.:28.


"I think you broke the record," Cisco said as the doors to the Cortex opened and Barry and Cadence came inside, bright smiles on their faces. "Twenty incidents taken down in a single patrol; carjackings, robberies, you name it, you've done it."

"And of course we couldn't have done it without your help," Barry said with a grin, giving Cisco a high-five. He crossed his arms and turned to Cadence. "And you owe me twenty bucks when you said that I couldn't stop the two jacking happening on two different sides of the city at the same time."

"You can move fast, but I never thought you could move that fast," Cadence defended herself, pulling off her goggles and resting them around her neck. "And you don't deserve the twenty bucks because you wouldn't have stopped the second one if it weren't for the fact that I hadn't disoriented them when I did with my smokescreen."

"Either way you better get used to the infamy this is going to bring you," Cisco continued. "You've been doing a lot to help Central City." His nose wrinkled as he turned from his computer. "I mean, the rest of us have been helping you as well and do we get the recognition?" Barry and Cadence exchanged amused glances as Cisco continued. "Yes there's always going to be a team behind the man and I'm not saying I want my life splashed out on the front page every day but some recognition would be nice."

"I know exactly how you feel, Cisco," Cadence agreed. She pulled out a chair beside him and plopped down, crossing her legs at the knee. "There's always a big spread about how The Flash did this and that and is there a mention of me anywhere? No. And you want to know why?" Cadence didn't give Barry or Cisco a chance to respond before continuing. "Because in this patriarchal and misogynistic society it's always the man that gets the attention even if the woman does something just as good as he does."

She paused. "Or maybe it's because my metahuman name is too similar to Barry's. But what do I know?"

"Fine!" Cisco threw his hands into the air. This was definitely past getting on his nerves now. He went through all of the work to make her a suit and make sure things were going well when she was out on the battlefield and what does he get in return? Her insistence to change her metahuman name. Well, that was just fine. He was the only one that was able to get final word on it as it was and no one could name metahumans better than he could. "What name would you want instead?"

Cadence shrugged and thought for a second. "Maybe…Flare?"

Cisco opened his mouth to protest then closed it once more. "You know…that's actually not bad." At Cadence excited grin, complete with clasping her hands together in her lap, Cisco shook a warning finger in her face. "I said I liked it, I didn't say that we would change it to that. Give me some time to get used to it."

"You mean give you some time to get over your ego being bruised," Barry remarked.

"Hey, your job is to save the city, my name is to deal with the gadgets and the metahuman names," Cisco defended himself. "You don't see me putting on your suit late at night and masqueraded as you, do you?"

"No, thank God. I think that might be a scary sight."

"It'd be scarier if it were my suit," Cadence reminded him, laughing at the look of unease the flashed over both Cisco's and Barry's faces. "But you're right Cisco; you, Caitlin and Dad do a great job of watching us on the field and making sure that nothing too bad happens." She then swiveled her head to the side and pointed over to Barry. "And don't forget I've saved your butt many times."

"I remember," Barry reassured her. He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Seriously, Cade, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Get a room, maybe?" Cisco suggested, eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them. "Or continuously have your butt kicked I mean…" he smiled, trailing off as Barry rolled his eye and ruffled Cisco's hair and Cadence swatted at his knee.

"And on that uplifting note, I've gotta go," Cadence said, standing up from the chair.

"Already?" Barry asked. He clasped his hands together and rubbed them eagerly. "I'm ready to head out and see what else we can do."

"Yeah, well, unlike you, Barry I have a job to get back to," Cadence remarked, removing her goggles from around her neck. She tossed a flirtatious smile his way. "We can't all take as many personal days as we can manage, right? I'll see you guys later."

She teleported into the room that held their suits, changed back to her street clothes, and started to walk out of the cortex just as Caitlin was walking in. The two paused as they looked at each other, Cadence muttering a quiet 'hi' which Caitlin returned before she walked to her desk and sat down, engrossed with whatever was on the tablet in her hands.

"Hey Caitlin," Barry greeted her. "Where've you been?"

"Where else?" Cisco broke in before Caitlin could response. "She was with Ronnie, again. You know those two need to get a room. I keep forgetting how awkward it is to walk in on them when they're making googley-eyes at each other. I've got to say I haven't missed that in the slightest." He bit off the end of a Twizzler as if to emphasize his point.

Caitlin shot him a look and he held up his hands, pushing his chair away from her as far as he could go. Barry, who chuckled at Cisco's statement, immediately cut himself off as Caitlin shot him the look. Eyebrows furrowing together he walked over to Caitlin and leaned against the desk next to her, looking down at her face.

"Is everything okay, Caitlin?" He asked her. "You're doing that thing where you chew your bottom lip when you're worried."

"That's only one of the things she's does," Cisco pointed out. "As a matter of fact her chewing her lip is like defcon 3, once she starts to pace is when you should be really worried." Expecting to Caitlin to laugh or at least smile, Cisco then realized how serious it was when Caitlin didn't respond to his jokes. "Hey, what's going on?'

"Yeah, you're haven't been acting like yourself. Not since we got Ronnie back, I mean," Barry agreed.

