It was a few weeks later after the visit to Starling that Christmas was coming closer. Alicia was already planning on visiting her family on Christmas Eve, and she was going to spend Christmas Day with the Wests and Barry. Alicia found herself on the West's sofa, wrapped up in a sweater and leggings and wearing Ugg boots. She watched as Barry and Joe unloaded the Christmas tree and started putting it together. Christmas music played softly through the living room as she watched a Hallmark movie on the TV. Every year during Christmas time, Alicia's mother and father would break out the decorations on Black Friday and the Galloway family would watch It's A Wonderful Life. Alicia's mother and father raised their kids Catholic, so every year on Christmas Eve they would follow the tradition of Feast of the Seven Fishes, and have seven courses of fish. The house would reek of barbequed shrimp, fried oysters, mussels fra diavlo, clams in white wine sauce, baked and friend cod, citrus branzino and tuna, but Alicia loved it and didn't care how bad the smell of raw fish made the house smell. She watched on as Joe came in with the last two boxes.
"Okay, last two boxes," Joe said.
"At this rate we'll be finished by Easter," said Barry. Suddenly, his eyes glinted with an idea.
"Go on," Joe said fondly.
Barry proceeded to use his super speed, and seconds later, the tree was fully decorated, ornaments, lights and all. The next thing he knew he was sitting down.
"All right now, Bar," Joe said. "But from now on the only red-suited dude I want to see in this house is Chris Kringle. And the only white suit will be Frosty the Snowman."
"Fine." Barry used his speed again to take the decorations down from the tree, leaving Joe chuckling.
Iris walked into the room seconds later, holding four mugs in her hands on a silver tray. "Uh, these ornaments are not going to hang themselves," she said. "And that means you, Detective."
"Alright, Iris," Alicia said with a smile.
"But, Grandma Esther's eggnog, light on the bourbon," Iris said smiling.
"Ooh, I really love your definition of light," Joe said before taking a sip.
"Alicia, I put whiskey in this one just for you," Iris said, handing Alicia her own mug of eggnog.
"Thank you," Alicia said warmly as Joe's phone rang.
"Ahh, the Christmas tradition continues," said Joe as he went off to take the call. Suddenly, that was when Iris turned off the television. Iris dropped to the floor.
"Oh come on, Iris!" Alicia said, rolling her eyes. "Christmas isn't for another few days."
"I can't wait any longer!" Iris said, clapping her hands.
"Okay, okay," Barry said. "I'm giving you and Alicia first though."
"Okay," Alicia said, smiling. Barry pulled out two jewelry boxes. Alicia opened hers to see a small, rose gold, heart-shaped locket with a photo of her late father displayed inside. The idea of having a photo of her father in a heart right next to her own heart. . . Alicia felt her eyes stinging with tears. "Barry it's beautiful," she whispered, hugging him.
Iris the opened hers up to see a chain containing her mom's wedding band. "My mother's wedding band?" she asked.
"A replica, yeah," Barry said with a smile. "I mean you were devastated when you lost the real one."
"Our fifth grade field trip," Iris mused. She and Barry then said in unison, "To the zoo."
"You cried for weeks," Barry said, smiling.
"I love it," Iris said. "I don't know what to say. Now my gift so sucks in comparison."
"I'm sure it's not that bad," Barry said.
"Same with my present," said Alicia, pulling out a package for Barry. Barry proceeded to unwrap it to see a red coffee mug inside. There were also Heroes DVDs inside too. "Iris said Joe broke it and that you loved that mug. Plus, I heard Heroes is going to get removed off Netflix for streaming. Might as well be prepared."
Barry chuckled. "Thank you," he said around a smile.
"Okay, my turn," said Iris. She handed him something wrapped up in wrapping paper. Barry opened it to see a microscope. "It's supposed to be the best on the market," she explained. "I figured you could use a new one."
"I love it. I'm going to get a lot of good use out of this," Barry said grinning.
"Awesome," Alicia said. After they finished up opening gifts, Iris went off to go out with Eddie, leaving Barry and Alicia alone in the house.
