Resolved (adj.): set upon the achievement of a certain outcome; determined.

Secret blacksite, 20 miles from Republic City

10 months after the fall of the Red Lotus

"So," said the metahuman lightning bender, "who's the chick?"

The pair stood rooted to the spot for a moment before Tony spoke up. "She's with me. Planning to break us all outta here."

"No so fast," Snart cut in. "I know exactly who you are, Ms. Sato. Stole from you once or twice myself, and I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you're no fan of any of us."

Half the room's occupants started bending their respective elements, Snart included.

"So tell me, why exactly would you help us?"

She gulped and took a moment to breathe. "Because no matter what you've done, you're still citizens of the United Republic, and as such entitled to basic human rights. Eiling robbed you of that, and I aim to see that lapse rectified."

Snart stared at her coldly for a few moments, eyes narrowing behind his goggles as his gun hummed ominously. Finally, he smiled and lowered the weapon, a soft chuckle bubbling from his throat. "The funny part is, you actually mean that."

Asami's eyes narrowed. "And why do you find that funny?"

"Because," he laughed, "it's not the way the world works. People don't play by the rules, not even the ones that are supposed to be enforcing them." He waved to their surroundings. "Case in point."

"Eiling is a radical and a criminal. He'll get his."

"Uh huh. Well, until then, hows about we get outta this hellhole?"

Blackout looked her over suspiciously for a few moments, his sparking hands eventually lowering. "Fair enough." He nodded to her. "Lead the way."

Gulping hard, Asami moved past them, Tony still half leaning on her as they entered another hallway, weaving through the empty corridors with rising tension in the air. Girder exchanged a look with Asami after about a minute or so, their sentiments reflected in each other's eyes: we are so screwed.

Three figure stood rooted in place until the conversation ended, the Avatar exchanging horrified looks with her two partners.

"They're gonna kill her."

Barry looked up at her. "Agreed. We need a new plan."

"No," Oliver replied, "no the old one will still work. In fact, it might work even better now. If they're following Asami, then she can lead them into the perfect spot."

"If we deploy the gas, she'll be knocked out too."

Movement caught the Arrow's eye, and he whirled around to fire an arrow into the leg of an incoming guard. "But she'll be alive. Which is more than I can say if they discover she's working with us."

Barry's brows furrowed. "Just one problem. I heard Tony's voice over her link. He knows she's working with us."

"He hasn't exposed her yet," Oliver pointed out.

"And he won't," Korra added. "The guy's in love with her. Or…at least he thinks so."

Barry shivered visibly. "Let's not continue that line of thought, shall we? We need to get Asami in on the plan."

Their earpieces filled with static briefly. "I know, Tony."

"Wait," Oliver said quietly. "Is she talking to him or—"

"You," Asami said flatly. "Of course I know."

They exchanged a look, then smiled, Korra putting a finger to her ear. "We're coming for you, just get them to the room and get out of there." She looked back to the others. "Let's move. We're gonna need the guards for this. Only they know how to operate the ventilation system."

"Right," Barry replied. "Let's move."

"Watch your left!"

Snart and a heavily scarred man both turned and fired opposing elements at two incoming guards from nearly identical guns, one's legs freezing, the other shrieking as he was lit on fire.

"No!" Asami screamed. "That's enough!"

The two criminals gave her a look, Snart's annoyed, the other man's downright enraged. The scarred one approached her, sticking the barrel of his gun in her face.

"Since when do we take orders from you?" he snarled.

Despite Tony's hair-trigger tension, she pushed him back and got up in the criminal's face. "Since I decided to save your asses instead of just mine." She looked to the group. "That goes for all of you, by the way. No killing. Or you can all stay here and rot."

Blackout approached her with slow, threatening steps. "I'm willin' to take my chances." He nodded to her. "Are you?"

Asami arched an eyebrow. "Really? There's a hundred men about to descend on us and infighting is your plan?"

"She's right," Snart drawled. "The sooner we get outta here, the sooner we can sort out who gets what." He looked over at her. "Lead the way, Sato. These stops are gonna kill us."

She rolled her eyes at his teasing tone and started moving again, nerves rising to a fever pitch as fear flooded her system.

Future Industries Airfield

Cisco and Eddie stared at their radio with blank expressions, exchanging similar horrified looks as the full gravity of the situation hit them. Evidently, it hit two others as well.

"They need our help."

The professor and Cisco whirled around in their seats to see Frost and Firestorm looking down at the radio.

"Absolutely not," Eddie replied immediately, rising from his chair.

"Yeah, I'm with him," Cisco added.

"Cisco," Caitlin began, "they're outnumbered, outmatched. If they even look at Asami wrong, she could be dead in an instant."

Eddie took them both by the arms. "Your conditions are too unstable. Cate, we don't know how rapidly you'll lose heat if you're out in the field, and Firestorm…your matrix is unstable enough. If you're in a fight, there's no telling how the energy inside you will react. In attempting to save our friends, you might just kill them all."

The couple frowned and exchanged a look, Firestorm speaking up. "We have to try. If we do nothing, they're dead." He looked over at Cisco and nodded to him. "How close are you to getting that splicer done?"

The engineer lifted his eyebrows. "Theoretically? Maybe half an hour, tops?"

Firestorm nodded slowly. "And if this…release happens, how will it happen?"

Eddie's lips pursed. "Not all at once, I can tell you that much. The chain reaction will take time to build, but by then…it may already be too late."