Cisco had an idea of what was bothering Caitlin but had no way of asking her for sure. Not with Barry around. Since figuring out about hers and Harrison's relationship—which she still didn't call a relationship—he noticed the way they acted around each other; the little looks they would give when they thought no one else was looking and how they were so much like a team. If he thought about it honestly, they had always been that way, since she had first arrived at STAR Labs; she was like his right hand man in a lot of different ways, especially with their train of thought. And now that Ronnie was back...it was like she had to start all over again, but with two different relationships. One with a man she had been hopelessly in love with and another with someone she was just starting to love.

It was like watching a soap opera play out in front of him but he couldn't enjoy it because it was one of his best friends who was having so much trouble with it. Cisco reached out to place his hand on Caitlin's shoulder but the second he touched her he was suddenly somewhere else. There was a blue hue around him and everything seemed to move in slow motion and in real time at the exact same time.

He watched as Harrison followed the long winding hallways of STAR Labs, coming to a sudden stop by a blank wall. The scientist reached out and pressed his palm against a wall and the door slid open to reveal nothing but darkness inside; of which swallowed Harrison as he wheeled inside, the door sliding back into place.

As the door slid back, the sound of metal clinking against metal snapped Cisco back to attention. His hand landed on Caitlin's shoulder and she sighed heavily, dropping the tablet onto the desk in front of her. Cisco looked around the room, his breath starting to grow shallow as he tried to come to terms with what he had just scene, only breaking out of his thoughts when Caitlin started to speak.

"It's just hard," She finally admitted. "How I can come and go as I please and Ronnie and Professor Stein are stuck in here. They can't go anywhere, they can't go back home because they're known to have disappeared, to be dead. Ronnie had a funeral and now here he is in my life again and that's hard as it is. But what about his family? His Mom and Dad left Central City after his death. I can't just call them up and say that their son is suddenly alive again and that we were wrong this whole time. And what about Professor Stein's wife…what if she starts to ask about him being at STAR Labs and how we came to know who he was?"

Barry shrugged. "Then, maybe, we'd have to tell her who I am."

Cisco's eyes widened. "Have you been in too many fights or are you and Cade both starting to forget that the point of the mask and goggles is that a secret identity is supposed to be a secret? Your track record so far has been abysmal with this whole thing."

"I'm just saying that we know everything that has been going on here and it's not fair to have Clarissa Stein in the dark. If you were in her shoes, Caitlin, you'd want to know what was going on with Ronnie if he were still alive. If this were my Mom…." Barry swallowed hard. "Honestly, I don't know how I'd be able to keep the secret for so long.

Caitlin twisted in her seat and looked up at him, face softening. "And what about your Dad?" She asked in a low whisper.

Cisco watched as Barry's head jerked back in surprise at the question. Then he briefly closed his eyes before shaking his head. "I think he already knows," he said honestly. "Just something about the way we were talking the last time I saw him…I'm sure he knows."

"But you haven't told him?"

"No. I haven't told him."

"Why not?" Cisco and Caitlin asked at the same time.

"Because I don't know how he'd react. I don't know if any one of my enemies will figure it out. Like, Snart and Mick know exactly who I am. They can look through my past and know who my Dad is, they've been to Iron Heights so many times that they could find a way to get back in and take him hostage if they wanted. I can't have that happen, so…I can't tell him. Just like I can't tell Iris or Eddie…I need to keep them safe."

"I guess you're right," Cisco agreed. "If my family knew that I was helping the Flash…" he grimaced, realizing how at least his brother knew because he had to tell so that Dante wouldn't get killed. "I mean, if the rest of my family knew I was helping the Flash and Flare—"

"—Flare?" Caitlin repeated.

"Long story short, Cadence's metahuman name is being changed to Flare," Barry explained.

"Oh. Okay."

Cisco watched as Caitlin nodded, her shoulders slumping a little. Once upon a time she would've been in the loop on that sort of thing but things had been steadily changing for Team Flash. Caitlin was starting to pull in on herself as she and Cadence were in the awkward stage of not knowing how to get over bad words that were exchanged in the heat of deciding what to do with Firestorm. And on the other side Cadence, Cisco, and Barry were working better together. He understood why but it wasn't the Team Flash he wanted them all to be.

"Am I interrupting an important discussion?" The three turned around as Professor Stein walked into the room, dressed in a STAR Labs sweatshirt. The man appeared impatient, his eyes darting back and forth across their faces as he pressed his lips together. Ronnie walked along behind him, much more relaxed than the older man was. "Because I was wondering when it was that we could go home? Or even just some time for Ronald and I to be outdoors."

"It's Ronnie, please," Ronnie quickly corrected him, causing Caitlin to smile a little.

"Professor, for your safety we have to be sure that no one knows you're here," Barry reminded him. "And right now the best place for that is right here in STAR Labs."

"As opposed to what? As opposed to braving the world out there with those so-called metahumans that you're consistently finding yourselves trying to defeat and capture?" Professor Stein demanded. "Is that what we are to you now? Your prisoners to do whatever you want with?"

"Well, I wouldn't say you're our prisoners but I do believe you're allowed to feel whatever it is you want to feel," Harrison announced his presence. He rolled smoothly into the room and turned to face everyone. "Professor Stein, Ronnie, I do hope you understand that the decisions we make here are for your best interest. As Mr. Allen have said, we can't guarantee your safety if you leave here."