"So, Alicia, about what happened a few weeks ago," Barry said. "How we talked about giving it a shot?"
"I'd love to," Alicia said softly. She leaned in and kissed Barry softly, her insides feeling as warm and fuzzy as her sweater. Barry smiled gently against her lips and brushed his fingers through her black hair. "You wanna go somewhere?"
"Where to?" Barry asked.
"Doesn't matter," Alicia said.
Barry nodded and they threw their jackets on, along with hats and gloves. The two walked outside in the gently falling snow.
"What day are you going back home to visit your family for Christmas?" Barry asked.
"Christmas Eve, but I will be here for the Christmas party," Alicia said. "Thankfully that is the day before Christmas Eve. I already know my mom wants me to not miss midnight mass."
"Of course," said Barry as they walked the show gathering on their hats. Alicia looked strikingly gorgeous as she walked beside him. Between her rosy cheeks, long black hair, sapphire eyes and red lips, Alicia looked like Snow White to him. It was enough to make butterflies flutter in his stomach. "You-You look beautiful," he said, seemingly out of nowhere. He didn't seem to notice how beautiful Alicia looked.
"Thank you," Alicia said. "You're. . . not so bad yourself."
The two continued to walk out in the snow until they reached the local family park, where the big Christmas tree was lit luminously and filled with so much cheer. They both grabbed cups of hot chocolate from a vendor and just stared at the Christmas tree, the mistletoe. Barry and Alicia found themselves leaning in and kissing right there, under the mistletoe, feeling the warmth despite the frost in the air. Barry and Alicia could only guess that this counted as their very first date.
The next day at Mercury Labs, Barry, Alicia and Dick found themselves investigating the break-in that had taken place the night before. Alicia was currently interviewing several security guards and lab techs.
"So you saw a blur, a man dressed in yellow?" Dick asked.
"Yes," the lab tech said. He then walked away.
"Well looking at these bodies only high-speed collision could have done something like this," Alicia said. "According to the blood pattern."
"Yeah, Merry Christmas; good way to start the holidays," Dick said.
"Barry!" Alicia said, gesturing the forensics scientist. "Bar, you thinking what I am thinking?"
"Yeah, yeah I can agree," Barry said. "We live in a world of metahumans, Alicia, only a speedster could have done this."
"The only other speedster we've heard of was that man in yellow who killed your mom," Alicia said. "This just gets crazier and crazier."
"We need to find this guy," Barry said, shaking his head.
"Look, Barry, I know, I understand what it is that you are thinking," Dick said. "You know I was in acrobatics, The Flying Graysons. My parents were killed in front of me by someone; due to the fact that they always performed without a safety net, the rope was cut and they fell to their deaths. I've worked with Batman as his sidekick in Gotham since I was ten, Barry. I wanted to kill my parents' murderer, I could have, but it's not what they would have wanted for me. Instead I ended up sending him to prison. He got sentenced to the electric chair. Now that we have confirmation that this man in yellow is out there, we'll find a way to catch him. I promise."
"Thank you, Dick," Barry said.
Alicia turned to Barry. "Barry, I know who the CEO is of this place. Her name is Christina McGee maybe she'll have an idea on what this man in yellow was here for. I can call her into the CCPD," she said. "I know of her research she designs tachyon prototypes. Plus, she's an old friend of Dr. Wells, which is something considering Mercury Labs happens to be S.T.A.R Labs' biggest competitor."
"Thanks Alicia. You can send her up to my lab I want you and Dick with me up there anyway," Barry said. "Besides, if she and Wells are old friends. . . "
"We should have him come in too," said Dick in agreement. "I'll give Dr. McGee a call and tell her to come by. I'll tell Dr. Wells too."
Barry and Alicia nodded and walked out of the building.
"Did you ever think we'd end up being business partners and dating?" asked Alicia.
"No, not really," said Barry.
Barry and Alicia sat at Barry's desk in the crime lab with Dr. Wells, awaiting the arrival of Dr. McGee. When McGee arrived it was ten minutes later.
