.:29:.
Barry held his hands over his ears and closed his eyes tightly as he heard his mother's voice fill his head again. Words of comfort, to let him know he wasn't alone. Those words used to bring him such comfort, to have him smile in the middle of the night when he would suddenly feel crushing fear and sadness overwhelm him. It had been easy to deal with when he knew the cause of it, that he was just sad and missing her and wanted nothing more than to hear her voice one more time. Now it was frightening as he didn't know if he truly was just a little boy calling out for his mother, or if he was going crazy.
His rage had been from Bivolo, he knew that. Everything he had said and did…it had all been because of the anger that Bivolo had bestowed upon him. But these voices…the images he continued to see of her…he couldn't fathom where they were coming from. Cisco couldn't figure it out, Caitlin couldn't figure it out, and now he was stuck in a jail cell or sorts having been betrayed by someone he thought was his friend.
How had things gone so wrong?
Wasn't life supposed to get easier now that he had these powers? Going through his daily routine was a breeze, he could bypass lines at any stores or shops, get his chores done in a matter of moments, and still have enough time in the day to do whatever he wanted to do. Nevertheless, he still found as much time as he could to go through the city and help whoever was in trouble or to stop whatever metahuman came around. He thought everything in his life had gotten better when he received his powers from the lightning bolt—it even increased his confidence in ways he had never expected. He helped save so many lives, saved the city so many times, and after one incident he was trapped like a rat; not knowing what was going to happen next and wondering if the people he hurt while under Bivolo's whammy were going to help him.
Hearing a long sigh, Barry turned his head to the side and watched as Cadence stretched out on the floor, tapping her hands against her stomach. Her lower jaw jutted out and every now and then she would shake her head and mutter something under her breath.
"So how much longer do you think they're going to keep us down here?" Barry asked, his voice grabbing the fire metahuman's attention. She turned towards him and peered at him curiously. Bitterness edged into Barry's tone as he turned towards her. "I mean, you know them a lot better than I do. You must have some idea of what it is that they want."
Cadence let out a low, irritated sigh. "I already told you everything I know. I already told you everything I was told to do. And I already apologized!" She slapped her hands on the ground before bringing them up and scratching her palms which itched and burned from the fore of her slap. "What more do you want?"
Barry scrambled off the ground and grabbed onto the bars that sat in front of his face "What more do I want?" He repeated. "I can't believe I'm in this mess in the first place. I mean, wanting to stop the Suicide Squad and the Assassination Bureau is what I was meant to do. I'm supposed to protect Central City from everything that endangers it and everyone that lives here. And to know that one of the people that put them in danger was one of the few metahumans I thought I could trust. The other is dead!"
"I explained that, too!"
"You haven't explained anything!"
Cadence gritted her teeth. "I was under Leah's mind control. I couldn't help anything I was doing. Yes, I'll admit I should've told you before, maybe all of this could've been avoided. But I had a good reason for it."
"Nothing is a good reason to betray your friends."
"That's it, Barry! That's it right there!" Cadence brought her hands up to her hair, scrubbing her fingers against her scalp in frustration. "There's never a good reason to betray your friends. But what happens when you have to think about other people?" Barry frowned as he listened to what she had to say. "If you were in my position, and you had a son or daughter, or even a little brother or sister to take care of; to be sure they were developing okay, getting everything they had, to know they had everything you could give them, what would you do?" She leaned closer to the bars and stared hard at him. "I will literally do anything to make sure that Brady has the life he deserves to have and, yes, I may have made some mistakes and bad decisions to do that. But what are you doing that's different?"
"Excuse me?" Barry's eyebrows rose so swiftly he was surprised they didn't fly off his forehead. His eyes widened in surprised and fury. "Don't turn this around on me! I've never done…I would never do anything like you have!"
"Really? You wouldn't?"
"No."
"Then what about your Mom, Barry? What would you do if you found out the only way to find her killer, to get your Dad out of jail, was to do things you would never ever think of doing. Things that would make you wonder if you're truly a bad person or fill you with so much guilt and paranoia you stay up night after night waiting to be arrested. How is this any different from what you would do for your Mom? What would you do if you got the man that killed her in front of you? Have you ever thought of that?"