The hybrid frowned deeply. "Well, on the chance that it does happen, at least I'm twenty miles away from anything. Minimum safe distance, right?"

Caitlin and Cisco exchanged a look, the latter gulping hard. "Right."

"Then I need to go."

"We need to go," Caitlin amended.

He gave her a look.

"Martin, you can't just leave me behind. This is my fight too."

He put his hands on her arms. "Be that as it may, my dear, the part of Ronald that lives inside me simply can't allow that, especially knowing what I do about your condition." His palm pressed against her pale cheek. "I'm sorry." He looked up at Eddie. "Let me know the moment that splicer is ready."

The professor nodded and pursed his lips. "Will do."

Secret blacksite

"How much further to the exit?"

Asami grunted. "Tony, pull your weight."

"What?" he whined. "I can't help it if you're a comfortable pillow."

She shot him a glare, quickly disrupted by Snart's amused cough. Her eyes rolled. "Not far. Just through this next door."

They entered a large rectangular room one by one, most of the metas looking around confusedly as they came to an abrupt halt.

Snart arched an eyebrow. "Well?"

She glanced around rapidly. "I'm thinking."

"Think faster!" his scarred partner yelled.

"Mick," Snart scolded. "Cool it." He dragged his gaze back to Asami. "Not sure how much longer I can hold my partner back."

"Or all of us, for that matter," Mark Mardon added.

"Just give me a minute," she insisted, hoping against hope that they were close.

"There's no time for this! Either you shut those vents right now or innocent people are gonna die!"

The head of security eyed Korra with suspicion, still holding an electric baton in her direction as his head turned to one of his men and nodded sharply.

Korra put a finger to her ear. "Arrow, you're up."

"Roger. Dispensing now."

Several seconds passed without any word, Korra's nerves on a razor's edge as she put a finger to her ear. "Asami, can you hear me? Are you there?"

"Well well…looks like my first instinct was right after all."

"You don't want to do this," Asami warned, facing down Snart, Mick, and the rest of the Rogues as pale green mist came in through one of the vents, Clyde Mardon using his airbending to keep it suspended right next to the opening.

"To be honest," Snart replied, "no, I don't. But I don't particularly like being played, especially since I plead your case with the others." He nodded to Tony. "Hey tin man, better move." He snarled slightly, tilting his head downward. "You're blocking my shot."

Tony uncurled his arm from around her shoulders, causing the girl to stare at him openmouthed as he walked over to their side of the room, half a dozen metas pointing lethal elements in her direction.

"Tony," she breathed, an unexpected amount of hurt lancing through her chest.

His lips pursed. "Sorry, 'Sami."

His jaw clenched as his body was instantly encased in metal, arms rapidly extending to both sides as his fists impacted Mark and Gabriel solidly, knocking them out with one blow. Trey followed next, decked as he was with a wild haymaker. When he went for Snart, Girder was blown back by a wave of ice, his metal body taking it easily but the impact knocking him down all the same.

"Asami, run!"

She obeyed instantly, sprinting out the one remaining door with Blackout and Mick in tow as Snart and the rest stayed on Girder.

"Guys, I need help now!"

Barry put a finger to his ear. "Where are you?"

"Not sure," she gasped. "I just left the vent room, and at this point running seems like the only option!"

The Flash's lips pursed as he exchanged a look with the Avatar. "Don't worry. I'm on my way."

Asami ducked behind a crate in what looked like a large storage room, the lights here much dimmer and allowing for more concealment than anywhere she'd seen in the base so far. The sounds of two sets of footsteps reached her seconds after she entered, the hiss of ignited liquid an ever-present hum in the otherwise still air.

"I can feel your heat!" Mick yelled.

A moment's listening confirmed her suspicions. This place is an echo chamber. They won't be able to tell where I am by sound. "So what is your obsession with heat, anyway? Does it have anything to do with those burn scars?"

Mick chuckled. "Something like that. There was a fire once, when I was doing a job for Snart. The job went sideways and I got burned. Literally."

She could hear him pacing, and a glance over her cover revealed him and Blackout splitting up.

"At first I was angry, enraged that he'd just left me to die, but after I'd escaped…when I took a look in the mirror, I understood."

Her brows furrowed as she pulled a metal shard from the crate. "Understood what?"

Mick whirled to his left and fired a stream of flame, lighting up to wooden crates and decreasing the amount of shadows left to hide in. "That the fire showed me who I really was, under all this…crude matter. It's incredible, really, how amazing flame is. Light, heat, energy. It's primal, uncontainable, undefinable." He grinned madly. "And deadly."

Another two spurts of flame were released in different directions, both arcs lighting up more crates and sending Asami scrambling for different cover.

"You want me to show you who you really are? That'd be fun."

"If I'm to be quite honest," she grunted, hoisting herself atop a stack of crates. "I want you to go to hell."

Asami fell into a mad sprint, hopping from one stack of crates to the next until Mick caught sight of her, then leaping upward and twist-flipping over his head as he opened fire. She landed behind him in a crouch and twisted into a trip kick. He hit the ground with a grunt, firing at the ceiling when she aimed the nozzle of his gun away from her with one hand while the other shocked him unconscious.

"Found you!"