"But you can't expect them to sit in here like pack rats," Professor Stein insisted, starting it raise his voice. "That's inhumane not to mention inconceivable that anyone would want to come after us! There is no one apart from you all that know we're still here."

"The CCPD have already looked into the explosion at the Badlands," Cisco pointed out. "They might already be suspicious."

All eyes then turned to Barry, who suddenly looked like a deer caught in a set of headlights. "W-well, I mean. There wasn't anything that was found there. No footprints or anything and it's not like they can't leave just as long as they come back here, right?"

Cisco nodded in agreement. He turned and started to say something as well and suddenly cut off as there was another flash. This time he was back in STAR Labs with Bette when she had come to visit him around Christmas. How she had warned him about what was going on at STAR Labs, how there was a lot going on he wasn't aware of. If he reached out and touched her he was sure it would've felt that she was right there. But then the sudden flicker disappeared once more and he found himself with his hand in the air as if raising his hand in class.

All eyes were on him.

Dammit, Cisco, you really have to stop zoning out like this, He reprimanded himself. Then he winced. His mother used to berate him for that all the time when he was younger; but he was dreaming about experiment sand future scientific achievements that could be made. Okay, no everyone's staring at you, you need to say something.

"I think they should be able to leave," Cisco finally said. "Like Barry said, just as long as they come back. They should be able to feel like they're normal rather than a well kept secret."

Harrison made a humming sound then turned to Caitlin, who stared back at him. "And what do you think?"

Cisco held his breath, unsure of how Caitlin was going to react. Was this a loaded question that meant much more than the surface value? A test as to how the rest of their relationship was going to go? Or was it a straight up question that didn't have any hidden intentions?

"I agree," She said finally.

Harrison blinked twice then nodded. "I see I'm outnumbered here. Ronnie, Professor Stein, I hope you enjoy the time that you have. If you'd excuse me…" he backed away his wheelchair and left the room, heading in the direction of his office. Caitlin watched him leave; opening her mouth to say something then closed it once more.

"Thank you." Professor Stein turned on his heel and left the cortex in long, quick strides.

"Cait?"

Ronnie held his hand out towards Caitlin and she smiled, taking it. He pulled her to her feet and slid his arm around her shoulders as the two left the Cortex. Cisco watched them leave then turned back to Barry.

"Well, it's just you and me," he said.

"Looks like it," Barry agreed. He ran a hand through his hair. "So what are you up for? I'm meeting Iris and Joe later for dinner but I've got plenty of time before then."

"I'm thinking we watch Wrath of Khan and then go out to the pool hall," Cisco suggested.

Barry gave him a slow smile. "You're just hoping that we run into Lisa Snart again don't you?" He asked.

"I'm just trying to think of what's some good bro-time but if you think a girl always has to be involved I'm sure we can have another conversation." Cisco looked at Barry pointedly, smirking when Barry's eyebrows rose and his lips pursed. "Yeah, I thought so."

"Just for that I'm not going easy on you in pool."

"You don't have to everyone knows it's a game of geometry."

"Care to put a friendly wager on it?" Barry held out his hand. "Twenty bucks and the winner gets to pick out the next movie they watch."

Cisco sapped his hand into his. "You got it."

...

..

.

General Eiling paced back and forth as he looked around the Assassination Bureau's faces—of those that had faces. He continued to cast a disbelieving glance at Breathtaker wondering whether or not he only had a pair of hands and glowing eyes beneath the metahuman's red hood. Finally, he turned as the door to the conference room opened and Mica Love walked in once more holding a large stack of papers.

"Is this is?" He asked her.

"Yes, General. It's everything we have on STAR Labs," Mica replied. She stood by him, moving her hands behind her back in a military resting position. "Including the incident you had with Bette Sans Succi earlier in the year."

"Thank you. You're dismissed."

"Yes, General."

Mica left the room and General Eiling didn't speak until he flipped through a few pages once more. Finally, he dropped it onto the table in front of Stratos and Mindboggler with a resounding slam. His lips pressed together and he all but glared at the group in front of him. "I know practically everything that goes on in this city and knowing that Harrison Wells has somehow managed to pull one over on me with your help is the most infuriating thing I've ever come across," he said. "All to make sure you stay out of the so-called Pipeline beneath their facility…" he shook his head then chuckled. "It almost makes me feel like I've underestimated him. But if there's one thing he doesn't know, I'm always one step ahead of him."

"With us working with you, you certainly are," Breathtaker agreed. He nodded over to his cohorts. "But we have to be sure there's an agreement on your end that isn't going to be forgotten once things get rolling."

General Eiling held up his hand. "Your money is being transferred as we speak. Money is of no issue this time around, believe me." He let out a long sigh. "But I have to be sure of the understanding that if you can't complete this task then there will be harsh consequences."

Stratos raised an eyebrow. "I don't think your harsh consequences will yield to anything we wouldn't be able to handle considering the power that we have…that you don't."

General Eiling sniffed once. "Is that so?" At the silence he received he chuckled once more. "I seem to understand that you and the rest of the Assassination Bureau do nothing but find different ways to make money. You take whatever job comes your way as mercenaries. What would you do if I asked you to take down the Gorilla that's running around Central City?"