Barry stared hard at her, listening to everything she had to say. He wanted to turn around and tune her out. Turn his back on her and wait for the inevitable as he had been doing for however long the two had been in there. Wanted to use his speed to vibrate the bars off of his cell and race out of there, despite receiving the initial shock Cadence had whenever she tried to teleport. And yet, he couldn't. As soon as anything about his mother or father was spoken, he stopped to pay attention. He listened to her words as she explained her situation and despite how angry he was…
"Your emotions were being controlled by Bivolo," Cadence continued, abruptly changing the subject. "That's what had you fighting me, and Oliver, and Roy and saying all of those things that proved you weren't the Barry that we all knew. And…the reason you've been seeing your mother is because of Leah and Bivolo. I hadn't realized it until I saw how his anger whammy affected you...your eyes."
Barry sucked in a deep breath. "What do you mean?" He whispered.
"Part of my job was to watch you, to know everything about you. It didn't take long for me to find out about your mother and father. Leah's power isn't just that she can control you, but she can project images in front of you. Images that aren't real but seem so real it can drive you crazy. The times you've seen your mother is because Leah is making you see her, hoping to weaken you until they can use you. Eventually, Bivolo…they wanted to use Bivolo at first but he went rogue. And with the knowledge of what Leah was doing, he used his whammy on you to have you keep seeing your mother."
"But I never…"
"Never saw him until he needed you to, when he was robbing the bank. You've been whammied by him before. Your eyes…they're such a blue-ish green color that when he whammied you with his manipulation over sadness…no one could tell."
Barry lowered his hands from the bars and walked back a few steps. He brought his hands up over his face and through his hair. I've been whammied, he thought. This whole time. Leah…and Bivolo…they've been making me see my Mom this whole time. "She mind controlled you?"
"Breathtaker is the one that charges up Leah's powers. The weaker she is, the weaker her manipulations are. She would mind control me after she got a charge from Breathtaker. He used her, to use me, to use you, to get to Dr. Wells. All they want is Dr. Wells, and the key to getting to him was to get to you."
"Then why are you down here?"
"Because I started to become your friend." Now Cadence backed away from the bars in front of her and sat down on the ground. "Or, I thought so, anyway. I haven't had a friend since I left Metropolis and we just clicked. I don't know if it was because of our powers or what, but…I did like being your friend. And if you were able to tell me about your Mom and Dad and take me into STAR Labs and just feel…welcome, I should've done the same to you, metahuman abilities aside."
Barry continued to pace around his cell, hands up to his forehead. What did he know about anything anymore? He knew that Wells and Caitlin and Cisco were always on his side, and always wanted what was best for him. They helped him out when he was first starting to come to terms with his powers and became a second family to him. Joe and Iris were still there for him and always had been since he had move in with them. Even Eddie, who was now a permanent fixture in his life—whether he liked it or not—was helpful in his career, especially when Captain Singh seemed to find Barry to be his target. At least he took care of Iris, something Barry always wanted for her.
He knew all of that. He knew that Central City was in trouble if he had been taken away and put in captivity. He knew the only way he was going to get out of there would be if he worked together with Cadence and did something big, something drastic that would allow them to gain the upper hand and save everybody. And if the only way that was going to happen was by lowering his pride and asking for help, then he would do it.
"So you did all of this for Brady?" Barry asked after a minute.
Cadence looked at him and nodded silently.
He turned away, closing his eyes. An image of his mother popped up into his head again. This time, however, it wasn't an image that came from a metahuman with projecting abilities. Nor a metahuman with the power to control his emotions. No. This was an image from his own mind, the mother that he remembered that always took care of him. Who always had a warm smile on her face and a kind word for whoever came into their house. The woman who always listened to Barry's stories of what happened at school, down to every last detail, as well as being sure to admonish him when he did something she thought he shouldn't have done. (No matter how many times he had gotten into a fight, trying to help another defenseless student, she would still punish him accordingly).
And this time around, his mother was cheering him on.
"Well don't worry," he said. "We'll make sure he's okay. And we'll make sure everyone else in the city is okay, too. We're going to stop these guys no matter what."
