Previously on Flash and Angel:
Barry, Cait, Cisco and Alicia all followed Dick down the hallway to where Alicia and Dick remembered the time vault to be. Alicia felt her heart beating hard in her chest, and she felt her nausea building up in her stomach, that all-too familiar sickness. She felt Barry winding an arm around her as Dick opened up the time vault. When they walked in, they saw not only a Reverse Flash suit there, but also, the future article, the dreaded 2024 article that told Alicia her fate. Alicia felt herself starting to go pale and sweaty as Barry read about the part that described them losing a son in the future, about them being married, about Ollie being a godfather of their son, one of their twins, and Hal being a godfather of their daughter. They both proceeded to breathe hard, but Alicia felt her nausea getting worse. She felt her knees going weak and she proceeded to throw up right there in the time vault. Caitlin rushed to grab paper towels to clean the mess up as Barry rubbed his girlfriend's back, feeling shocked and sick as he tried to comfort her.
Time was frozen.
Barry's mind went red as he read the article out loud.
"Alicia Paloma Allen was attacked and stabbed in the abdomen by the Reverse Flash in her home, and had a severe blood clot. She was taken to S.T.A.R Labs by Superman, where she was fortunately saved by an emergency surgery performed by Dr. Caitlin Snow. In the process, she had lost her baby boy whom she was four and a half months pregnant with, her third child as an addition to the couple's twins, with possibility of never being able to get pregnant again. Star City Mayor, Oliver Queen, a godfather of Mr. and Mrs. Allen's son, along with their mutually close family friend, Ferris Aircraft CEO, Harold Jordan, a godfather of their daughter, have come to visit Mrs. Allen and give her their condolences, who revealed to Mr. Jordan and Mr. Queen that she is the Angel. According to Mrs. Allen, when the Reverse Flash had stabbed her, it was infused with a power dampener to dull her healing factor and strength, and it had hit her uterus. She additionally says that in the process, Reverse Flash tried killing her son and daughter. Fortunately, the twins were rescued by Speedy and Arsenal, two members of the Titans, who got them to safety in the Hall of Justice. After the loss of her and her husband's son, Mrs. Allen, the Angel, and the Flash, went off to battle the Reverse Flash with the assistance of the Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Arsenal, Nightwing, Hawkgirl and the Atom atop two high speed oil trucks. After the epic street battle with the Reverse Flash, Central City's Scarlet Speedster and Guardian Angel vanish in an explosion of light. Where they are now during this Crisis, we do not know," Barry said, his face turning red with rage. He felt Alicia shaking next to him as Caitlin came back with the roll of paper towels, cleaning up the puddle of vomit. He realized right in that moment why Alicia and Dick didn't tell him about this; they were trying to protect him because during the time they'd found this room, he believed Wells was innocent.
"Oh my God," whispered Caitlin as she rubbed Alicia's back. She watched as Alicia's eyes flooded with tears and the other woman started to sob into her hands.
"Alicia," Barry whispered, bringing his girlfriend into his chest. He felt his own eyes starting to fill with tears. The idea, the mere thought, that they were going to lose a baby boy in the future, broke Barry's heart. He kissed the side of her head. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."
"He-He's g-gonna t-try to-to kill me!" Alicia sobbed out.
"Guys, when I fought the Reverse Flash at Christmas, he said we'd be fighting for centuries," Barry said.
"But, guys, this is so trippy, like Marty in the Polaroid trippy," whispered Cisco. "But I do have to say, I am really digging the brighter red suit, and white on the symbol? That's dope."
"But not as trippy as the name on the by-line," said Dick. "It's Iris West-Thawne; Iris marries Eddie."
"That doesn't change the fact that we lose a baby," Alicia said, brushing tears out of her eyes.
"But, aside from that, at least you guys are married. Mazel tov?" Cisco asked.
"Hebrew, ancient language of the Jewish people," a voice said.
"It's Gideon," whispered Alicia, starting to stand up.
"Who?" asked Cisco.
"An AI," Dick explained as the very image came up in front of them.
"Good evening, Barry Allen," Gideon said.
"Uh, hi, you know who I am?" asked Barry.
