in privacy?"
"Huh? Oh, of course."
Then the two left, leaving me even more confused. What could Artemis possible want to converse with Singh about that needed privacy?
It's none of my business, I presumed, pushing the thought out of my mind, and continuing my tests.
By the time Artemis returned ten or so minutes later, I had finally gotten through the first half of the four tests.
Speeding through these wouldn't help, when it came to forensics. Several criminology-related tests are time-sensitive, and need slow, careful precision.
"Since when are you and the Captain on a first-name basis?" I retorted.
"Since his husband invited me over for dinner last week," she explained, before she gave me a worried look, "Are you just going to stand there and work all night?"
"I'll be done in... just a few hours."
"And how exactly many hours is considered a few?" She asked, wrapped her arms around my sides
"Umm... Two or three..."
She sighed, clearly annoyed, and rested her head against my shoulder. "Is this a dielectrophoresis test?"
"Yeah," I responded, surprised, "How'd you know?"
"You do know you're not the only who knows how to study blood, right?"
I cracked a shy grin. "Hey, thanks for asking the police to, you know, not target me with your metaguns. The police have been trying to hunt me down for quite some time now. The extra insurance - it means a lot to me."
"Nonsense," she replied, placing a peck at my jaw, "I'd rather let the lab go broke and lose my job than let my inventions hurt you. And for the record, when I do release the guns to the metahuman task force, I'm going to figure out a way to make sure that the beams are calibrated so they won't affect you, if you ever get caught in a crossfire. Because I don't trust any of police here, save for Joe, and I don't want those freaks coming after you, especially if you're injured. So.. the guns the taskforce get won't hurt you."
"I still can't figure out what I did to deserve you."
She smiled fully, and planted a kiss on my cheek again, hugging me around the shoulders. "So, what have we got here?"
"Oh. Four sets of evidence samples collected from a homicide scene. Two murderers have been identified. Felipe Garzonas. Serial rapist, who's been avoiding the cops since his first victim was found years ago, in Jump City. The other guy is Mark Mardon, brother of Clyde Mardon. The two brothers were bank robbers before the particle accelerator gave Clyde the ability to control poisonous mist, but he's in the Pipeline. So far, all I have is that Mark Mardon is working with Garzonas in some way. I'm trying to figure out where they're hiding, and if they have metahuman abilities as well."
Missing homicidal bank robbers and serial rapists usually don't make great conversation starters with your girlfriend... but nowadays, sharing information with her regarding my cases was actually pretty normal, even if it wasn't allowed.
"That's... Your job is scary, dude...How many tests have you done so far?"
"I've finished two. There's still two left. Then, when I finish, I get to write wonderful reports on all of them, and if I'm not done with it all by tomorrow morning, Lake gets to yell at me."
"Oh, don't worry," she conceded coolly, with a flip of her dark hair, "Nobody's going to yell at you."
"Yeah, that'll be the day," I scoffed. She smiled and hugged my arm.
"Hey, you guilt-tripped my sourpuss boss, I guilt-trip yours," she declared with a confident smile.
"Oh my god... Was that what you went to talk to Singh about alone?!"
She grinned.
"Artemis!"
"Shush. Now, why don't you go take a quick nap, or something? You seem pretty tired, to be honest," she stated, "I'll watch over the third test for you."
"I can't just go take a nap. I have so much work to d-"
"Fifteen minutes of rest won't kill you. I'll wake you up at midnight."
"Promise?"
"I will. I swear."
"Don't try anything, Van Kleiss."
She gave me a small smirk that was either very innocent, or very dubious, but nodded.
"See you in fifteen minutes, Barry."
I reluctantly complied and went over to my desk, and sat down, hiding my head in my arms.
I wasn't tired.
I'd probably get back up in five minutes, then send Artemis home so she could sleep.
I yawned.
Yeah, I wasn't sleepy at all...