Cadence looked back at him and nodded. Then her eyes shifted to the side at the sound of footsteps heading their way and she scrambled to her feet, standing at the bars of her cage. She and Barry watched as Shrapnel came into view with a man Barry didn't recognize by his side. Shrapnel went over to Cadence's cell and unlocked it, dragging her out and quickly moving her hands behind her back. Barry watched as he tied her wrists together with a strange chord, followed it up, noticing how it connected to Shrapnel's vest.
Shrapnel turned and smiled at Barry, his eyebrows rapidly raising and lowering as he turned to the side, showing off the cord that led to a tiny black box pinned to the side of his vest. He was connected to a bomb. The man that stood in front of Barry's cell took the keys Shrapnel handed out to him and unlocked Barry's cell. As Barry looked up into the man's eyes, his eyebrows furrowed when he noticed they suddenly changed from green to brown, all in the space of a few seconds.
"Incognito," Cadence said as the man dragged Barry out and tied his hands behind his back. "You already got as much information out of us as you need, let us go."
"Brigade," Incognito said calmly. "You and I both know we can't do that. Besides, I'd think you'd like to watch the entire city go up in flames." With an almost shark-like smile towards the fire metahuman, Incognito shoved Barry forward and the two metahumans were led out from the dungeon area.
"You think you can set off some sort of smoke detector to give us a distraction to get out of here?" Barry asked out of the side of his mouth. Cadence made a slight snorting sound in reply.
"Not unless you want to get us blown up within a few seconds," she murmured in reply. Lifting her chin, she nodded towards Shrapnel, who walked ahead of the two of them. "These cords we're tied up with, leads to an explosive. This guy right here, it's his specialty. Now, I could absorb most of the fire from the bomb blast, but this guy is named Shrapnel for a reason. Not even your fast regenerating cells can stop the flying pieces of metal from killing you."
Shrapnel turned around and started to walk backwards, his eyes moving back and forth across the face of the two metahuman and lifted his right hand, his finger hovering over a button on the side of the tiny black box in his hand. Barry immediately recognized it as a control box. And as close as he was to Shrapnel, as quick as he would be able to move to try and keep the man from pressing the button, he knew he wouldn't be able to move fast enough.
Shrapnel knew that too, for he smirked as he waved the control box back and forth, the two metahumans staring at it. "You try any of your zippy-zappy speed, Allen, and all of us are going to be swallowing lead pellets. To the point that if the authorities ever find us, they'd be spending years picking up body parts to try and even come close to identification."
Barry swallowed hard. Despite being an assistant forensic scientist, he had seen a lot of things while working with the Central City Police Department. Not only had he seen people tweaked out on drugs, the aftermath of those that had tried to escape from their abusers, houses rundown from neglect, marijuana farms, and meth labs. Things he had heard about, researched, and studied while working to get his degree in forensics was very much different than seeing it in real life. He had seen the aftermath of a terrorist group trying to create their own bombs to cause mass havoc, how one person had mishandled a few chemicals and managed to blow himself, his confidants, and the house to bits. Shrapnel knew what he was talking about when it came to the threats he was dealing out.
Barry looked over at Cadence once more before Shrapnel pulled hard on the cords wrapped around them and pulled them through the doorway that immediately came up to their right. They were led up a few flights of stairs before being dragged into a large room. Barry noticed a figure lying on the ground; his hands tied his back as well. It took him a minute to figure out who it was.
"Dr. Wells!" Barry's voice echoed across the room seconds before a grunt escaped his mouth as he was shoved to the ground. Rolling onto his side, Barry looked over at Dr. Harrison Wells. The man stared back at Barry, blue eyes dulled with…well, he wasn't sure. There was an air of confidence that radiated off him, but at the same time he didn't appear to be putting up a struggle.
Despite a few scratches on his face, some with drying blood, Harrison kept his eyes on Barry, as if he were trying to warn him of something. To tell him something…
No matter what it was, it probably wasn't going to help.