Mindboggler snorted. "A gorilla?"

"Yes. And that's just the tip of the iceberg of the secrets that Central City and Harrison Wells have to hide from the general public. You see, I know Harrison Wels much like I know the back of my hand, especially in terms of what he is and isn't going to do. And in this case, I know he's going to help me out, especially since I have you under my fold." He looked at his watch. "There's something I have to attend to, please make sure your last member is up to speed when they arrive." He turned on his heel and started to leave the room, only pausing at the door to say, "And tell her to tell Harrison I say 'hi'."

Cadence arrived in the board room about an hour later and when she did, she eyed Breathtaker, Stratos, Incognito, and Mindboggler with disdain before sitting down with them. "Alright what is it?" She asked. "You said if I at least listened to you, you'd make it worth my while." She nodded over to Stratos. "And considering how much he's been watching me again, it has to be something big."

Stratos shrugged. "That's my assignment," he explained. "As it's always has been. We can't have you become a liability to our cause." He slowly started to smile. "How's Brady by the way?"

Immediately, Cadence flung herself out of her seat in a rush of flame and delivered a solid hook to Stratos's face that knocked him out of his seat. As he started to fall to the ground she teleported and caught him before he could touch the ground. With a burst of flame she propelled herself upwards and slammed him into the wall. Then she turned towards Incognito, who in the span of those few seconds, started to get up. He started to turn invisible but Cadence anticipated it. She lifted her feet and placed them on the wall, pushing hard she launched herself backwards and as she arched around, lifted her flaming hand in a punch. The veins that stretched down the inside of her arm started to glow orange as flames collected around her fist. Then she tucked her arms into her chest and started to spin, creating twisting flames around her as she went, which slammed into Incognito and knocked him backwards.

Cadence landed low on the ground and when she started to launch herself into another attack, this time at Breathtaker, Mindboggler held out her hand. Cadence's expression went slack, eyes glowing a bright blue, and she slowly lowered her hands before returning to her her seat, staring straight ahead of her as if looking directly through the wall behind them.

Incognito chuckled as he allowed himself to fill out once more. He took off his hat and dusted it off as he returned to his seat. Stratos levitated from where he was lying on the floor from the force of Cadence's slam against the wall, and glided over to his seat. Breathtaker, on the other hand, didn't move a muscle throughout the entire exchange; instead, he continued to watch the exchange.

"If it's always that easy I don't know why we're bothering with General Eiling," Incognito commented. "We can just get Mindboggler to take the reins for us."

Breathtaker held his hand up. "Patience, Incognito. I have my own plans with General Eiling. Right now we have to be willing participants." He then turned and rested his hand on Mindboggler's shoulder. "Release her please; it's time that we told her what we need her to do."

Mindboggler nodded and dropped her hand, allowing Cadence's head to drop. Then she brought her hand up to her forehead and let out a low groan, getting her bearings as she went. She pressed her fingertips into her temples, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Welcome back," Mindboggler drawled. "You mentioned that we said we'd make this worth your while and it certainly is."

"We seem to remember the last time we came into contact with you and the Flash that there was a certain agenda you were already on your way to complete. Or at least, were interested in, and as it has come to our attention there's a chance for you to help out your friend, The Flash."

Cadence looked him in the eye. "Doing what?"

"Capturing the Reverse-Flash."

...

..

.

"Hey," Barry called as he walked into the West house. He expect for the scent of dinner cooking to hit him in the face but found that wasn't the case. So Iris hadn't arrived yet; it was her turn to cook for them.

That was the bright side of living in what was now a bachelor pad, there was plenty to snack on while waiting for the good food to come in. Kicking off his shoes, Barry dropped his keys onto the table by the door and headed into the kitchen. As he passed through the doorway Joe, who was surrounded by papers at the table, jumped and started to gather them together as quickly as he could.

"Is everything alright, Joe?" He asked.

"Yeah." Joe continued to gather papers together, shuffling them as quickly as he could. "I just…I have lot of work that needs to be done and I didn't expect anyone to be here so soon."

"Uh, Iris said to be here by seven."

"Right. Right."

Barry watched Joe for another moment then his curiosity got the best of him and he used his super speed to grab a few documents before Joe could get them then backed up a few steps to examine them himself. His eyes widened when he realized it was an extensive background check on Tess Morgan and Harrison Wells. "What is this?" He demanded.

"Now, Barry, before you freak out it's not anything that serious," Joe said slowly. He stood up from the table and let out a long sigh, sticking his hands into his armpits. "You can't tell me that you haven't been a little bit curious since Iris mentioned that she happened to run into Tess Morgan what she could be doing back in Central City when she's supposed to be dead."

Barry's silence gave Joe the answer he was looking for.

"How is it that she could manage to live through a car accident that was as bad as it was, of which Harrison Wells was convinced she was dead and miraculously still be alive?"

"It was a car accident, Joe! An accident that bad would've had a chance of causing some trauma to the head that could lead to shock or a feeling of daze which would momentarily confuse even the most sounds of brains," Barry commented. "And depending on the circumstances of the injuries Central City may not have had the funds to help her."