"Hi," said Barry. He reached forward and shook the woman's hand. "My name is Barry Allen I work with the forensics."
"I'm Detective Alicia Galloway," Alicia said. She couldn't believe Dr. McGee was standing there in the flesh. She had admired McGee's work for years and even read the woman's autobiography back in college.
"Dr. Tina McGee. I'm expecting that you called me here to ask about the break-in," McGee said, shaking Alicia's hand.
"Yes and no," Dr. Wells said.
Dr. McGee turned to her old friend with a smile. "That's usually how things are with you, Harrison," she said.
"Well we believe that whoever did break in was trying to steal one of your prototype devices," Barry said.
"Well you'd have to narrow that down we have hundreds on prototypes in development," McGee said.
"It's the tachyon one," Alicia said. "In my senior year of high school I actually wrote a paper on your research for those particles. Those particles can move at a rate faster than the speed of light. Unfortunately I only got a B+ on it; tough physics teacher."
"We've had encouraging success with tachyons, yes, but there's still a significant gap between our prototype and any real life application," McGee replied, seeming flattered by Alicia's admiration of her research.
"Well we were actually hoping that you would be able to lend us your prototype to use as a lure," said Barry.
"Wait, us? You're assisting with the police now, Harrison?" McGee asked, surprised.
"I'm consulting on this particular case," Wells said.
"Please, Dr. McGee. We have reason to believe that the man in that yellow suit described by one of your lab techs is linked to another case we are working on," said Alicia. "If we can potentially lure this guy we can trap him and we'll figure out what to do with him. We promise you that once this man is apprehended your prototype will be safely returned and back in your hands."
"You know that nobody wants to ensure the future's technology more than me," said Wells.
"I appreciate the CCPD's concerns, Mr. Allen and Ms. Galloway, but Mercury Labs is perfectly capable of protecting its own assets," said Dr. McGee. "Good luck with your manhunt," she added before walking out of the lab.
Alicia let out a sigh. "I tried, Barry, I tried," she said.
"Yeah I know, Alicia, don't worry about it," Barry told her. "We will find a way to catch this guy. Besides, this is personal for me."
"Barry, look I get it," Dick said from where he stood.
"Dick, that son of a bitch killed my mother by stabbing her in the heart with a chef's knife, and my dad is in prison for it!" Barry said. "I can catch metahumans I can catch this douchebag too!"
"Not alone, you're not," Alicia said, shaking her head. "Bar, Dick and I have a case that we need to get cracking on. I'll see you later."
"Kay, Alicia. I have to start analyzing some stuff anyway," Barry told her. He simply hugged her goodbye as Wells, Alicia and Dick left Barry to the peace of his lab.
Later that evening, before heading home, Alicia decided to head up to Barry's lab to check in on him. She knew that with this man in yellow back in town, it had to be an emotional thing for him. Alicia found Barry deep in his thoughts, lost in thoughts from years ago. She could see he was starting to become misty-eyed.
"Barry!"
"Barry!"
"Barry!"
"Barry!"
"Barry!"
Barry suddenly turned in her direction. "Hey," he said.
"I called your name like ten times are you okay?" Alicia asked as she noticed Barry's mother's case on the board in his office. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him gently, kissing his forehead.
"You know I don't deserve you, right?" Barry asked.
"I think for once you are deserving of some peace and something stable in your life," Alicia said. "And I am more than willing to be that for you."
"I know, it's one of the reasons why I love being around you, Alicia," Barry said, smiling gently as he kissed her lips.
Alicia rubbed his upper arms. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked him.
"I don't know yet," Barry admitted.
"Alright," Alicia whispered. "I'm gonna head home now, Bar. I'll see you later."