Cisco looked over at Bette as she walked into his cell, carrying another tray. This time around, she kept it close to herself, placing it on the floor next to her before picking up the plastic water bottle she balanced carefully. Once she stretched her leg out in front of her, he rolled the water bottle towards Cisco. It traveled forward and hit Cisco's foot, bouncing off of it and rolling away. He made no move to pick it up.
Bette glanced at him for a minute before turning her head to face him completely. "I said I'd bring you water this time. I know you didn't like the food."
"I don't want anything from you," Cisco murmured. This time, rather than looking around her or above her head as he had done multiple times she arrived at his cell, he looked directly at her. "I don't even want to look at you. Not after you've done this to me. To us!" He shook his head. "Not when we were friends. "
Bette licked her lips and brought her knees up to her chest. She wrapped he arms around her legs, hugging her knees to her chest and let out a breath. "I deserve that," she admitted. "Like you said, you thought I died. I made you think I had died. I'm working with people that I really shouldn't be working with. But I have no choice."
Cisco snorted but didn't reply.
Silence hung between the two of them for a long moment. Only their breathing was heard. Cisco's short, harsh, and angry while Bette's was long, calm, and serene. And they stayed that way, Cisco staring hard at Bette, and the young woman staring back at him. Finally, Cisco tore his gaze away, tilting his head back and leaning it against the cool wall behind him. His stomach growled loudly but he refused to move forward and reach for the food tray or the water.
Instead, he tried to turn his mind over to his friends. What were they doing now that they knew he was gone? They had to have known. He didn't have his phone so there was no way for them to get in contact with him. They had to know there was something wrong if he was gone. Shouldn't Barry and Cadence come looking for him at that point? He didn't doubt they were doing his best to find him, with Caitlin's help. He could practically see the tight, nervous, worried expression she got on her face that she had nearly every time something went wrong. That was always Caitlin, worrying about him like a sister, telling him what to do and what not to do and playfully ribbing him when the time came. Something that he, of course, did back to her; he lost count of the times he had tried to get Caitlin to step out of her comfort zone a little.
It usually ended up with the two of them in hysterical laughter over Caitlin's insistence to follow her schedule and that she'd step out of her comfort zone 'tomorrow'. Which he would then remind her that it was a 'day away', a joke referring to the time Caitlin and Ronnie had made plans to watch the movie together and Cisco crashed it. That would eventually have the two of them laughing so hard they'd start to cry. It was silly, probably wasn't even that funny, but the two of them always laughed whenever it was brought up or something Annie related was mentioned.
That was friendship. His and Barry finding so much in common with each other as they worked around saving the city and developing new gizmos and gadgets for STAR Labs and for his suit. His friendship with Cadence as the two got excited over Cadence being able to exhibit the extent of her powers and Cisco being able to see it all happen in person. His friendship with Wells as the man was a bit of a father figure to him. Not only did he believe in everything that Cisco put his mind to but he pushed the young man to get better and better in everything, relied on him to keep the Flash and everything STAR Labs related from breaking down. Despite not knowing Team Arrow for very long they were good friends to him, all united under the secrets they had to keep.
Was Bette a friend? At one point, maybe.
Now, he wasn't so sure.
"Everyone has a choice whether or not to betray someone," Cisco finally said. "You made your choice; you have to live with it."
"That may be true, but you don't know the other side of what would've happened if I didn't do this," Bette said. "What would've happened. Not just to me, but to everyone around here. To some people in Central City. Not only would they be in danger, but there would be a very corrupt man thinking he could do whatever he wanted in the army and continue his reign of terror. Not just on my but anyone else who is like me, Barry, and Cadence."
Despite trying his hardest to keep from being interested, Cisco couldn't help but give her his undivided attention. Cure you scientific mind and weakness for hot girls, he mentally berated. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, Cisco, if I didn't do this…if I didn't help the Suicide Squad and Assassination Bureau after I came back to life…Eiling would continue to hunt me down. If I didn't do this, he would keep going until he captured me again and tortured me and ran tests, all so that he could move forward in his career in the most inhumane ways. But he wouldn't have stopped with me. He would've gone after every metahuman that he found that could be of use to him and continued to test on them and torture them and…use their powers to his advantage. If I didn't do this, Eiling would continue to hurt people. I did this…so they could get rid of Eiling and so I could finally live.