"If that were the case why would Harrison continue to tell everyone he's come into contact with that he lost his wife and continues to refer to her that she is dead?" Joe insisted. He reached out his hands and placed them on Barry's shoulders. "Barry, there's something going on here, something that Harrison Wells isn't being so truthful about."

Barry lowered the papers back to the table top and rested his hands against it. He lowered his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Barry, think about this," Joe continued. "How does the man know so much about you and what you're doing if he hasn't been watching you for a while?" He paused. "For fifteen years."

Now Barry lifted his head and looked at Joe through narrowed eyes. "Are you telling me that Harrison Wells had something to do with my mother's death? That he's the Reverse-Flash?" Joe shrugged in response. "That's ridiculous. He's not the Reverse-Flash!"

"Do you know that?"

"Do you know that?" Barry pushed himself upright. "He's been helping me this entire time. Why would he help me if he killed my mother and is trying to kill me, too?"

"I don't know, Bare, but it's something we need to think about going forward," Joe insisted. "And to know if Tess has anything to do with it." He paused and eyed Barry closely. "And how far of a reach after that…"

Now Barry glared. "Cade has absolutely nothing to do with this; she doesn't even know that her mother, her real mother, may be around." He made sure to put emphasis on the fact that neither of them knew for sure Tess was back in town as they hadn't seen her in person. "Which…I should've told her once I found out but…" he shook his head. He had no idea why he hadn't mentioned it to her yet, why he was keeping it a secret. It was going to be hard to handle, considering how badly she handled the news of Harrison really being her father.

"I wasn't just talking about her, I was talking about Caitlin and Cisco as well," Joe pointed out. "They've been working with him for a long time; their allegiance may be with him."

"What allegiance? They haven't done anything!" Now Barry was doing his best to keep calm. His head was starting to hurt, pounding at the temples and sending wave after wave of pain through his brain and down his neck and back.

"Barry, you need to calm down. I'm just trying to help you!"

"By telling me that some of my best friends may be working with someone who may have killed my mother fifteen years ago and is pretending to be my friend? None of that make sense!"

Joe sent out a sharp breath through his nose. "What do you know about him, Barry? Other than what you may have devoured from his autobiography and all of the other articles printed about him?"

"As much as I need to," Barry replied, starting to raise his voice. "But then again, I'm speaking to the person whose best friend was framed for murder and he didn't believe him to be innocent. I've known you for years Joe and I still can't believe how you thought that my Dad would do something like that!"

And he couldn't believe how he still hadn't managed to accomplish anything that would get his father out of jail. Henry knew he was the Flash, he was sure of it, and yet he couldn't do anything that could help him finally prove to everyone that he wasn't a murderer and loved his wife very much. And as it stood, if he couldn't do that for his father at the current moment in time, then maybe he could convince Joe that Harrison wasn't a murderer either.

Instead of getting angry, Joe reached out and placed his hands on Barry's face, looking deep into his eyes. "Barry, I know this is hard for you but I'm worried. I'm worried about you as I've always been. I know I haven't been the best friend that your father has needed but you know I'm on your sand his side now. And that's all that matters. I'm trying to keep you and Iris and everyone else safe and I'm sorry that that brings Dr. Wells into my suspicions but it does."

Barry squeezed his eyes shut as another jolt raced across his brain. This time it was more debilitating than it had been before. A scream of pain escaped Barry's lips and he fell to his knees with Joe holding him as he did so. Joe's voice suddenly sounded as if it were far away as every color surrounding Barry suddenly brightened to neon shades. Barry sucked in a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut, willing the pain to go away. But it continued to come.

"Barry. Hang in there, Bare. I got you."

He could hear Joe talking but it was fuzzy and distorted, almost as if he was trying to speak over the sound of a TV that had just lost its signal. Finally, the pain started to subside and Barry found himself able to move again. He regained the feeling in his arms and legs and gently pushed himself up as Joe helped him.

"What's going on?" Joe asked him.

"I—I don't know," Barry stammered in response. "It was like…like I was struck by lightning again." His eyes darted around and he flinched as if there were a few seconds between him and being stuck once more. "I don't know where that came from."

"Can you stand up?" Joe helped him upright and practically dragged him to an empty seat the closest to him. He reached up his hands and looked into Barry's face once more, going as far as to pull up his eyelids to check his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, Joe, I'm fine," Barry replied. He pressed his hands to his face, waiting as the rest of the tingling feeling went away. His back stiffened when he heard the sound of the front door open and Iris call out.

"Hello?" Iris called. "Where is everybody?"

"In the kitchen, baby," Joe called back. He gave Barry another long, curious glance and Barry gave the peace sign in reply, forcing a smile. They were going to have the conversation again another time, but right now they had to act like everything was okay. He was already starting to feel better as it was. "How was your day?"

"It was alright," Iris replied as she strolled into the kitchen. She placed a grocery bag down on the counter. "Could've been better, I guess. You know how I was talking about my co-worker Mason and how much of a jerk he is?" Barry and shrugged and nodded as Joe made a noncommittal sound, helping her pull out the groceries she brought over. "Well, he's even more of a jerk than I thought. I tried to tell him that I had someone helping me on the story about Tess Morgan—"

Barry and Joe exchanged a glance but didn't say anything.

"And he completely shut me down," Iris continued.