Barry nodded, kissing Alicia goodbye before she left his lab. Barry sat there, thinking of a time that was simple for him. It was a time he was in high school, fifteen years old, and he and Iris and their two friends, Hal and Carol, had snuck off the school campus to go to Ferris Air. Carol's father and mother had owned a branch of it out in Central City, as well as Starling and Coast City, and Carol and Hal both loved vintage planes. Carol, Hal, Iris and Barry grew up together, Hal being the one to sympathize with Barry the most, due to his own father having died in a plane accident. When Barry had told Hal about the lightning storm in the middle of his house the night of his mother's death, Hal, while he didn't entirely believe it, assured Barry that he wasn't crazy. On that day they had snuck off campus, Hal told Barry about himself, wanting to follow in his late father's footsteps and become a test pilot for Ferris Air against his mother's wishes. Hal had always had a confidence to him, was fearless, and was popular. That was something that the socially-awkward Barry wished he had. Barry remembered a time he'd been picked on and pushed too far by Tony Woodward, but Hal had come in and had been watching his back, sticking up for his friend in the process. Hal was also brash and at times a bit conceited, and was quite a ladies' man, attracted to beautiful girls. But Hal's eyes had always been for Carol. Despite at times being a bit of a big-head, Hal sincerely cared about Barry and valued their friendship very much. Hal had always loved the attention and at times did stupid things to get that attention, like drag racing and cliff diving. That day, Carol was telling them about her dream to become the CEO of Ferris Air and they sat there by the landing strip, watching the planes pass by. The four of them, Carol, Hal, Barry and Iris, sat there, feeling like kings, feeling freedom from the environment of Tony Woodward's bullying. That had been a day Barry felt happiest, despite still being in a depression over his father's imprisonment. A little over a year ago, Barry had heard that Hal had been a test pilot to go missing, so as a result, the Central City branch of Ferris Air closed down. As a result Carol had moved to Coast City to continue the family business, as with Hal missing, there wasn't much left for her in Central. Barry could hardly dare to believe it, though. Hal, the robust, confident, loyal, kind, plucky, slightly big-headed risk-taker that Barry used to play video games with as a kid, had gone missing. The announcement of his disappearance had left a hole in Barry's heart. Barry stayed in contact with Carol via Facebook, though, frequently checking on her.
Barry suddenly felt distracted from his happy memory of Hal and Carol and Iris by the sighting of the man in the yellow suit. He was just standing there on the rooftop, looking at him with menacing, red, glowing eyes. He looked exactly how Barry remembered him to be, the man that he had nightmares about for years. Barry felt fear coursing through him, but he also felt an overwhelming rage for that man in yellow. Barry suddenly saw that man in yellow run off of the rooftop at super speed, and Barry, consumed by his rage, his grief for his mother, the motivation to free his dad, he ran. He took off after the man in yellow, and he stopped around a back corner. He felt the rage boiling inside his stomach as he stared the man in yellow down.
"It was you!" Barry yelled. "You were in my house that night! You killed my mother! WHY?!" He balled his hands into fists at his side.
"If you want to find out," the man in the yellow suit said his voice in a deep, rumbling growl. "You're gonna have to catch me," he taunted, and he took off. Instantly, Barry took off after the other speedster, but, he noticed a huge difference. The man in yellow was faster than he was, much, much faster. Barry didn't care about anything else except catching this man. This son of a bitch was the man that stabbed his mother in the heart and framed his father for it. Barry felt so sick with rage, disgust and sadness as he ran after the man in yellow to a football field for Central City High School. When Barry got there, he could feel himself getting beaten over in the face. He felt blood coming from a split lip. Barry tried to hit the man in yellow, throw some punches at him, but the man was just too fast for him to keep up with. He felt an overwhelming, all too familiar sickness in his stomach as he was finally thrown down onto the ground. He then found himself laying there, staring at the man in yellow.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" he screamed. "I don't know who you are!"
"But you do, Barry," the man in yellow said. "We've been at this a long time you and I. But I'm always one step ahead."
Barry got back up onto his feet and tried to throw one last punch, but before he knew it, the man in yellow got away, but not before the mysterious man said, "It was your destiny to lose, Barry, just as it was your mother's destiny to die."