"That's what the Suicide Squad is all about. They give and take. If they do something for you, you do something for them. I can't….I can't live knowing that if I didn't join them, someone else was going to fall under Eiling's track and they wouldn't be able to shake him. I've seen him do some sick and disgusting things and I'm not going to have that happen to anyone else."
Cisco ran a hand through his hair. "You…you mean you're telling me that—"
There was a clanging sound and before Cisco could get the rest of his words out, Bette scrambled to her feet, kicking the tray and water bottle out of sight. His eyebrows furrowed together as she brought rope out from a knapsack he noticed was hanging off her shoulder, and went over to him. Despite seeing the gloves on her hand, he flinched when she reached out and grabbed onto his arm. She hauled him to his feet and moved behind him, shoving his wrists together and tied them with complicated knots.
"Sorry," she murmured. "But I have to do this."
This time, Cisco detected the sincere apology in her voice and lifted his head as he watched a tall girl with black and white hair, styled in a Mohawk, appear at the opening to the cell. She watched as Bette finished tying Cisco's hands and pushed him towards the opening.
"Leah," Bette said to her.
Leah looked Cisco up and down before smiling a little, reaching out and brushing his hair back. "Hm. This one's a cutie. Say, when you're done with him, do you think you can share."
"Back off." Bette jerked Cisco to the side and stepped around the illusionist metahuman. "He's mine." With another hard push, nearly falling on his face, Cisco walked down the long hallway that led to his cell with Bette behind him, holding a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Despite the circumstances, Cisco couldn't help but let a little smile come onto his face. Metahuman or not, it made his self-esteem rise to know that he was still being fought over, even if it was in the face of death. Cisco was taken down a maze of hallways and rooms before he was brought to one that had the rest of the Suicide Squad and Assassination Bureau waiting. He spotted Cadence, Barry, and Harrison kneeling on the floor and was pushed to kneel by them a few seconds later. Barry looked over at him and nodded slightly.
Cisco nodded back and bent his head, waiting to see what was coming next.
Caitlin slowed down, hopping a few paces as she ripped off her heel and then did the same with her other foot. Who knew that wanting to dress professionally was going to slow her down at some point in her life? This time around, Felicity appeared to have the same problem, letting out little grunts of annoyance as the tight hem of her dress kept her from opening her stride as far as she would've liked.
Brady, who ran ahead of them, turned back around and grabbed onto Caitlin's wrist before pulling her along. "C'mon, Caitlin! We don't want them to catch us!"
"I'm going." Caitlin glanced over her shoulder to be sure that Felicity was still right behind them before stopping. "Hold on." She gently nudged Brady's hand off her wrist and went back to the blonde, who slowed to a walk.
"Whoever said that pencil skirts are practical and sexy, clearly haven't gone into our line of work," Felicity said. Having ditched her shoes early in the run, she stepped lightly over the ground as she stopped by Caitlin and Brady. "I mean, you'd think by now I would realize that guys aren't pre-dispositioned to notice when someone is putting in the extra effort to get their attention. Not that I'm trying to get anyone's attention, but everyone deserves to be lusted after in some capacity." She paused, closing her eyes. "I mean…the bloodlust and everything—"
"What does that mean?" Brady asked, tilting his head to the side.
Caitlin waved a hand towards Brady before going over to Felicity. She grabbed the hem of the girl's dress and ripped off a large portion of the bottom, giving Felicity more space to open her stride. "Unless you want to figure it out first hand, I suggest you keep running."
Brady nodded and looked up and down the street. Caitlin rubbed her arms, breath fogging in front of her face as she waited for the young boy to gather his bearings and figure out which way to go. The coldness of the ground seeped into her bones as she bounced up and down on her toes. Anything to get warm. She had hoped the quick escape from STAR Labs would've done that.