"Uh, baby, don't you have to get some sort of permission to interview Tess or to write the story on her?" Joe asked. Behind his back he waved a hand towards Barry, who quickly understood.

"Yeah, there are ethics and other journalistic laws that'll keep you from doing them if they say 'no' right?" Barry added.

Iris turned around and rested her back against the counter behind her. "I know, I know, I get it," she said to the two. "I was just trying to get a good story that would set me apart from everyone else on the staff instead of having to write about The Flash all the time."

Barry felt a little annoyed. "I don't think there's anything wrong with writing about how the Flash has been helping Central City."

Iris quickly agreed with him. "There's not, I just want to write about something else. Though he did manage to stop a lot of attempted robberies and carjacking today. Some of the staff was saying that it almost broke a sort of record of the most amount of things he's done in a day."

"It did break the record," Barry said quickly then sucked his lips into his mouth when Iris looked at him strangely. "I mean, that's the word around the CCPD." He cleared his throat. "Actually, the Flash wouldn't have been able to do it without help."

"Oh right, from Flash Fire," Iris replied. Barry was about to correct her again, saying that she had changed her name to Flare then quickly cut himself off. It hadn't been announced nor was he—Barry—supposed to know about it. Instead, he cleared his throat, waiting for Iris to finish. "Yeah, she's been doing a pretty good job to help but The Flash was here first. He's been around a lot longer than Flash Fire has been and has gone on to do some really great things for this city. But Flash Fire came in from out of nowhere. And besides, everyone knows that Flash Fire is just his sidekick. I mean, they have similar names and everything."

"But she's not a sidekick, they're equal partners," Barry insisted. He thought for a moment, a different angle to get her to see his point. "I'm sure there're plenty of people on your blog that have sent in pictures of her. Pictures of her doing good things to help out?"

Iris nodded in agreement. "A few. There's even been a few that were going to be printed in the paper because the Flash was in them too but then they had to be changed to just ones of the Flash last minute."

"Why's that, baby?" Joe asked before Barry got the chance to break in.

"Because she's his sidekick, not the main story."

"She's not a sidekick!" Barry cried, all but throwing his arms into the air. "Half of the fights he's been on he wouldn't have been able to finish unless she and her fire powers were there to help!" He immediately realized his mistake and changed the subject, looking to the bag of food she had brought. But his emphatic outburst stunned Iris into silence. "So, what's for dinner?"

Iris stared at him for a long moment and Barry did his best to keep his gaze averted. But when he looked at her and found her staring at him his gaze shifted to Joe, who put his hands up and turned away as if to say 'leave me out of this'. Smart man. "What's going on, Barry?" She asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you don't usually have this sort of reaction to anything that has to do with The Flash or Flash Fire." Her eyes narrowed. "As a matter of fact I seem to remember you doing your best to keep me from writing my blog about it. And now you're trying to keep me from writing for the Newspaper." She paused. "No, you're trying to keep me from writing about The Flash for my blog but about Tess for the newspaper. You said that yourself. Why don't you want me to write about them?"

"Because I don't want you to get stuck in a corner with your writing! You wrote a great story about Stagg, you've done so many other articles at CCU that were amazing .Why do you want to get stuck in things about The Flash and STAR Labs?"

"I never said any of them had to do with STAR Labs."

She didn't? Barry quickly rewound through his thoughts then cursed himself when he found her to be telling the truth. Okay, maybe he had blurted that out a little bit quicker than he had anticipated and judging from the look on Joe's face he felt the same way. "I mean, my being struck by lightning because of the Particle Accelerator explosion,"—he tried not to get nauseous once more of the thought of pain that had just recently shot through his head—"the Flash working with some of the cases with the CCPD and getting some help from Caitlin and Cisco…" he trailed off to show it wasn't much to think about.

"Barry Allen, you're lying to me," Iris declared.

"Well, you have to admit a leap that far isn't that hard. It's like he said, there's been many cases that STAR Labs has helped us out with because it ended up having to do with metahumans," Joe said, coming to Barry's rescue. "And it's not like we don't support you in everything you do. It's like Barry said, there's a lot of great articles you've done and will continue to do. We just don't want you to bring unnecessary danger to yourself and I'm sure Eddie would agree."

"I would agree to what?" Eddie asked, walking into the kitchen with a grocery bag under his arm.

"Nothing, Eddie, we're just having a little disagreement," Joe said, running a hand through his hair. "Which seems to be a common theme today," he added under his breath to which only Barry hear him say. "Why don't we check out the score of the game?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Eddie agreed. He handed iris his bag of groceries, giving her a quick kiss before leaving the room so Iris and Barry sat in silence.

Running his hands through his hair Barry said, "Look, Iris, I'm just worried. There's a new metahuman out there nearly every day and I don't want you to get hurt because of something that you post on your blog or write about in the newspaper."

Iris's face softened and she reached out, taking Barry's hand in hers. "I understand that, Barry. But you can't sit back and protect me from every little thing that comes our way. Dad can't do that and you certainly can't if our self-defense classes were anything to go by." She started to smile, making Barry smile as well. "I'm sorry I managed to punch you out those few times but you should've gotten used to my fighting style at some point."

"And I'm sure that's a story you're waiting to tell during my wedding."

"With baited breath."

Now Barry laughed.