###
When I lifted my head again, I was washed over with sudden grogginess and delirious confusion.
The digital clock by my computer read 4:07 a.m.
Oh, god.
Artemis didn't wake me up.
Just as I was about to break into panic over all of my unfinished work, I noticed that my lab equipment had been neatly put away in its cabinets, and a stack of papers that wasn't there before was waiting before me.
Four sets of metahuman blood tests, each written in lengthy detail, neatly organized by subcategories, stapled in the top left corner.
Exactly how Singh wanted them.
Then - more papers, set off to the side. Research notes, on genetics and electron states, the nucleic wavelengths in particle interactions, and thousands of messy calculations. A laptop that wasn't mine was showing an error code for some kind of nuclear reaction program.
Then I noticed that she was still here, arms crossed, silently staring at the corkboard I had hidden underneath a map of Central City.
"Hey," I murmured, yawning as I crossed over to her, "You weren't supposed to do my homework for me."
"Oops," she answered, facing me with a small guilty smile.
"What're you still doing here? It's 4 in the morning."
"Couldn't sleep," she answered with a sigh, facing the board again.
We'd added more pieces of evidence to it, once we'd found out her mother was murdered in the same way, on the same night. Red yarn spanned across the board, pinned where the two murders had coincidences. Both murders used 8-inch kitchen knives, not belonging to the victims. Both victims died immediately. Both scenarios involved lightning. Both children present were swept away, out to safety. Both took place on the same night.
"The man in the yellow suit gave you your powers."
"What?"
"The man in the yellow suit. He's responsible for you having speed, Barry..."
"Artemis... that's-"
"In the time since the particle accelerator blew up, no two metahumans have been found with identical powers. Each metahuman is different, and their abilities derive from where they were or what they were doing, as well as their mental psyche. Hasn't it ever seemed kind of...I don't know, statistically impossible... to you, that your mother was murdered by a man who ran faster than lightning, then one day you woke up from a 9-month nap, and BAM, you coincidentally had the same exact powers as him? Then he showed up and threatened you? Barry, he wants this. He wants you to be the Flash. This is what he's wanted the entire goddamn time."
A charged moment of silence passed. I wasn't able to process what she had just told me.
"Barry - if you had gotten struck by lightning alone, you would've died. If you had gotten hit by the dark matter alone, chances are you would've gained some very different abilities because of you were working with forensic chemicals. But neither of those scenarios happened, because you got hit by three very precise elements: lightning, the exact set of electrified chemicals and radioactive dark matter. And - look at it this way: If the man in the yellow suit had never killed your mother and wrongfully went your father to prison, you probably wouldn't have had a motivation to go into criminology. But because he did, you were in this lab in that exact moment. He wanted you here when the accelerator blew up, he wanted you to hold onto those chains when that lightning hit, and he did it all so you'd have his powers."
A tightness formed in my chest.
Caitlin had told me that every aspect of my survival and recovery had been extremely impossible, and that my case was unlike any other, that I shouldn't have existed, even as a metahuman.
I had always thought it was because I was lucky. But, if what Artemis was saying was true, I wasn't lucky at all...
"You were manipulated into that exact situation. We're puppets, Barry. I don't know who he is, or how he's doing this, but I get the feeling we're both doing exactly what he wants. He wants you as the Flash."
"What does he want from you, then?"
"Beats me. All I've been doing since I got here is working on synthesizing the hyper electron and working on genetic transmutation to undo the dark matter's effects. But I do know for a fact that I wouldn't be standing here if my mother had been killed..."
"Artemis... You're saying the man in yellow is responsible for the particle accelerator malfunctioning. The particle accelerator was created by Dr. Wells, Cisco, Caitlin, Hartley and Ronnie. It can't be any of them."
"I'm not saying he's one of them. Maybe he slipped down there while everyone was away, and kicked a few bolts, mind the exaggeration. Cisco and Wells both said that the accelerator was supposed to function perfectly. There's no way they'd let a raw particle travel in a faulty pipeline, knowing how dangerous it was. He did it while they weren't looking."