Once Oliver and Roy had gone out to fight Stratos, Harley, Deadshot, and Breathtaker, she, Felicity, Brady, and Diggle continued to scan the area the others were being held in, watching the outside world on the computer monitors. Central City had gone nuts as soon as they heard what Breathtaker had to say, as soon as Stratos, Harley, and Deadshot had attacked. The city was in a state of emergency, people trying to evacuate as quickly as they could by any means they could, others running through the streets taking advantage of the chaos and confusion to loot stores and commit as much crime as possible. Once they got the view of Roy and Stratos tumbling off the roof, Diggle immediately went into action.
"You guys go get to the others," he declared. Pulling up the bottom of his shirt, he whipped out a handgun and cocked it. The loud noise inside such an expansive floor caused Caitlin and Brady to jump. In Starling City they used guns as well as their weapons, in Central City; they used science and every means necessary to keep from hurting anyone enough so that Barry could capture them.
This isn't the same Central City anymore, Caitlin reminded herself as she watched Diggle head towards the door. "Roy and Oliver are going to need my help and with no one to protect you in case someone comes looking for Harrison, you got to get out of here."
"Wait!" Felicity got to her feet and went over to Diggle, placing her hand on his arm. "You can't do this, Dig. You don't know what they can do. You've seen what Stratos has just managed. And that Harley chick has a freaking mallet! I know this isn't Looney Tunes, but things are crazy out there!"
Diggle pushed Felicity's hand away, giving her a stern look before turning to Brady. "Make sure the two of them are safe." Brady nodded in earnest and the man turned back to Felicity, who appeared to be wrapping her mind around words that would convince him to stay. "I'll be okay. So will Oliver and Roy. I'll make sure of that. But I can't keep you here in good conscience knowing you'll be in danger." The young woman nodded and took a step back before Diggle turned on his heel and hurried out of the room.
Caitlin watched the computer monitors for another moment, jumping when she spotted a car go flying through the air—from the work of Stratos or another metahuman, she didn't know—and crash to the ground, taking out innocent bystanders. She closed her eyes, turning away, suddenly feeling her blood run cold. Then she felt Brady's warm hand on her wrist and the three turned and raced out of STAR Labs, through the back entrance.
And they had been running. Running through the streets filled with people trying to get out of Central City, those who broke glass store fronts and surged inside. Others running down the street with their treasures in their arms, crisscrossing against the street as they went. The three continued to run as long as they could.
Despite all that running, with still a few more blocks to go, she was still really cold. Looking over at Brady and Felicity, her eyebrows furrowed together when she noticed she was the only one bobbing up and down, rubbing her arms, her breath in her face. It wasn't until then she notice she felt a light surge of warmth when Brady had grabbed onto her wrist.
"What are we going to do when we get there?" Felicity asked. "They're going to know we're coming."
"If we're lucky, they're waiting for us," Brad said mysteriously. He turned on his heel. "It's not much further. C'mon."
"Felicity's right," Caitlin stopped him in his tracks once more. "What are we going to do when we get there? We have to have some sort of plan. We can't just run in and expect them to take us to Barry and Cade and bring them back out with just a hello and goodbye wave."
"And we can't just sit here waiting to be captured," Brady pointed out. "You just have to believe that Barry and my Mom will be able to do something that'll get them back out of there, until we can get Oliver and Roy and Diggle to help us out. They'll know where we are."
Brady turned on his heel once more and led the two girls down the street. Felicity and Caitlin ran side by side, following the young boy until they reached the waterside of Central City where large warehouses loomed in front of them. Those warehouses had been used in large capacities to create steel during the industrial era and when the city boomed economically, the warehouses fell by the wayside as office jobs and business boomed. Now the waterside warehouses were used as smuggling ports, or as she had heard.
Plaintively, it was a good place to hide out. Especially as there was numerous underground passages that had been created and used over the years. The three went towards the warehouse, and only made it a few steps towards the door before it was opened and Shrapnel walked out, holding onto a control box.
"I see you decided to turn yourselves in," he remarked. "Which is just as well, this place is wired with hundreds of pounds of explosives. One false move and the entire place and the neighboring buildings skyrocket."