Asami's head snapped up just in time for her to leap backward, the sizzle of a lightning bolt just missing her left arm. The woman attempted to vanish into the shadows once again, but Blackout was relentless, using Mick's flames to send arc after arc of fire her way, burning away cover until there was nothing left between them. He smiled malevolently, giving her a wave with one hand while the other sparked with energy. Finally he extended his arm and shot the bolt in her direction, her sideways roll the only thing that saved her. His second shot was off before she could recover completely, and this time she had no leverage to move.

Bracing herself for the searing pain, she slammed her eyelids shut, cracking them open a second later when nothing happened except an increase in nearby temperature. Her green eyes widened to saucers when she saw a wall of living metal between her and the lightning bender.

"Go," Tony grunted, holding his hands in an "x" in front of him as he pushed toward Gibran.

Asami cast a look between him and Blackout, pursing her lips and nodding, then taking off for the nearest exit.

"Where is she?"

Snart smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

The air around Korra's hands ignited as Cold and two other metas faced off with her. "I won't ask again."

"Okay," he replied, raising his gun and firing.

She opposed his assault with a fireblast that managed to keep his ice stream at bay, if just barely, as a woman on his left, a metalbender, mimicked Girder's ability and encased herself in multiple layers of thin metal armor.

"Amunet dear," said a bald man in the back, smirking malevolently, "would you mind making us a new exit? Our previous one seems to have been collapsed."

The woman turned to narrow her eyes at him, then nodded and marched over to the exit while Korra kept Snart in place with her fire stream. The doors looked like they had been twisted together just moments before the Avatar had confronted the metahumans. With a few well-aimed swings, "Amunet" shattered the bolts holding the hinges in place and tore the doors open. The bald man tipped his head to her as he walked past.

"Thank you, my dear."

Korra's eyes widened when she saw him effortlessly lift off the ground and float down the hallway, out of sight. Her vision eventually shifted back to Snart, whereupon she leapt sideways out of the path of his beam. An airbending maneuver sent Cold flying backward, Clyde making for her after hauling his brother Trey upright.

"Oh, not this again," she groaned, dodging sideways and twisting around an air blast from the Wizard.

Countering with a fireball, Korra made to capture Clyde with a feint and grab with her cables, but found her approach disrupted by a sandbending storm from Gabriel. Sending currents of air in all directions, she dispersed the sand and blasted herself upward. Water bent from her belt flasks and smacked Clyde back into a wall as Snart regained his footing and opened fire. Sending a stream of flame to her right, she dashed left and twisted midair, barely managing to keep ahead of the metas' relentless strikes until she leapt off a wall toward Captain Cold, deploying and shaping all of her cables to form a single round shield.

As she fell diagonally, her shield took the brunt of Cold's assault, his jaw dropping a moment before it slammed into his chest, disarming him of the water suppressor and catapulting him back into a wall. Rolling on impact with the ground, Korra spun toward the rest of the room, using the shield to block two more attacks, water and sand, from Trey and Gabriel. Quickly becoming overwhelmed, she withdrew toward Amunet and the bald man's exit, leaping through the doorway and breaking into a run.

"Flash, I just knocked out Captain Cold, and I've got the Mardon brothers in pursuit. Any ideas?"

"I'm still trying to find Asami. From what she's managed to say between bouts of running, it looks like Girder turned out to be her very unlikely bodyguard. He's facing off with Blackout right now."

Her eyes widened. "Oh spirits…that's not gonna turn out well."

Asami's scream split the radio link, stopping Korra in her tracks around the corner from the vent chamber.

"Asami! What's going on?!"

"He caught up to me! I need—spirits…no, don't!"

Asami's eyes widened to saucers. "Spirits…no, don't!"

She threw her hands up, the close quarters of the hallway constricting her movements too much to be able to dodge. A loud impact reached her ears an instant later as Girder tackled Blackout into a wall, the lightning bender sending another arc of electricity into his lower leg. Tony yelled and collapsed to one knee, but refused to let go of him. Asami dashed for Gibran, her electric glove flying toward his shoulder but stopping just shy of his skin when he grabbed her wrist. Girder squeezed his midsection hard, and a resounding crack echoed down the hallway as Blackout went limp in his arms.

He let him fall to the ground, collapsing a moment later as his metal skin receded in pieces, its surface fractured and steaming.

"Tony," she gasped, pulling him up into a rough sitting position with his head resting against her shoulder. "Tony, come on. Come on, he's down, we can leave. Tony…"

He grunted and sputtered several times, left hand pressing to his abdomen.

"Tony move your hand. Let me see."

The man looked up at her and reluctantly obeyed, exposing a three-inch black hole lancing straight through one of his kidneys. "And that's just the stuff you can see…not to mention all the other bits that are just…off." He winced hard, hissing out a breath.

"Tony…you're gonna be okay. We'll find a way to fix this. Korra will heal you right up, you'll see."

He looked up at her with an arched eyebrow. "'Sami. Come on. We both know there's no coming back from this."

A breath caught in her throat, her eyes closing against an intense sting as her lips pursed hard and her grip tightened around him.

"Don't cry for me," he ordered gently. "Trust me…there's no way I'd rather go out. Just promise me somethin'."

She opened her eyes and looked down at him.

"Don't ever change." He put an index to her sternum. "That light in you. The thing…that makes guys like me want to be better…don't ever lose that."

Asami stared at his dark eyes, so different from the mad windows she'd seen just a few months earlier, and felt something stir inside her. "I won't. I promise."

