Song in this chapter: Somewhere Only We Know by Keane—in case someone wants to listen to it. It isn't necessary, though.

Somewhere Only We Know

Headlines exploded after the video was broadcasted, some headlines good, some, not so good. It didn't matter, though. All that mattered was that the message was out there now.

Nationwide Network Hack Has Thousands Outraged

Clinton Price Assures Public That Hacker Videos are Fabricated

The Resistance: Heroic Movement or Terrorist Organization?

Parents of Lucy Evans Decline Press Conference

MRA Calls in Backup For Renewed Protest Movements

Entire Country Wondering: Who is the Singing Man?

Price Mayoral Election Polls Plummet

"It's working," Iris said happily, "People are starting to turn on Price."

"After seeing those last poll numbers, I think you're right," Henry agreed happily.

"It's a start," Oliver said seriously, "Revealing the truth to the public was the first step. It was the first big thing we've actually managed to accomplish. Let's just hope it's enough to prevent Price from winning the election two days from now. Only then can we know if we have the upper hand now or not. In the meantime, we need to be ready for when the media storm comes after us."

"What?" Caitlin asked, "What do you mean?"

"It's only a matter of time before people figure out who the 'singing man' is," Oliver said seriously, "And when they do, the media is going to go after the Wests for more information about Barry."

"The MRA is going to know who we are," Joe said quietly.

"So what?" Iris asked defiantly, "What can they possibly do? We're human, and technically, we haven't even done anything illegal. This is still America, and we still have freedom of speech."

"Yeah, but we tried to assassinate Price," Cisco pointed out.

"No," Oliver said, "No, the Green Arrow did. People don't need to know the Resistance had anything to do with that."

"What about Barry?" Henry asked worriedly, "This is going to draw attention to him now."

"I doubt the MRA is going to care too much about going after one single metahuman," Cisco said, "Besides, if they decided to…to kill Barry because of this, they have to know that people would probably find out about it, and it would only make things worse for them. If anything, they can't do anything to Barry now. They don't want to make him a martyr."

"Cisco's right," Oliver said, "Barry should be safe for now. They wouldn't dare go after him now."

He had already removed the internal antenna of the radio and inspected it for damage, but he had completely forgotten about removing the internal base of the external antenna. Here Barry had been taking this entire radio apart, looking for the most complicated problems with it, while he had failed to check the damn antenna.

Barry was so caught up in what he was doing, he hadn't heard the bedroom door open.

"You should really take a break from that," Elizabeth's voice came from behind him.

Barry glanced at her and then turned back to the radio.

"I'd like to accomplishsomething today," he said bitterly.

She sighed and crossed the room to stand next to where he was sitting on the floor with his radio.

"Barry, we're all upset about this morning," she said quietly, "Nobody blames you. We know you tried your best. There will be another food dispersal tomorrow."

"We're out of food, Elizabeth," Barry said seriously, turning to look at her, "There's nothing left. We can't afford to go any days without getting our dispersal portions now. I…I ran there as fast as I could to get in line, but I didn't make the cut off again. I couldn't get there fast enough."

"I can't even imagine how frustrating that must be for you," she said, moving to sit next to him on the floor where he was working, "Especially, considering…"

"Considering how I used to be able to run at mach three?" he finished for her.

"You were that fast?!" she asked incredulously.

Barry nodded, but he didn't smile. Instead he went back to tampering with the radio, a hard look on his face.

"Barry," Elizabeth said slowly, watching him work, "You really should leave this room."

"And what?" he asked bitterly, "I can't go fishing because the water has gotten too cold and the fish shifted down to the bottom of the lake. I can't go search for supplies because there's nothing left to find, and it would burn more calories than it's worth. I can't do anything, but I can do this."

"You need a break from this," Elizabeth said, watching his hands as he took apart the radio's antenna, "Why don't we both go next door and see the baby?"

"I don't want to see the baby," Barry whispered.