I picked at my lip, deep in thought.
She was right. The Reverse Flash had to have been behind the malfunction. He must've been at STAR Labs sometime before the accelerator was turned on.
Our previous encounters with him revealed he wanted me dead. Weak. Broken. Defeated.
And he was a cold-hearted murderer...
Hurting an entire city of people for one selfish reason didn't seem out of his scope.
"Do... certain aspects of our relationship ever scare you? Like, the fact that two people whose mothers were killed in very rare and very identical ways... just randomly met each other? Two people, out of the entire world? Not that I'm complaining, but... again, this is statistically impossible. I work at the lab that supports you as a hero. That can't be a coincidence."
"I get what you're saying... Artemis, do you remember the Reverse Flash's first warning to you?"
"How could I forget?" She scoffed, "He warned me to stay away from you, or he'd kill you."
"And he told me the same exact thing, about you-"
"Like he specifically didn't want us to be together, in any way."
"But after he showed up the third time, we confessed everything. We initiated a relationship, knowing very well that it went against his warnings-"
"And he didn't do anything. We haven't seen him since that night in the South with Andrew, so many weeks ago," Artemis stated, "My guess is that he didn't want us together at first. But, something must have gone wrong, or he wouldn't have come back for us. It's not like we defied him after the first time, when he promised bloody murder. But the second time around, we did disobey him, and he just... hasn't shown up to stop us."
"You're saying he's letting us stay in a relationship, rather than try and set us apart again?"
"It's not like we didn't like each other before. The only difference is that after our second encounter with him, you told me you were the Flash..."
"So now you're saying he wanted us in a relationship, but only if you knew I was the Flash?" I asked skeptically, "It's not like I wanted to hide the secret from you from the beginning - I knew telling you would be critical to solving the murders. Dr. Wells was forcing me to keep the truth from you."
"I - to be honest, it makes sense, kind of. You were there, at both of our mother's murders. Or at least, you will be, somehow. And you and I were the children he seemingly targeted, so many years ago..."
I sighed, scowling at the corkboard. "This is so baffling..."
She exhaled deeply, and sat on the desk, eyes staring at nothing in particular like they did when she was trying to figure something out.
"Do you believe in fate?" She finally asked softly.
"I don't know..." I answered, shrugging, "Should I?"
"I don't know either. But, assuming this man is the reason why you became the Flash, from the murders in the very beginning, all the way to the lightning bolt hitting you, and me, meeting you, and discovering science my parents were killed for - I don't know. But... I think he's trying to control us, albeit at a distance. He's slowly, but surely, guiding us towards some sick prophecy kind of shit... And that unnerves me..."
"So what do we do?" I asked, trying not to shiver, "Break up, give up on everything we're doing so far, and wait to see if he tries to do something about it?"
"That... that actually might work."
"Artemis, did you just agree to stage a break-up with me for the sake of luring in our childhood nemesis?" I asked incredulously.
"Sadly, I did."
"Alright, I think you need to go home and get some rest, and that all this CSI stuff has been getting into your head," I joked, no longer hiding how shaken I was by our conversation, "Thank you for writing my reports and all, but-"
Her unimpressed glare shut me up.
She rolled her eyes and sighed again, muttered a curse while gently pulling at my ear in annoyance, before planting a soft kiss at my temple and taking my hand.
"I wouldn't break up with you, but at this point, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to free us from this monster's treachery once and for all. I hate him affecting our lives like this, influencing our decisions, taking away the ones we love for the sake of controlling us," she muttered.
She got up from the table, and pulled the screen down over the corkboard, signifying that this conversation was over.
The look in her dark eyes was icy and unforgiving.
"Barry," she concluded, her tone ruthless, "I'm going to find this bastard, and I am going to make him pay for everything he's done. He will lose to us."