"Good." His voice was getting weaker. "That's good." His eyelids drifted shut.

"Tony," Asami whispered. "Tony," she repeated more forcefully, shaking him.

Finally, her eyes closed as she gently laid her forehead against his. A startled yelp vibrated through her throat when she felt something on her mouth, her eyes flying open to see Tony's lips on hers, his hand on the back of her head. Two full seconds passed before he disengaged, a gigantic grin on his face while she stared at him slack-jawed.

A series of uninhibited laughs exploded from Tony's throat. "Finally! Been waitin' years to do that." He turned his eyes to look up at her, coughing once as red liquid trickled from his lips. "I'm sorry, 'Sami. I had to." His smile faded to a slight curve. "Just once."

A massive gust of wind snapped Asami from her stupor to look up at the newly arrived Flash. "Barry," she whispered.

Tony coughed again as he looked between the two animatedly. "Allen? Really?" Another series of laughs was cut off abruptly by a fit of violent coughs. "Never saw that one comin'." He nodded to the Flash. "Good for you, nerd."

Barry's head tilted with a "seriously?" expression, his hands vibrating and sparking as he crouched next to the dying meta. "Just hang in there you damn musclehead."

His palms pressed against Tony's injury firmly, causing him to hiss and grunt in pain as his cells were rapidly replaced. Finally, Girder stopped squirming, the kidney injury sealed up, if not completely repaired, and it seemed like he could stand again.

Barry gave him a firm look, glancing between his poorly hidden grin and Asami's beet-red face. His eyes finally settled onto Tony. "You're a pain in the ass, Tony, but if you can get her out of here, I will personally send you an engraved 'thank you.'"

He chuckled, scrambling to his feet, though one arm was still around Asami for support. "Pass, but I appreciate the thought. Now get going, nerd. There's a lot more nasty where he came from." He motioned to an unconscious Blackout.

Barry spared them both one last glance, Asami giving him a nod, before taking off into the hallways.

One attack after the next was exchanged as Korra and the Arrow were driven back step by step into the prison's courtyard, Oliver firing an explosive arrow at Amunet before ducking away from an incoming ice shard from Trey. One of his flechettes pierced the thigh of Gabriel Mardon, but he was bowled over when the flying bald man tackled and pinned him to the ground. Oliver's blue eyes narrowed.

"Nimbus," he snarled.

The man lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, so you know me, Arrow?"

Oliver's teeth gritted as he headbutted him solidly, grabbing him by the collar and holding him close. "You're on the List."

A pill-like object in Nimbus' left hand shattered, releasing a cloud of thick green gases that were airbent and forced into Oliver's lungs. The Arrow choked immediately, eyes going wide as the toxin started to set in, his body writhing.

Korra noticed. "Arrow!" She blasted Nimbus away with a water stream, then slid to his side and threw up an earth wall between her and the rest of the metas. "Flash, this is Korra. The Arrow's been attacked…I think he was poisoned."

The speedster was at her side in seconds, grabbing a gasping Oliver's shoulders firmly and lifting him onto his shoulder. "Can you hold out until I get back?"

Korra cast a doubtful look at the approaching metahumans, her eyes widening when a bright light descended from the night sky, an explosion of fire sending the superhuman crowd flying in separate directions as a new figure touched down. "Um…I'd say yes."

Barry cast the newly arrived Firestorm a nod before taking off for the airfield.

"That's it. Just a little further."

"Mhm."

Tony grunted one last time as Asami lowered him into a lifeboat, one of over four dozen scattered across the island. Most had already been taken by the fleeing guards, Eiling sure to have been among them, but there were still a few left. Once Tony was settled into a seat, she revved the engine of the boat and activated her earpiece.

"Guys, I got Tony to a boat. We're getting off the island right now."

"Good," Korra replied in a grunt after a few seconds, the sounds of fighting in the background. "Firestorm just arrived. We're keeping the metas busy until evac gets here."

"And when's that gonna be?"

"Soon—I hope."

Asami frowned deeply, but nodded. "Roger that. Stay safe, Korra."

"Doing my best."

The Avatar weaved around a half-dozen elemental attacks, Captain Cold having been rejoined by Mick with Amunet, Nimbus, and the Weather Wizards providing backup. The heroes' only advantage thus far had been in distance, but Nimbus kept dropping Amunet and some of the Wizards behind their firing line, not to mention his own airbending and toxin attacks using those pellets (which he seemed to be immune to). Firestorm had incinerated anything thrown their way from him, Korra simply airbending it away and holding her breath anytime he came close.

The Avatar had already been poisoned once by a flying airbender. She had no plans to do it again. Another ice shard from Trey was deflected with an earth wall, Cold's gun throwing Firestorm for a loop until he encased himself in a shell of pure heat. Korra ran around his side and pummeled him with an earth boulder, missing Amunet coming in on her right until it was too late. Her jaw went numb from the sudden impact, her head spinning as her mind struggled to catch up with the rapidly approaching ground. Groaning loudly, she tried to push herself upright but found her arms entrapped with her own cables, held up and out to the sides.

She struggled viciously against the restraints, seeing Firestorm trying to get to her but being held back by all the Weather Wizards at once. Her ocean blue eyes widened in horror when a smiling Nimbus landed in front of her and stalked until he was within arm's reach. He broke open another capsule, levitating the dense toxic fog in his grip just six inches from Korra's head as he crouched in front of the Avatar. His mad smile widened.