"Why not?" Elizabeth asked gently, "It's been three days, and you've refused to go see him. Josie keeps asking where you've been. She named him after you, Barry! Why won't you go see him?"

"Why do you think?" Barry whispered, still not looking at her.

Elizabeth stared at him for a moment before she finally spoke in a soft voice.

"You don't want to get attached," she realized.

Barry didn't say anything, his expression blank as he continued to work on the radio.

"Barry," she said in a strained voice, "You can't keep doing this. You can't keep closing yourself off to everyone around you."

"It's easier than losing people," Barry countered, "You don't understand, Liz. You think you know me, but you don't know anything about me. I've lost more than my fair share of people in my life, and I can't bear to lose any more. It's easier to just not get attached in the first place."

"Bar," she said sadly, "I know that Lucy's death has changed you. It's made you…harder. But you can't just push people away so they can't get close to you. You're just isolating yourself."

Barry didn't look up at her. He looked down at his hands as he finished reattaching the external antenna of the radio. Both of their eyes widened when the radio suddenly flickered to life.

"Oh my God," Elizabeth breathed when she heard the static-like sound of the radio turning on.

"I did it," Barry said in disbelief.

A surprised laugh escaped his lips and his face broke out in a grin. Elizabeth grinned back at him as Barry quickly turned the dial, tuning the station. For the first time in over a month, they heard music.

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.

"I love this song," Elizabeth choked, tears of happiness in her eyes.

So tell me when, you're going to let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

Barry suddenly felt Elizabeth tug on his arm, pulling him to his feet. He looked unsurely at her for a moment but then gave her a small smile when she grabbed his arms and made him dance with her.

I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

Barry had never been much of a dancer, but he didn't have to think about it much when Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck and the two of them swayed.

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when, you're going to let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

Tears formed in both their eyes as they danced, leaving the rest of the world behind for a moment. For just a moment, they could forget about everything else.

And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?

Elizabeth laughed when Barry spun her in a circle, and he couldn't help it. He laughed, too.

This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go somewhere only we know?

When Elizabeth spun out of the circle and clutched his arms again, they paused, their faces only inches apart. The smiles slid from their faces as they looked into each other's eyes, communicating everything that had gone unsaid between them. Barry's heart sped up when Elizabeth moved closer to him.

He released her hands then.

"I'm sorry," he whispered when she looked at him in confusion, "I'm sorry. I…can't."

Tears swam in her eyes as she looked at him. Although the hurt was evident on her face, there was something else that was more prominent. Understanding.

"I know," she choked.

They both turned away from each other and looked at the radio when the song suddenly cut out.

"We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news," a woman reporter's voice said urgently, "Election ballots have all been tallied for the Central City mayoral election that has now been getting nationwide attention."

Barry quickly dropped to his knees in front of the radio and turned the volume up.

"It has just been announced that Clinton Price is now the new mayor of Central City."

"No," Barry choked, and he felt Elizabeth rest her hand on his shoulder.

"The election results have sparked outrage and protests throughout the entire state of Ohio. Many are shocked by Price's victory, considering the recent drop in poll numbers the mayoral candidate had after the disturbing message that was broadcasted by the Lucy Resistance."

Barry's heart skipped a beat, and Elizabeth's hand on his shoulder tightened.

"Did she just say the 'Lucy Resistance?'" she asked quietly.

"The parents of Lucy Evans still refuse to give a comment to the media, even after Price's election. On the same note, the West family has also declined a press conference after it has come out that the man in the video is none other than their adopted family member, Barry Allen. Not much is known about Allen, except that he is a former CSI for the Central City Police Department. He is also the son of Dr. Henry Paul Allen, whose case was given nationwide coverage in 2000 when he was convicted for the murder of his wife and Barry's mother, Nora Allen, and again in 2015 when he was exonerated after the real killer confessed to the murder. Barry Allen was also a known owner of STAR Laboratories, which is now in the possession of his adoptive father, Joseph West. Little else is known about Allen or what his connection is to the Lucy Resistance. More will be revealed as new information comes to light."