Barry got back up onto his feet after laying there on the ground in defeat, clutching his stomach. He knew that he needed to get to Alicia's apartment. He needed to feel safe; she always made him feel safe. When Barry got to his and Alicia's apartment complex, he knocked on the door, willing for her to open up. Alicia opened the door and looked at Barry in concern when she saw him bleeding.
"Barry what happened?" she asked, guiding him to the couch. She knew that Barry's cuts would heal, so she went to grab a cold, damp cloth to wash his face. He was covered in sweat, and he looked sick to his stomach with nothing but fury.
"I-I saw him, Alicia, the man in yellow, who killed my mom," Barry whispered. "He was standing on a rooftop watching me. I chased after me. He's-He's too fast even for me to keep up with, Alicia."
"What did he say to you?" Alicia asked in concern, sitting beside him and taking one of his hands, rubbing his bruised knuckles.
"He-He told me that I know who he is, but I have no clue what he is talking about," Barry whispered. "And he-he told me that my destiny is to lose against him, like he knows my fate."
"Barry you do not know that," Alicia said. "Nobody can predict the future, Bar." However, Alicia thought back to that Flash Vanishes in Crisis article she'd seen in Wells' secret room. That article said 2024, but she didn't know what it could mean for Barry. She decided to hold off on telling Barry about it. It was clear to her that Barry was overwhelmed with his own thoughts of grief for his mother and the anger for his father. Alicia just reached over and rubbed his lower back.
"But, he-he sounded like he just knows what my fate is," Barry said softly. He felt tears stinging in his eyes. "I-I had him, Alicia. I swore I had him."
"Barry, I know you are frustrated about this, but, Barry, if Cisco succeeds with whatever he's planning, I think we will have a chance at catching this man," Alicia said. "But, I want to bring this up to Dr. Wells, Joe and Dick, especially Dick."
Barry nodded and leaned in, kissing Alicia gently on the lips.
"You want me to order pizzas?" Alicia asked, offering to cheer Barry up with some comfort food.
Barry nodded. After the night he had had, he needed at least two pizzas. It was only seven-thirty at night. "Thank you," he told her.
Alicia ran her fingers through Barry's hair gently, ruffling it as she kissed his forehead.
The next morning, Barry found himself up in his lab with Dick, Alicia and Joe.
"Barry, we're going to catch him," Dick said. "I talked to Cisco; he says he's working on a trap for the man in yellow. There's no way we are letting him get away."
"Thanks, Dick," Barry whispered.
"I've talked to Dr. McGee also; she's going to lend us her tachyon device," Dick said. "It should help. This man in yellow wants more speed; we're going to hand it over to him."
Alicia wrapped an arm around Barry's shoulders and hugged him firmly. "Barry, we are going to make sure that this will work," said Alicia reassuringly. "Dick, Joe, Eddie and I will be on standby to ensure nothing goes wrong. Besides, I don't think that I can be on standby as Alicia Galloway, I need to be on standby as the Angel when we trap this guy, which means that in preparation for it I need to train."
Barry nodded. He didn't even know if he could call Alicia his girlfriend yet. Of course, he'd told Joe that he and Alicia went out on a date and that they had kissed. Dick knew at this point too. Barry felt Alicia press a firm kiss to the side of his head.
"Only question I have is when are you going to do it?" Barry asked.
"Tomorrow night before the Christmas party," Joe said.
"Good, at least we can get that out of the way before we celebrate the holidays," said Alicia.
"I just want to get this son of a bitch," Barry whispered, his tone deadly. He never thought that he could hate anyone in his life.
"We'll get him, Barry," said Joe, trying to assure his son.
"We'll let you know the plan later tonight," Dick said. "Once Cisco gives us more details," he added.
Later that evening, after Barry, Alicia, Dick and Joe got off of work; the four of them went to S.T.A.R Labs to meet Cisco, Caitlin and Dr. Wells. They needed to make sure that whatever plan they came up with that it was executed correctly and it was done safely. Although Alicia was going to be there as the Angel to ensure Caitlin, Cisco, Dr. Wells, Joe and Eddie's safety, she wasn't sure how Barry was going to feel about their decision to leave him out of the trap. Alicia knew Barry; much like her he allowed emotion to cloud his judgment. They were more alike than they thought. They all sat in the cortex, listening to Cisco explain the plan.