"Pleasure to finally meet you, Avatar. By the way." He brought his lips close to her ear. "Zaheer says hello."

Her eyes widened, then slammed tightly shut as she fought back against a vicious wave of flashbacks, her breathing increasing in speed until she was hyperventilating. The toxic cloud drifted ever closer, her mind bordering on hysteria as her body failed her…again.

"Korra?"

The voice brought the flashes to a halt.

"Korra, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

His voice… Her eyes opened to glare up at Nimbus as he pushed the cloud toward her face. A single breath entered her lungs, clean, clear air. It was blown out a moment later as a stream of flame proceeded from her mouth, incinerating the toxin and causing instant second-degree burns on Nimbus, who stumbled away, shrieking. Korra's left knee hit the ground hard, sending a chunk of earth flying up into Amunet's chest, knocking her back just enough to loosen her grip on the cables. Said cables then wrapped around her neck, tossing her over Korra's shoulder as hard as possible.

That said, seeing as how her oxygen levels were depleted from nearly a minute of hyperventilation, her aim was a little off—Amunet passed the walls of the island and splashed down in the middle of the ocean. At the moment, Korra couldn't bring herself to care. She just took a breath and put an index finger to her ear.

"Yeah, Bear. I am now." She smirked. "Has anyone ever told you that you have impeccable timing?"

"…"

Korra snickered. "Guess not."

An explosion from her left and a following yell got her attention, her eyes shifting to see a fully-ignited Firestorm pushing back the Mardon brothers. His yells, however, were not of fury, but frustration—and panic. Her eyes widened.

"Oh no," she whispered, breaking into a sprint toward him. "Firestorm! Martin!"

"I know!" he yelled back. "I'm trying!"

The metahumans abruptly stopped fighting, instead backing away and staring at the fiery spectacle with confused expressions.

"Martin, please—"

"I know! I…I can't! I can't hold it in!"

Korra's expression shifted to one of horror as she turned to the confused metas with pursed lips. "If you value your lives, leave now."

Mick snorted and lifted his gun with a sneer.

Her head shook. "You don't understand. The reason you're as powerful as you are—most of you, anyway—is the same reason he exists." She pointed at Firestorm. "But the process—it was unstable. The energy he creates, most of it's stored inside him, and it's about to release all at once. When that happens…you, me, this island, and everything within several miles of here will be obliterated."

That stopped the lot of them in their tracks, the Mardons exchanging similar disbelieving looks.

Korra scowled. "Fine. Don't believe me, but don't come crying to me when you lot get incinerated."

Turning her back to them, she waterbent a sheet of liquid from her flasks, encasing him with it and trying to douse some of the flames. It turned to steam as soon as it touched his body. Frustration and panic built within her until a whir sounded from behind and a beam of ice suppressed all the flames. Korra turned back to see Snart's gun smoking at the barrel and gave him a look.

His head cocked. "What? I'm a criminal, not stupid. From the way things were looking, he was gonna go critical any second. That, at least, gives us all enough time to escape."

"Escape?" Mick demanded. "You really think I'm gonna miss the explosion of a lifetime?"

Snart scowled and grabbed him by the collar. "Yes, Mick, you are. Because if you don't, I'll freeze your ass and drag you along anyway. Let's. Go."

He roughly shrugged off Snart's hand but gave an accepting grunt, casting one last look at Korra before heading for the side.

Cold stopped halfway to the edge, then turned toward the rest of the Rogues. "If I were all of you, I'd get the hell out of here too."

The crime duo leapt off the side into a flash-formed ice boat propelled by flame jets from Mick's gun. The Mardon brothers stuck around another couple of seconds before following suit, Mark sending Korra an "I've got my eyes on you" motion before following his brothers. Nimbus was the last to go, giving the Avatar one last creepy smile, then taking off and snatching Amunet from the sea on his way out.

"You should go too," Firestorm said softly. "There's no telling when I'll go off, and I won't be responsible for killing the one person I always knew I could trust."

She cast him a mournful look. "Martin—"

"Just go. Please. This isn't something you can stop." He smiled. "For what it's worth…I'm glad I'm facing the end like this. I was…proud to fight alongside you." His smile faded to a concentrated grimace. "Now go!"

Korra gave him a single nod, then leapt off the side and water surfed her way back toward the shore. She cast a single look back at the island, seeing only the glare cast by Firestorm's body. On the fringes of that glare, however, she could've sworn that a lance of red energy streaked across the island, vanishing somewhere in the distance.

Future Industries Airfield

Caitlin put her stethoscope to Oliver's chest one last time, a concerned frown on her face for a few seconds before the corners of her lips turned upward, and she looked back up at Barry. "He's gonna be fine. The antidote did the trick."

Barry smiled and nodded, turning as Eddie returned from one of the fabrication labs downstairs. "Is it done?"

"It…is…now." He clicked on the radio link. "Firestorm, can you hear me? We finished the splicer." A few seconds passed. "Martin?"

"Martin can't hear you," Korra answered. "His earpiece is probably incinerated by now."

Barry's brows furrowed. "What's wrong?"

"It's his energy levels. He's going critical. If you have the splicer, you need to use it, now."

"Here," said Eddie, passing the large octagonal device to the speedster.

Caitlin intercepted it before Barry could, walking toward the exit.

"What are you doing?" Eddie asked.

"I'm going with him."