Barry stared at the radio in shock when the report ended, trying to process everything he had just heard.

"They're watching," he muttered to himself.

Of course.

He should have known Cisco would be watching him. Of course they'd want to keep an eye on him and make sure he was okay. From the sounds of it, they were sharing everything they were seeing with the rest of the city, letting people know what was really happening in here. Barry's heart clenched when he realized that that meant Lucy's parents knew. They knew he had failed.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked, kneeling down next to Barry, "Who's watching?"

"Cisco," Barry answered, "He's a friend of mine. He gets visions. I should have known he'd be watching me."

"He's a metahuman?"

Barry nodded.

"He was smart enough to get out of the city in time, well before this all escalated."

"He's lucky," Elizabeth muttered, and then she gave Barry a strange, thoughtful look.

"What?" he asked.

"You never told me you were Henry Allen's son," she said quietly.

Barry gave her an uneasy look.

"Does it change anything?" he whispered.

She shook her head quickly.

"Of course not," she said, "I just didn't know that about you. Any of it. Your father. Your mother. Owning STAR Labs. You never told us any of that."

"Because it didn't matter," Barry said quietly, "It doesn't matter who I used to be. What matters is what's happening now."

"Barry, who you used to be does matter," she said firmly, "You were the Flash. You were a hero and you still are. You can't let this place change you. You can't lose sight of who you were before."

"And if I already have?" Barry choked.

Elizabeth looked at him with watery eyes.

"Then they've already won," she whispered, "Barry, don't let them win. Please. You can still be a hero. You can still help people, the same way you helped that woman and her baby."

Barry took in a shaky breath and wiped his eyes. He gave her a half-hearted smile, but it quickly slid from his face when a sudden thought occurred to him. Barry quickly stood up from the floor and rushed over to the other side of the room.

"What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked in confusion when Barry grabbed a marker and started writing on the wall.

"Cisco's watching," he said quickly as he ran the marker along the wall.

He wrote frantically in large, black letters.

"And the next time he vibes me….I'm going to give him a message."

"How did this happen?!" Joe raged, "How did he win?!"

"This can't be right," Caitlin said quietly, "There's no way he actually won."

"Do you think he tampered with the ballots?" Iris asked tearfully.

"He definitely did something," Oliver said darkly, "He was always going to win. From the start, we were never going to stop him from being elected. It's why he didn't even care whether or not he had my mayoral support. He knew he was going to win."

"So all of this was for nothing?" Wally asked bitterly, sitting down on Henry's couch.

"No," Joe said, "We still managed to make a difference. Price's election doesn't change that. He has more power now, yes, but he still doesn't have the public's support. We do, and we can use that to our advantage."

"We have the media's attention now," Iris said, "I know we said we weren't going to give them a statement about Barry, but maybe we should. We have the opportunity now to be heard."

"We don't want to draw more attention to ourselves," Joe said seriously, "Right now, people might suspect that we're the leaders of the Resistance, but no one knows for sure. Many think we're just the poor family of the guy in the video, the same way they think about Lucy's family and the families of all the other people in that video. We should keep it that way for now until we decide what our next move is."

"I don't know if we're going to be able to avoid the media much longer," Wally said, "I stopped at the house yesterday to grab clothes, and the house was surrounded by media vans."

"I know," Joe said quietly, "Singh told me they've been swarming the CCPD lately, too, all of them wanting to know more about Barry Allen and who he is."

Just then, Cisco suddenly rushed into the room, pulling his vibing goggles off his face.

"I just got a vibe!" he announced urgently, "I vibed Barry!"

"Is he okay?!" Caitlin asked worriedly.

Cisco nodded.

"He knows I'm watching him," he said seriously.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Barry sent me a message," Cisco said quickly, "He wrote it on a wall."

They all stared at him in shock.

"What did he say?!" Iris cried.

Cisco glanced at the Green Arrow then, still seeing those large black letters in his eyes.

SEND OLIVER TO THE ZONE

515 ROOSEVELT STREET