"I don't want to argue about this anymore, Barry. I know you support me but I know that your worry trumps that by a mile. But I'm okay. I'm tough. I know what I'm getting myself into. I can do this. And, you have to admit Barry; something weird is going on with STAR Labs. Enough so that they know what to do with every metahuman that's come around? Can't you understand why I want to look into it? You're my best friend and I almost lost you once. I don't want to lose you again."

"Iris…when you almost lost me the first time it was Dr. Wells, Cisco, and Caitlin that helped me. I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for them." Barry bobbed his head back and forth. "I'll admit Central City is a weird place right now. But to think they're hiding something so big…? It's just not like them."

"I guess you're right," Iris agreed. She squeezed his hand again. "So what do you say helping me with dinner for old time's sake? But I promise it won't be like that one father's day where we nearly burned down the kitchen."

"We wouldn't have almost burnt it down if you had just listened to me and didn't try to pick up the hot pan with a bunch of wadded up paper towels."

"All of our oven mitts were wet!"

Barry chuckled and helped Iris unbag the second of groceries and start to figure out what was going to be for dinner. Despite the time they spent together laughing and reminiscing while making dinner Barry's mind was split in two different directions; one) he was afraid that blinding shock of pain was going to come back and two) knowing that no matter how many times Iris said she was going to let it go, she wasn't.

And if she wasn't going to do that, then Barry would have to find the Reverse-Flash and clear everything up himself.

...

..

.

Harrison made sure the door to his time vault was closed before he stood up from his wheelchair. He stretched his arms over his head before lacing his fingers together and rested his palms against the back of his neck. This wasn't going as well as he had hoped but at least there was some sort of a silver lining to it. Things were progressing in as linear of a fashion as he expected and that was all he could hope for. Bringing his hands down from his neck he walked over to the glass encasing his Reverse-Flash suit and pressed his hand against the glass. He could practically feel the power radiating from the suit, despite how weak he felt at the moment.

Lowering his hand from the glass, Harrison brought his hand up and started to slide the gold ring around his finger back and forth. Over and over again. Finally, he walked over to the small podium at the front of the room and cleared his throat. "Gideon?"

The AI's face immediately appeared in front of him, as dutiful as ever. "Yes, Dr. Wells?"

Harrison closed his eyes and shook his head. "Please bring up my real image."

"Yes, Dr. Wells." Gideon's face was then replaced with a screen that stretched from the floor to Harrison's exact height. It flickered on and Harrison stared at his reflection. "Would you prefer for me to call you Eobard?"

Harrison shook his head as he continued to take in his reflection; stronger build, blonde hair that was starting to turn a sandy brown, blue/green eyes, dimpled chin, and a strong glare that held his barely concealed anger and frustration. How long would it be until he could completely reveal himself? If it hadn't been for Barry going back in time things would have progressed a lot faster. He knew something had happened as soon as Barry started to act even stranger than normal and it didn't take long for him to figure out what it was.

Didn't he understand the troubles he caused? Especially because he couldn't keep it a secret, messing with a timeline was much more disastrous than he could ever anticipate. And it made him angrier than he could ever imagine. He had to keep himself from following his instinct of wanting to shove his fist straight through everyone's hearts around him just so long as they were in his way.

He took in a deep breath and pressed the palms of his hands against his face. He took a few more deep breaths then lowered his hands once more. Finally, he was a little bit calmer. He had to stay calm so that he could finish his plan.

He tore his gaze away from his reflection as a sudden warning signal shot through the room. Tilting his head to the side, Harrison pushed his glasses up his nose and watched as the mirror in front of him suddenly shot back into the ceiling. "Gideon, who is in STAR Labs? They're not one of the authorized people to be within the premises or else the alarms wouldn't have gone off."

"Let me bring up the video feed, Dr. Wells."

Harrison's eyes narrowed for a moment as Gideon pulled up the video feed from STAR Labs. Then he relaxed. But only for a moment before a lightning bolt of emotions shot through him; annoyance, frustration, suspicion, disbelief, realization, and acceptance all rolled into one. He slowly turned on his heel and walked to his wheelchair. Lowering himself down, he maneuvered it around and headed out towards the floor of the Cortex. His guest didn't know he was coming, didn't even know he was still there considering the devil-may-care attitude exhibited as they looked around the laboratories. Then again, he couldn't blame them.

They were part of the reason that STAR Labs was even in existence.

"Well, well, well," Harrison commented as he wheeled through the doors and faced his guest. They turned around and stared at him for a long moment, allowing him to come to a complete stop in front of them. "If it isn't Tess Morgan." He smiled up at her, resting his hands in his lap. They were starting to shake despite his otherwise calm demeanor. "I can't say I'm surprised that you came back to Central City, you always did say it was one of your favorite places to live."

"We've moved around so much I'm surprised we were able to see much of anything," Tess pointed out. She placed her hands no her hips as she turned to face him. "Now Starling, Starling I remember because you were the one that consistently told me that they should've named it Star city considering how many lights they had on all over the city. And instead you named your laboratory space STAR Labs."

"I had a good incentive for it," Harrison said, his smile fading slightly. Ever so slightly. He kept his eyes locked onto Tess and she didn't look away, either. "What are you doing here, Tess? I thought…"

"I thought the same," Tess murmured. "When I came to I heard you…" she shook he head. "I guess it doesn't matter what I thought anymore, here you are."