"No, you're not," Barry insisted.

"It's too dangerous," Eddie added.

"Barry doesn't know how to operate the splicer," she countered.

"Cisco will talk me through it," Barry replied.

"There's no time." She gave him a pleading look, to which he eventually caved.

"Let's go."

The Flash picked her up and took off toward the island at max speed, passing Asami's boat and Korra's surfing form on the way back.

"Be safe, Barry," the latter said over the radio.

"Always."

Caitlin and Barry arrived at the island in less than two minutes after they'd left the airfield, a record time for him. The pair stopped just fifteen feet from Firestorm, who was looking off into the horizon peacefully. That peace was shattered the moment he saw Caitlin.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "You can't be here!" He looked at Barry. "Get her out of here, now!"

"Please," Cate pleaded, rushing toward him. "Look. Ronnie's still in there somewhere. If there's even a chance this can work—"

His white eyes stared into her pale blue ones as he smiled a little. "I admire your devotion."

"This is a quantum splicer. It's going to bombard your cells with enough energy to mimic what happened the night of Harmonic Convergence. If you try to break off once that reaches critical mass, it should work to separate you."

"I understand."

Cate stared at him for a moment. "Ronnie…if you're in there, I love you."

He looked at her for a few more seconds before pulling her into a fierce kiss, causing Barry's eyebrows to hike upward.

When they broke apart, Firestorm looked down at her with a tender expression. "That was from him."

She smiled back at him. "I look forward to meeting you in person, Martin."

The device was placed onto his chest, over his heart, and immediately started thrumming and glowing red as three arms snapped outward, planting onto the right side of his chest. His hands and head ignited almost immediately, the flames quickly expanding to cover his entire body.

Cate's head shook rapidly. "No, no, no, it's not working!"

From quite a distance away, Asami watched it all unfold on her boat. "He's not gonna make it." She tapped her earpiece. "He's gonna blow. Get out of there! Barry, get out of there right now!"

...

Barry turned to Caitlin and started pulling her away despite her protests. "Caitlin, we have to go!"

Firestorm turned to them and backed away. "Run!"

"No!" Cate screamed once more as her feet left the ground, Barry moving her in a cradle carry as they sped from the island toward the shoreline.

The detonation was, in a word, spectacular, instantly obliterating the majority of the concrete and platinum island, the rest flung in pieces up to three miles away from the blast site. Barry barely managed to outrun the resulting wave, stopping when he and Caitlin reached Asami's boat, just outside the effective radius of the explosion. The pair stopped and stared at the gigantic mushroom cloud rising from the remains of Eiling's prison for nearly a full minute. Asami's quiet voice broke the silence.

"I did tell Eiling I would burn his operation to the ground." She looked down and away. "I just didn't want it to happen like this."

Cate just stared blankly at the wreckage, her lips barely parted, an expression of sheer shock on her face.

Barry put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Cate. We have to go."

"No," she replied.

"Caitlin."

She whirled on him. "Barry, I once made the mistake of thinking Ronnie was dead. I won't do it again. Not until I find a body."

She was so earnest, he didn't have the heart to tell her that Firestorm's body was likely atomized in the explosion, so instead he picked her up and ran back toward the island—what was left of it, anyway. The devastation was unparalleled compared to anything Barry had seen before. Even the 1/172 attacks paled in comparison to the sheer flattening power of Firestorm's eruption. Caitlin moved toward the general vicinity of where they'd seen Firestorm last, gasping when she came to a stop. Barry zipped up alongside her, he too becoming rooted to the spot when he saw Ronnie lying right next to a humanoid, ancient-looking spirit with gray eyelids and pale white skin.

Caitlin immediately rushed to her fiancé's body and gingerly lifted his head, the breath catching in her throat when she saw his eyes flutter open. "Tell me your name."

He blinked up at her a few times, a grin slowly spreading over his face. "Ronnie Raymond." The man immediately pulled his fiancé into a fierce kiss, pulling away a few seconds later. "It's me, Cate. I'm right here."

"Uh, pardon me."

The three turned to the rather disoriented-looking spirit.

"Would it be possible to leave this spirits-forsaken place before there's another explosion?"

Caitlin shook her head with a smile, laying her head against Ronnie's chest. "I doubt there's much chance of that now."

Barry's own grin faded slowly as he stared at the doctor openmouthed. "Cate. Your eyes."

She looked over at him. "What?"

He approached her along with Martin, who stared at her with open interest.

"He's right," Ronnie said. "Your eyes, and your skin…they're back to normal."

She stared at her hands for a few moments, then looked back up at Ronnie with a smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I blame you, Mr. Raymond."

He grinned at her. "I can live with that."

They kissed once more, both Barry and Martin clearing their throats loudly. They didn't care. They just grinned and held hands.

"Um. I can't exactly carry you both at once," Barry said.

Ronnie smirked. "Don't mind us, Barry. Caitlin's just a little on cloud nine at the moment."

She looked up at him openmouthed. "And you're not?"

He just chuckled and shook his head. "Let's go home."

2 hours later

Future Industries Airfield

"We can't stay. Even if this reversion is permanent, the climate's too hot right now. Too many people are looking for Cate, and…personally, I think it'll do both of us some good to get away from it all for a while."

Asami smiled and nodded. "I understand. Where will you go?"

Ronnie exchanged a look with his fiancé. "I dunno. I guess…wherever the road leads us."