"Okay, I created a force field to in order to prevent a speedster form getting out once this man in yellow is inside the trap," said Cisco.
"Well how do you catch a guy that I cannot even catch up with?" asked Barry.
"We are going to use Dr. McGee's tachyon technology to lure him into the trap," said Caitlin.
"And I will be on standby with Eddie, Joe and Dick to ensure that everybody stays safe. With Cisco's upgrades to the suit making it bullet proof that should help," Alicia said.
"Okay, that sounds good," Barry said, trusting that they all knew what they were doing. Caitlin and Cisco proceeded to go to their work stations while Wells went to his office.
"Barry, I-I really hate to say this to you but you are too close to the situation," said Joe. "We want you to stay away from all of this tomorrow night when we take action?"
"Why Joe?" Barry asked.
"I discussed it with Dr. Wells, Alicia and Dick, and they all agreed," said Joe. "Because we know that if you are in the same room as this man in yellow, then you are going to make a decision without thinking clearly enough."
"No Joe, I'm thinking about the fact that this is the man that shoved a knife into my mother's heart!" Barry said angrily.
"Which is exactly why you should stay away from this," said Alicia. "We've got this handled and under control."
Barry shook his head in exasperation, and walked out of the lab. Right now, he needed to go and see his father; he needed to talk to his dad and get the weight he was feeling off of his chest.
Later that evening at her apartment, Alicia found herself decorating her tree and wrapping some presents for her family, as well as Caitlin, Cisco, Joe and Dick. She had gone to a store and picked up some shirts for her brothers. She decided to repurchase a full size of her sister's favorite Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream perfume, as she noticed from her last visit to Starling that Massie was low on it, as well as a Betsey Johnson purse. She'd picked up her mother some boxes of peppermint tea and a mug, as well as a red Chanel lipstick. She had gotten her sister-in-law a bottle of rosé wine and a curling iron, and for her niece, she had gotten Sky an outfit. She'd also picked up Dominic's girlfriend a lotion and body wash set. For Dick, she had gotten him some tickets to a basketball game, as well as a Sam Adams beer gift set. She also had gotten Joe tickets to a baseball game that he and Barry could go to together. For Caitlin she had gotten her a scarf, hat and glove set. For Cisco, she'd chosen some Star Wars collectibles that she knew he would enjoy. As for Dr. Wells, she'd gotten him a coffee mug, as the man lived off coffee.
She was just wrapping her mother's present when she heard knocking at the door. She opened it up and saw Barry. He looked as though he'd been crying; clearly, the visit with his father had been an emotional one for him.
"Are you okay, Bar?" she asked him, pulling him into her arms.
Barry just silently tightened his arms around Alicia and breathed in her scent, feeling comforted by the warmth of her embrace. She felt him crying into her shoulder as she rubbed his back gently. She kissed the side of his head.
"What's wrong?" she asked him gently.
"I-I just – I have missed so many opportunities because I've been gripping so much onto my past," Barry whispered to her.
"Because you've never truly allowed yourself to let go," whispered Alicia. "But let me tell you, Barry, you can let it go, now. You and I – we've allowed our pasts to be our anchors for so long. But I feel like the two of us, we've found each other in it all."
Barry nodded as he felt Alicia kiss his head.
"You know I am always here for you, Bar," Alicia said comfortingly.
The next night, Alicia found herself dressed in her Angel suit, watching the surveillance footage set up by Cisco of the bunker, where the trap was set for the man in yellow. She stood beside Dick, Eddie and Joe, who were in bullet-proof vests.
"Alright, Cisco's got everything set up," Alicia said, her voice disguised.
"Why is she here?" asked Eddie.
"She's here on standby," Dick said as he watched Alicia lift weights to get her strength up.
"Detective," Alicia said. "Trust me on this. I'm just here as precaution to make sure that this man in yellow gets reprimanded, because believe me, he is dangerous and he won't hesitate to hurt any of you."