"And here you are," Harrison agreed.

Tess felt herself starting to smile, her lips pulling back to show off her teeth in a grin she hated when she was a kid but others in her life managed to love. She walked over to Harrison and placed her hands on his cheeks, tilting his head back to look into his eyes. Harrison looked back into hers, watching s they shifted back and forth, taking over every plane of his face.

And he studied her, feeling something in his chest he hadn't felt for a long time. Something he had felt when he was with Caitlin but ten times stronger. He thought he had managed to push it away and it frustrated as well as confused him.

"Where were you?" Harrison murmured.

"Coast City," Tess replied. "Physical therapy, getting a lot of work done. I was pretty banged up after the accident. I was at Central City General then air lifted to Coast City where there were better resources."

"I thought you were dead," Harrison finally said the words he wouldn't allow himself to say out loud before. Deep in his heart he knew there wasn't much of a chance for her to be alive after that accident. Not from the way she had hung lifelessly next to him. Then he was in the hospital being checked and the next thing he knew he was back at his house…at their house by himself. And he waited. And nothing changed.

So he put himself back into his work and kept himself from thinking about her, from dreaming about her, from even giving himself the slight chance she would make her way back to him. And yet here she was.

This time he said it out loud was for himself. In his mind she was dead, buried, gone. But there she was standing right in front of him, looking at him with the same gaze that showed no matter how much he thought she was out of his league she didn't feel the same way. She was always by his side, cheering him on with every experiment and research idea that came to mind. And now here she was again, continuing to hold that place.

Harrison reached up his hand and grasped Tess's hands in his. They were warm. Real. Alive. She was truly there. Grasping her wrists, Harrison pulled Tess down and gave her a long kiss. Tess's grasp tightened against his face and Harrison could feel her trembling with emotion.

When the kiss ended he found her entire body shaking with emotion. "I just…I don't…" she looked down at his wheelchair in surprise. "I heard some things happened with your Particle Accelerator…and the metahumans…but I never…" she cut herself off when Harrison's grasp suddenly turned viselike.

"What did you hear?" He asked. "I need to know everything you know about the Particle Accelerator and the metahumans."

Tess nodded. She removed her hands from Harrison's face and took a step away from him. Then her eyebrows came together and she brought her hands to her forehead, brushing her hair back. "The Particle Accelerator exploded and it caused the creation of metahumans in Central City…like The Flash. And…" she lowered her hands from her hair. "And there's this reporter I met, she's trying to do a story on me, on me being back in Central City. She wants to know what I think about your work and the Particle Accelerator explosion."

Harrison tilted his head to the side. "And what's the reporter's name?"

"Iris West," Tess replied.

With a slow nod, Harrison shifted his gaze to the side. When he looked back at Tess he made up his mind. "Leave that to me."


A/N: I originally had it that Barry's and Cadence's date was in this chapter but it had to be pushed into the next one considering how much of a focus there was on Tess and Harrison in this one. So now Harrison knows that Tess is alive and well and now we've got the reveal of Harrison being Eobard. We'll see what that means for the rest of Team Flash and what it means as Cade's supposed to be capturing him.

At the moment I see this story going as far as 50 chapters in case anyone was wondering. The rest of the story has more of an original feel to it but the canon parts I'm keeping are just going to be re-worked as I've done with some plots before. Also, Ryder's part of the story gets bigger with the next chapter.

Let me know what you think? What did you like? Not like? What else would you like to see? What are you excited for? Confused about? Do you have any general questions or comments? Feel free to let me know.

DawnMay/Sialia-currucoides: Thank you for mentioning how Barry's and Cade's relationship seemed a bit one-sided. I do have something planned but it's going to take a little bit longer for it to get there but not so long where it's an incredibly long wait. And also, thank you for pointing out that Cade is indeed a complex character. There's going to be more insight into her time in Metropolis coming soon as well as more of an emphasis on what Barry's going through so that he doesn't continue to become a stale character compared to the others. Here's the start of the scene with Barry and Iris arguing over Flash Fire's/Flare's status of being a superhero in her own right it'll certainly come to a head at a different time, I hope you enjoyed this part of it. Thanks again for the review and things to think about.

Ethan: Lois Lane is basically the Iris West of the Superman lore. But she's even more so important because of the show Smallville which was a show that told of Clark Kent's time in high school as he dealt with his powers while working to become Superman. Because Metropolis is scene a lot in that show and it's where Cadence is from, it was only a matter of time until characters from Smallville popped up considering I've mentioned the city numerous times before in this story and Flash Fire. As for what it is that's brought her to Central City that's just to be seen. And as DawnMay also mentioned with Iris's selfishness, there's a reason for it and it was at least hinted here, though if you watch the episode Tricksters again it explains the reason why.

My sisters' and my crossover story Flashpoint is coming soon where we get to see Cadence and Brady Nash (Flash Fire and Crossfire), Averey Moore (In a Flash), and Sage Moreaux (The Mark of Sage) team up with Barry and other Flarrow characters to stop a new enemy. It'll be posted on the profile Crystal Manning and I'll be sure to keep you all updated when it is posted.

-Riles