"Of course; Barry Allen, director of CCPD, CSI division, married to Lieutenant Alicia Galloway," said Gideon. "Also known as the Flash, founder member of the Justice League of America: a group of heroes and heroines intending on protecting every city in the United States, founded by the Green Arrow, the Black Canary, the Flash, the Angel, the Green Lantern, Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Vibe, Mr. Terrific, Firestorm, the White Canary, Star Sapphire, the Atom, Vixen, and Wild Dog. Others include Batman, Ragman, Superman, Hawkgirl, Gypsy, Blue Beetle, Citizen Steel, Spartan, Wildcat, Shazam, Wonder Woman, Black Lightning, Dr. Fate, Zatanna, Red Tornado, and the Ray."
"Wait, so you know Dr. Wells?" asked Barry.
"Of course," Gideon said.
"Do you know who he really is?" asked Barry.
"I don't understand the question," Gideon said.
"I mean, what does he want from me? Why did he come here?" Barry asked.
"To kill you," Gideon said bluntly, "and your wife," she added.
"Why?" Barry asked. "Why did he kill Nora Allen?"
"Because he was angry," Gideon said.
"Uh guys, Wells is on his way up here," Cisco said.
"How do you know that?" Dick asked him.
"I installed a tracker on his wheelchair, which if we're wrong about him and he is paralyzed I'm going to hell for that one," said Cisco. "He's on B level he's coming this way."
"Why was he angry?" asked Barry.
"That you escaped," said Gideon.
"But what does he want from us?" asked Alicia.
"For you to become the Flash and the Angel," Gideon explained.
"Maybe that's why Dr. Wells allowed the particle accelerator to explode, so that you two can become the Flash and the Angel," said Dick.
"Why, but for what reason?" asked Alicia, tears still in her eyes.
"Guys he's in the corridor," said Caitlin.
"Gideon, please don't tell Dr. Wells that we were here!" Alicia begged.
"Of course, I will accept any command given to me by you," said Gideon.
"Why would you accept her commands?" asked Barry.
"Because, you, her husband, created me," said Gideon. Barry instantly rushed all of them out of the time vault and to Joe's house immediately. They immediately got Alicia sitting down on the couch, Caitlin going off to the kitchen to get them all some dinner. Caitlin found a box of pasta and proceeded to put it on the stove. She also heated up some water so she could make Alicia some tea. When she returned, she saw Alicia still crying her eyes out, using tissues to try wiping her face.
"Pasta's on the stove," Caitlin said.
"I don't even want to eat right now," Alicia said wiping her face as Dick and Barry rubbed her back.
"Come on Alicia, you gotta eat," Dick said. "You need to eat something.
Alicia shook her head. "No, no, Dick, ever since after Christmas I couldn't even wrap my head around this. Every time I think about that article, it just validates what's going to happen!"
"And you've been holding all this in this whole time?" Barry asked her.
"I couldn't bring myself to say, that in a future, I'm going to lose a baby!" Alicia said, holding the sides of her head. "How do you think I thought about it the first time I saw it? And then Captain Cold and Heat Wave got in the picture, and then I was called to Starling City by my sister! I just felt it was better left unspoken."
"Next time something like this happens, you tell me, alright?" Barry asked her, kissing her forehead.
"Okay," Alicia promised.
"We should call Joe and tell him and Eddie to get over here," said Cisco.
"I agree completely," said Dick with a nod. He watched as Barry texted Joe. Caitlin went to the kitchen to put a timer on the pasta in the boiling water, and poured Alicia a cup of green tea.
"Thanks, Caitlin," Alicia whispered, sipping at the hot tea. Barry kissed the side of her head again. Five minutes later, Joe and Eddie were walking into the house. That was when Alicia, Caitlin, Dick, Cisco and Barry started to explain to Joe everything.
"What?" Joe asked. "For five very smart people that was really stupid. What if Wells caught you in that-that –?"
"Time vault," said Dick.
Joe nodded.
"Okay, I know we've seen a lot this past year, but to actually travel in time?" Eddie asked.
"We did it," said Barry. "I mean, Alicia and I will do it, one day."
"I don't follow," said Eddie.
"What he means is, the night his mother was murdered, one of the speedsters that night in Barry's house was Barry; Alicia was there too. That means one day in the future, Barry and Alicia will go back in time to that night," said Cisco.
"No, we mean, we've already time traveled by accident," said Alicia. "We were trying to stop a tsunami from hitting the city."