"All three of us," Martin added.

Ronnie sighed hard. "I thought we agreed that we'd spent more than enough time together."

Martin smirked. "And yet I find myself unwilling to part just yet. Even within the last two hours, it's been apparent to us both, if I'm not mistaken, that our connection runs deeper than simply on the physical level. With both of your permission, I'd like some time to study it, now that we're no longer in danger of spontaneously combusting."

Caitlin smiled and tipped her head. "We'd be happy to."

Ronnie's head snapped in her direction. "We would?"

She chuckled and grinned. "Come on. We're all scientists here. Besides, I've never exchanged ideas with a spirit before."

"Happy to lend my expertise," Martin said with a tilt of his head.

Cate turned to Barry and let go of Ronnie's hand to wrap her arms around the speedster's midsection tightly. "Thank you," she whispered into his shoulder. "If you hadn't been there…"

He smiled and held her back. "You know if you ever need my help, you only have to ask, and I'm there."

She let him go and took a step back, taking Ronnie's hand once more. The doctor turned when she saw a rather pale Oliver Queen step out of the medical room, hands in his pockets. "Mr. Queen, I hope you'll do your best to take it easy from here to Ba Sing Se. Hydrogen cyanide is nothing to trifle with."

He smirked. "Didn't think I was known for trifling."

She gave him a look.

The billionaire grinned and held up his hands. "But I'll do my best, Doctor."

"Good." A glum-looking Cisco was her next point of focus as she approached him and pulled him into her arms. "I am gonna miss you. A lot."

"You too," he managed. Cisco held her arms when she pulled away, jabbing a finger in her face. "You call, you write, understand? If I don't hear from one or both of you every week at the least, I'm comin' to find you."

Barry laughed. "And I'll help him."

The couple smiled and nodded, Ronnie putting an arm around his fiancé's shoulders. "We'll keep that in mind." He cast his eyes toward Professor Thorne and gave him a firm nod, which the scientist returned with a smile. "Anyways…we better get goin', Cate. Before the chief busts down the door and makes us go."

Caitlin smiled and nodded into his chest. "Goodbye for now, all of you. You'll always be in our thoughts."

"Same," Asami replied.

One by one, the traveling trio filed out the door, but Martin stopped in the doorway, casting a grim look in Barry's direction. The speedster's lips pursed, and he nodded slowly in understanding. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Korra picked up on the exchange, but ignored her for the moment. Once Martin and the others had left, he turned to and approached Oliver.

"So, you heading back to Ba Sing Se?"

"Soon as you can take me," the Arrow replied.

Barry nodded. "It's nice to know I have backup."

Oliver smirked and looked off to the side. "And I hope the same can be said for me."

The speedster smiled and nodded. "Of course. Always."

"Good. Now, if there's nothing else, I'd like to go sleep in my actual bed, please."

Barry's head cocked to the side. "Actually…there is one thing…"

3 hours later

United Forces encampment, 50 miles west of Republic City

General Wade Eiling knocked back another glass of refined scotch as he absently ran an index over a pale white scratch at the base of his neck. He had to admit, the Sato girl was quite a capable opponent. Matching wits with the woman had been…exhilarating. He hadn't had quite that much of a challenge in years, not since he'd nearly been court-martialed by Commander Bumi when he was still a Colonel. The memory of the encounter caused by the touch of the scratch brought the twitch of a smile to his face. It vanished when he felt the glass slip from his fingers and his stomach rocket to one side of his body. He blinked, and the next thing he knew, he was out in the mountains, the pitch black of just after midnight all around him.

Upon turning around, he saw a familiar red-clad form walking toward him, his cowl pulled back to reveal the face of a very unhappy Barry Allen.

"We need to talk," he said firmly.

A smirk played over Eiling's features. "What about? You've already leveled my operations against your kind. What more damage could you do apart from eliminating me from the equation?"

His head shook. "That's not how I do things." He pointed his eyebrows at the general. "It is, however, how you do things, General. We both know you won't stop hunting metahumans. As much time and resources were dedicated to that island in the South Sea, you'll just find a way to rebuild your work, keep trying to weaponize people like me."

Eiling shrugged. "It's true, I'll admit. Metahumans are a remarkable new force in this world, potentially either its saviors or destroyers. You fight against what I do, but even you yourself have seen the kind of devastation caused by others of your kind. One with your own abilities, I might add. How is the world supposed to survive without countermeasures against that kind of power?"

Barry winced. "You talk plenty about protecting people, but who have you really protected, General? You assaulted police officers, kidnapped an innocent woman, and subjected citizens of the United Republic to examinations and torture against their will."

"They were criminals. Prisoners of the state. By the very nature of their crimes, they forfeited their right to choose."

"That's a crap argument, and you know it. Your 'operation' is supposed to be a counter for people like Snart and Girder, yet in all those cases, you wanna know who stopped them? Metahumans. People like me and Firestorm and the Avatar. Not megalomaniac paramilitaries who think they're above the law."

Eiling chuckled. "But I am above the law. Upon seeing video records of what the Reverse-Flash was able to do to seasoned members of his police force, the president himself granted me and my division the Fifth Freedom."

His eyes widened.

"You're a smart guy. You know what that means. Which also means that even if you could tie me to that island—what's left of it, anyway—you'd never bring me to court."