Brady held up his hands and, confused, Caitlin and Felicity did the same. The two girls exchanged glances and raised their hands above their heads as well. Shrapnel moved around to the back of the three and shoved Felicity hard, leading them into the building. Soon they were in the same room Cisco, Brady, Cadence, and Harrison were being held in. Their hands were tied and they were lined up around the other captives. Caitlin flipped her hair out of her face and looked at the Suicide Squad and Assassination Bureau as they stood in a semi-circle around the group. She started when she spotted Bette, who turned away as soon as she caught Caitlin's eye.
"Now that we have them here, now that they know everything, we should just get it over with," Incognito declared. He lifted his chin, staring hard at their captives. "No need to make them suffer. Kill them all one by one." He reached behind him and pulled out a pistol, pointing it towards Barry. The speedy metahuman stared back at him, then his eyes widened when he saw Incognito's body slowly transform until Joe West was standing in front of him. "Does this look familiar to you?" He asked, Joe's voice coming out of his mouth.
"What did you do to him?" Barry yelled.
"Relax, we haven't done anything to them yet," Shrapnel said, almost lazily. "We won't need to until Breathtaker gets back. By now, the entire city has heard his message. How the metahumans and humans should be living together in harmony."
"Don't listen to him!" Felicity called, voice shaking slightly. "They're trying to turn the city against Harrison Wells. They're trying to blame this all on him; they want to take over the city!"
"I say we get rid of her first," Bronze Tiger murmured, bringing a hand up and rubbing his forehead. "I remember her now. That incessant talking never stops." He lifted his claw covered hand and walked over to Harrison. He reached out a hand and grabbed onto the man's shirt and lifted his claw to the man's neck. "I'll kill her and the kid after I kill him."
"No!" Cisco cried. "You can't do that."
"Can't we?" Leah smirked at him. "Don't you know he was who we were after? The whole reason Brigade over there has been working with you guys was to help us get to The Flash and then get to Wells. I'm guessing you don't know the whole story behind this little arrangement. You see, Brigade and Wells have known each other for a long time. As a matter of fact, I would say that he's the one that made her into what she is today. A metahuman." She crossed her arms, shrugging. "Who knew that those parents were right when they said that vaccinating their kids could have some dire consequences?"
Caitlin's eyes widened slightly as she looked over to the fire metahuman. Her head rose slowly, watching the illusionist metahuman, a mimicking expression of shock and disbelief on her face as that of Caitlin's. Oliver was telling the truth? She thought before turning her attention to Harrison. He was looking back at her, studying her expression. What does he have to do with her being a metahuman?
"You see, we've been following Harrison Wells' career as closely as possible, we've read his book too," Shrapnel explained. "It's a really great read. Very informative. It let us know everything we already thought about Wells and more, that he had a lot of power over this city. And still does. And we want that power. So we're turning Central City against him for the destruction going on, revealing the existence of metahumans and telling others how much Wells wanted to keep it a secret, keeping all of the residents in danger. Once the city goes against him, once there's no more Wells, the Suicide Squad and Assassination Bureau will take over." He turned to Cadence and smiled. "And it's all thanks to Brigade over there, all because of her special relationship with Wells, so to speak."
Caitlin looked back and forth between Cadence, Harrison—who continued to look at her—and Bronze Tiger, who held onto the man, gently moving the tip of his claws against Well's neck. She felt her breath catch in her throat, suddenly very warm once more.
"If she hadn't tried to betray us, if she hadn't had become so goody-goody and become friends with this these people…going against Breathtaker…" Leah shrugged once more. "Well, payback's a bitch." She waved a hand. "Say goodbye."
Bronze Tiger brought his hand high over his head, his other hand tightening around Harrison's shirt collar lest the older man tried to get away. Felicity, Brady, Barry, Cisco, and Cadence all made sounds of protest but it was Caitlin's cry that stopped him.
"No! You can't!" She looked over at Harrison, and then at Cadence, then back to Bronze Tiger. "He's her father," she finally chocked out.
A/N: You might be confused on some things, especially as to why Brady, Caitlin, and Felicity went to get captured, all will be revealed soon. As you can see there were time jumps between some characters' scenes and now that most of them are together, as the story goes on, more will be explained.
I waited forever for the last portion of the chapter to be done forever and now it's all out in the open! I'll see you at the next chapter, thank you all for reviewing.
Cheers,
-Riles