"When was that?" Caitlin asked, going off to the kitchen to start serving up the pasta.
"A few weeks ago," said Barry. "It was right around the time you started getting those dreams," he said to Cisco.
"You mean the nightmares I have where Wells uses his super speeding hand to shred apart my heart, those?" asked Cisco.
"We have a theory," said Alicia, accepting the plate of pasta with vodka sauce from Caitlin. "What if they're not dreams, but memories? What if in that timeline, Cisco found out Wells was the Reverse Flash, but when Barry and I time traveled a day back, that event never happened?"
"But if it never happened how can Cisco remember it?" asked Dick.
"I don't know. I don't know, but what's important is, he does," said Barry. "Guys I have a really bad idea," he added.
"I think I know what you're thinking," Alicia said, continuing to wipe her tears from her eyes as she attempted to swallow down her pasta. "I feel so sick right now I can't even eat." She set her plate down on the coffee table. Caitlin rubbed circles into Alicia's lower back in a comforting, motherly way. "I just – the idea that in the future I lose a baby, I can't help but worry."
"Well we need to figure out how to access Cisco's memory," Barry said. "Joe, Joe, did you hear me?" he asked when he saw Joe looked out of it.
"No, no, what did you say?"
"We need to access Cisco's memory; somewhere in his subconscious is the key," Barry said.
"The key to what, exactly?" Eddie asked.
"Getting my father out of prison," Barry said.
"And how are we going to do that?" asked Caitlin.
"We are going to get Dr. Wells to confess to killing my mom," Barry said.
"Well, there is one thing that we can try," said Caitlin.
Later that evening, Barry and Alicia found themselves getting ready for bed slowly, sluggishly. Alicia, still feeling sick over the article, wanted to take a bubble bath using gingerbread man Philosophy soap. Barry decided on joining her. Even though they weren't sleeping together, Barry offered to get in the bath with Alicia, knowing how stressed out and sick she was feeling. Barry kissed her shoulder as they indulged in the clean-smelling bath water. Alicia leaned back into Barry's bare chest.
"Alicia, I can feel how stressed you are," Barry whispered, rubbing her neck. "I hate seeing you like this, sweetheart."
Alicia felt herself starting to cry again. "Barry, I-I –"
"Shhh," Barry shushed her. "Shhhh. Listen to me; I won't allow anything hurt you. Okay? Just because you have super strength, doesn't mean that you are indestructible. I will always be here for you, no matter what. I promised Roy I would take care of you, and I meant that."
"Yeah, I know," Alicia whispered tearfully. Barry kissed the back of her head.
"Tonight, I just want you to try and sleep, honey," Barry whispered.
"I don't know if I can sleep, baby," Alicia whispered.
"Shh, shh, I know. How about I stay with you tonight? Okay?" Barry whispered his movements gentle.
Alicia nodded. Even though she did have old-fashioned views about sex, she trusted Barry and loved him. "Okay," she whispered, allowing herself to lean in deeper to her boyfriend as he kissed her cheek. He wrapped both arms around her. When the bath started getting cold, Alicia allowed Barry to help her out of the bath and get her dressed into some shorts and a t-shirt. Barry got dressed and lifted Alicia into his arms, carrying her to her bed. He pushed the throw pillows off of the bed and pulled the blankets back on the bed. Alicia just lied down and allowed herself to lean into Barry, who stroked her hair.
"I love you, alright?" Barry whispered to her comfortingly. "I love you, forever and always." He kissed her on the forehead, before capturing her lips in the gentlest of kisses.
"Barry," Alicia whispered. "I just-I'm scared."
"I know; I'm scared too, but it's okay. We are going to get Wells to confess to killing my mother, we will get him locked up, and I will not let him touch you, baby," Barry whispered.
"You promise?" Alicia asked.
"Cross my heart until the day I die," Barry whispered, kissing her lips again. "Come on, let's try to sleep, sweetie."
Alicia snuggled deeply into Barry's chest, finding it easier to fall asleep. Barry rubbed her back as she fell asleep in his arms.
The next evening, Alicia and Barry found themselves at the precinct. Alicia, Caitlin and Cisco were up in Barry's lab waiting on him. Alicia had informed Barry that Caitlin had made a special pair of goggles to help Cisco with lucid dreaming, so when Alicia told Barry, he went over to the precinct right away.