"Angel," Caitlin said. "Are you going to be okay tonight?"
"Between my bullet proof suit and my healing factor I will be all right tonight, Dr. Snow," Alicia told her.
"Alright," Caitlin said, though she did not feel entirely confident.
"Well are you certain this trap will work?" asked Eddie.
Cisco walked into the room. "Well I've sent out three charges in open satellite. If anyone is looking to tachyonic particles, they'll know we've got them."
"I'll head down there," Alicia said.
"You're not heading down there by yourself, I'll go with you," Dick told Alicia. He followed her in the direction of the bunker. "Can you handle this? Should we call Barry?" he whispered.
"He has to stay away from this," Alicia said. "He's grieving and he's not in the right headspace." Suddenly, her cell phone rang with a Facetime call from Barry. "Hi, Bar," she said.
"You still waiting for him to show?" asked Barry.
"Yeah, we are. We're still waiting he's not here yet. But once he walks into the trap, we've got him," Dick said.
"You guys don't have to do this for me tonight," Barry said. "You have lives and families of your own."
"My parents are dead, Barry, long gone, and the only guardian that I've got is in Gotham," said Dick. "You're family too, Barry." When Dick said that, he could see Barry was fighting back tears, which made his chest ache. Dick completely understood what it was like to watch someone you love get murdered right in front of you. While Dick was usually pretty hard and not too emotional, when it came to Barry, he couldn't help but feel this need to care. "We'll do everything that we can to ensure that we get your dad out of prison and make sure that justice is done. I may not have been there during the time your mom was murdered, but I am damn sure helping you finish of all this."
"Thank you," Barry said. He hung up Facetime and Alicia shoved her phone in her pocket. Alicia and Dick walked down to the bunker carefully, Dick holding his gun up. Suddenly, they saw a blur of yellow with red lightning.
"Careful, Dick," Alicia whispered. "Let's see if we caught him."
She looked behind her and saw Eddie, Joe, Cisco and Dr. Wells following close behind. Alicia opened up the door to the bunker and she saw the man in yellow standing inside the trap.
"Cisco, turn the lights on," said Dick. The lights to the trap came on, and Dick started to list off the man in yellow's rights. "You're under arrest for the murder of Nora Allen. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you do not have an attorney, one will be provided for you," he said, continuing to hold his gun up in the direction of that man in the yellow. Seeing it in the flesh, if he didn't believe Barry before, he surely believed his friend now.
Joe suddenly walked up to the man in yellow, needing to know why someone would kill an innocent woman, a mother, a wife.
"Joe, what are you doing?" Eddie asked nervously.
"Getting some answers," Joe whispered. "Fourteen years ago, you murdered Nora Allen. I want to know why. Why?"
Suddenly, the man in yellow walked closer. He spoke, "Dr. Wells, we meet at last," he said.
"What do you want with the tachyonic particles?" Dr. Wells asked.
"My goals are beyond understanding," the man in yellow growled out.
"Yeah they must be," Alicia growled. "You murdered an innocent woman, a mother! How could you even live with yourself?"
"I know you lost somebody, Angel," the man in yellow stated. "And I can see that rage inside you; the darkness. And one day, that rage will cause you to lose something much more than you thought. I know your future, I know your past, I know you, your family, everything. Your destiny is to lose, Angel. And Dick Grayson –"
"How do you know me?" Dick asked, raising his gun up.
"I know you; I know the darkness that's inside of you. It's always been there ever since your parents were murdered," the man in yellow growled. "I know that your rage was what drove you to be who you are."
"How could you possibly know that?" Dick asked coldly. "And don't you ever bring up my mother and father you stupid son of a bitch! You are a piece of garbage! As far as I am concerned right now, you murdering a mother, a wife; an innocent woman by stabbing a knife through her chest, you're dead to me!"
"Well, I'm a pretty smart guy," said Dr. Wells. "I knew you were exceptionally fast. Any trap we manufactured had to have been invisible. I knew your cells could repair themselves at an exceptional speed. . . so you can withstand the damage that is being done to your body right now."