Barry was silent a long time, a dangerous glint entering his eyes as he paced toward the general. "That may be, but I know a few acquaintances of yours who'd be very interested to know that you survived that explosion."

Eiling gave him a long look. "Are you threatening me, Mr. Allen?"

"Nope. I'm delivering an ultimatum." He got up in Eiling's face. "If you come after me, or any of my friends ever again, I will make sure every last one of them knows where you hang your head. That's a promise."

The general stared him down for a long time, eventually giving him a slow nod. "Understood."

When the speedster turned away, Eiling spoke up again.

"Didn't expect that kind of play from you. Well done."

The Flash just snorted and pulled up his cowl, briefly tilting his head to the side. "Desperate times."

When he shot out of sight, Eiling stared after his lightning trail for a while, sighing. "Desperate measures."

Aang Memorial Hospital

"I'm sorry."

The words echoed in Asami's head even as she sat by Tony's bedside, the grip his hand had on hers still strong, but growing weaker by the minute. It was less than an hour earlier that the doctors had delivered the news: he was dying. Despite Barry's best efforts to heal him, the extent of the damage done to Tony's body by repeated lightning strikes was beyond the scope of modern medicine…maybe any medicine. Now it was just a matter of minutes.

"'Sami?"

She looked up at him with a small smile. "Yes, Tony?"

He frowned back at her. "You're gonna keep your promise, right?"

Tears pricked at her eyes as her smile widened and she nodded. "Of course." She gripped his hand tighter. "I always do."

He nodded slowly. "I know. Just wanted to make sure."

A knock sounded on the door.

"Come on," Asami called.

Both of their eyes widened when of all people, Barry Allen stepped through, his first look cast to the prone metahuman.

To Asami's surprise, Girder laughed and gave him a nod. "'Sup, nerd? Where ya been?"

Barry smiled and sat on Tony's other side, his eyes going over his damaged body. "Making sure this never happens again." He looked up at Asami. "I spoke to Eiling. We had an interesting discussion. If he knows what's good for him, he'll stay away from us, at least for a while." His smile faded. "I'm sorry, Tony. I'm sorry this happened."

Tony shrugged. "Was gonna happen sooner or later. I'm just glad it was for a good reason." He squeezed Asami's hand.

Barry stared at their locked appendages, his gaze slowly shifting back to his childhood bully. "I uh…I can't stay. There's a…conversation I need to have with someone important. I just wanted to say…thank you."

Tony arched a surprised eyebrow.

Barry clasped his hands. "For all our differences, without you…I never would've learned to stand up for myself. Never would've been able to push the limits of what I can do, either as Barry Allen or the Flash. You helped make me who I am today, and when it counted, you were a hero." He gripped Tony's forearm. "Thank you."

Tony smirked. "Well, it ain't exactly engraved, but…" he shrugged, "I'll take it."

Barry chuckled and patted his arm one more time before standing up. "Goodbye, Tony."

He nodded to the speedster. "See ya around, nerd."

A few seconds later, they were alone again, and Tony had a small smile on his face. "Ya know…I never thought I'd see the day when I actually kinda liked that guy."

Asami smiled. "And I never thought I'd see the day when we were all friends."

"Ugh, I wouldn't go that far." He coughed several times, rather painfully. "More like…frenemies."

She chuckled. "Fair enough."

They looked at each other for a long, time, Asami's smile slowly fading as liquid trailed down her cheek. Tony wiped it away with his free thumb.

"It's not fair," she whispered. "You don't deserve to go out. Not now. Not like this."

"No, I don't." Tony's grimaced. "I deserved a lot worse than to die standin' up for someone like you. Someone worthwhile." He smiled again, fitful coughs interrupting his speech. "But I did. And that's okay, Asami. It's okay…because for just a little bit…you looked at me like I was worth it. Like I was somebody important."

She gripped his hand tightly. "You were always important to me."

He nodded. "I know. But you could never see me the way I wanted you to…until now, I think."

"Tony—"

"Shh…I know. I don't wanna make this any harder than it already is." Another violent fit of coughs. "So let's make this simple, yeah? It was nice…knowin' you again—" Cough. "Just like old times. I'm sorry things never worked out. Would've loved that."

Her hand was like a vise around his as his voice became quiet.

"But I gotta go now, gorgeous. I gotta go." A long series of violent coughs. "When this is all over…meet me at the bar." His voice dropped to a pained whisper, his lips turning upward into a large smile. "Love to buy you a drink."

Tears streamed down Asami's face freely, both hands curled around his as he erupted into a never-ending fit of coughing, pain etched over every inch of his features until it started to calm nearly a minute later, his eyes finding hers as his breathing slowed. Tony's eyelids fluttered closed as his lips turned upward one last time, his final breath passing through the room like the last rains of fall.


AN: Three chapters in as many days. Think I finally got my edge back. Sorry about the absurdly long chapter. Seem to be getting that bad habit back full-force, but hey, it's better than not writing at all.

At any rate, I hope you like how all this turned out and are looking forward to the final stages of Act I. Act II should be a bit shorter (I hope), since I have an actual timeline of events to go off in Book Four. I expect that this should be done sometime before the end of my academic year, which, yes, I know is a long time off, but still. I don't want to make promises I can't keep.

As always, please review and recommend me to your friends.

Oya, vode.

- CDrake

Musical Inspirations:

The Flash Season 1 - The Nuclear Man: attaching the splicer/detonation/"Let's go home"