"Wait, guys," Cisco said. "The super capacitors, the system is fluctuating."
"What do you mean, Cisco? I thought that you tested it!" Alicia said.
"We have to get out of here now," Cisco said.
"I am not the Flash at all," said the man in yellow. "Some would say I am the reverse."
"We have to go!" Cisco shouted. However, that was the moment the man in the yellow started to beat the living crap out of Dr. Wells.
"Cisco, Cisco turn it off! Shut it done!" Alicia yelled.
"He's gonna kill Wells!" Joe yelled.
"I'm on it," Cisco said.
Alicia ran and proceeded to break into flight, going into the trap and preceded to fist fight the man in yellow.
This one's for Barry, she thought to herself as she grabbed the man in yellow by the arm and twisted, throwing him across the room with one hand. Suddenly, the barrier turned off.
"If you're so fast," Alicia said tauntingly. "Try and catch me." Alicia jumped out of the trap and proceeded to run, and she broke into her supersonic flight. However, that was the moment the man in yellow broke from her and grabbed the tachyon device, and ran out. She rushed over to Wells. "Dr. Wells are you all right?" she demanded.
"I'm good," Wells said.
Alicia examined Wells' injuries. "Okay, that's going to scar, but it'll heal," she said.
"Are you okay?" Dick asked Alicia.
"I'm good," Alicia said, smiling behind her mask. "I'm gonna go and get Caitlin," she added.
"Yeah," Joe whispered.
Alicia walked up to the main cortex, and told Caitlin the extent of the injuries Wells had.
"I'm glad you're okay," Caitlin said, squeezing Alicia's shoulder gently.
"I'm going to go back to my apartment and talk to Barry about this," Alicia said. She quickly changed out of her suit and pulled on her jeans and sweatshirt. She ran out of the lab and broke into flight towards her apartment. When she entered the apartment through the window, she walked towards Barry's room. She knocked on the door, and as soon as the door opened, she embraced him tight.
"What happened?" asked Barry. "Did you get him?"
"We nearly had him but the containment system failed," Alicia whispered. "Cisco doesn't understand why. But Barry, I swear we are going to get him again."
"How?" Barry asked.
"I don't know, but all I know is, Barry, is that it's Christmas. Let's be thankful that despite this failure, we've got each other. We've got all of Team Flash," Alicia whispered. She leaned in and kissed Barry on the lips softly, gently, tousling her fingers through his dark hair. "Merry Christmas, Barry," she said.
"Merry Christmas," Barry whispered, and they kissed again, oblivious to the outside world as it snowed and snowed and snowed.
A/N
Okay, so you got more of the Alicia and Barry romance that you have been waiting on. Additionally, I'm excited for the crossover this season, but there is one thing I need to get off my chest about it. Now, I love my Olicity and WestAllen romances, I ship them, and I love the idea of them getting married, but NOT AFTER A FUNERAL, AND NOT A DOUBLE WEDDING. Yeah nope! I'm a firm believer that both couples deserve separate weddings, and not after a funeral. Though I do have to say, the crossover this season for Earth-X is quite interesting and I am looking forward to it.
Flashraven: There will be mentioning of Firestorm in the next chapter, and yes, Heat Wave and Captain Cold will be coming! Additionally, I will be having Alicia go to Starling City in quite a few chapters in this story, and yes, if you are wondering, Alicia will be visiting Roy when he gets put in Iron Heights after he poses as the Arrow. I'm also figuring out how to inccoperate Green Lantern into this story as well, because like I said in my previous A/N, Hal Jordan will be a character in this story. The reason why I want to inccoperate Hal is because that will bring in opportunities for Sinestro and Dexx-Starr to be used. I also eventually want to inccoperate one of the Green Lanterns, Jessica Cruz, into this as well because I feel she is very underrated and not used often at all. Plus, she's an original character by Geoff Johns, too, so I feel they need to add in Hal Jordan into the Arrowverse eventually.