"Allen, the Owens case," Singh barked his usual loud bark. "I'm still waiting on the fiber analysis and the ballistics report. Are you on vacation or something?"
"No, I'm sorry, I-I've just been distracted by another case – which is no excuse I just –" Barry started to say.
"Okay, just get me the reports when you can there's no rush," Singh said.
"Alright," Barry said. "Captain, is everything okay?" This wasn't the same Captain Singh that he was used to.
"Uh, yeah, since Rob and I have been planning the wedding, between the florists and the hundreds of kinds of cake filling and who can sit next to who," said Captain Singh. He placed a hand onto Barry's shoulder. "Never get married, Allen." Barry nodded, and unexpectedly ran into Iris.
"Oh hey, Iris," Barry said.
"Barry!" Iris said with a smile.
"It was just weird, Captain Singh was nice to me," Barry said.
"Well, he's in a good mood he's about to get married," Iris said brightly. That was when Eddie came up to them. Barry was happy the two of them had made up after their fight that things were okay between them. When Iris walked away, Eddie pulled out a box containing a ring.
"Wait, you're asking her?" Barry asked around a grin.
"Yeah, I am. I got Joe's blessing he's on board," Eddie said with a grin.
"That's awesome!" Barry said around a genuine smile. "Come on we've gotta get up to the lab right now. Caitlin's going to be trying the lucid dreaming with Cisco." Barry and Eddie climbed the stairs up to Barry's crime lab to find Caitlin already setting up her medical supplies.
"Okay, can we go over this one more time?" asked Cisco.
"Yes, you put the goggles on, fall asleep and start dreaming. Not that hard," Dick said.
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I die in this dream. Does that mean I die in real life is the Inception or Dreamscape?" Cisco asked.
"Here, drink this." Joe handed Cisco a glass of hot milk.
"What am I five?" Cisco asked before drinking the milk.
"You're gonna be fine, Cisco," Alicia said around a reassuring smile.
"Alright," Caitlin said, already getting Cisco settled into a chair and hooking him up to the machines to monitor his vitals. "The goggles are set at a low-level delta wave which should help you fall asleep." She turned the glasses on.
"Okay, I gotta warn you though. . . it normally takes me a long time. . . I mean. . . I'm not saying I'm. . . an insomniac. . . or. . ." Cisco's voice trailed off as he fell asleep.
"Ahh, so that's how you get him to shut up," Eddie said with a smile.
"Hey, Cisco? Can you hear me? You're dreaming, bud," Barry said.
"Whoa, this is mad freaky!" Cisco said.
"Okay, where are you? What is 'dream you' doing?" Dick asked him.
"I'm in the cortex," Cisco said. "I mean, I know I am just dreaming that I am in the cortex, but. . . it feels so real. . . Caitlin's here. I asked her to take Wells to Jitters. . ."
"Why do you want Wells out of the lab?" asked Alicia, even though she already knew, since she lived that previous timeline.
"I think he may have tempered with my work. . . I need to check. . . Dick's here with me. . . but he's leaving. Apparently. . . there's an emergency. . . so I. . . am walking to the bunker," Cisco said. He suddenly paused. "Oh my God, I love this shirt. . . I thought the dryer ate it."
Dick and Joe both chuckled softly. Eddie smiled; same old Cisco.
"Focus Cisco," Alicia urged.
"Okay. . ." Cisco's voice trailed off. "I'm checking the containment system. . . wait. . . the super capacitors. . . they're all still fully charged. . . there's no reason why the man in yellow should have escaped. . . oh my God. . . Wells is here. . ."
"Cisco, listen to me; it's just a dream, he cannot hurt you," Barry soothed.
"You better be right about that. . . wait. . . Eobard Thawne. . ." Cisco said.
"Wait, wait, Thawne; like my last name?" asked Eddie.
"Wait. . . Wells is talking. . . you killed Nora Allen. . ."
"Wait, Nora?" Barry asked. "What about my mom?"
"He's confessing. . ." Cisco was saying. "Oh God. . . he didn't wanna kill her. . . it was you, Barry. . . he was trying to kill you. . ."
Alicia felt the pit in her stomach drop.
Suddenly, that was when Cisco's heart monitor started to become erratic. It worried Caitlin.
"His blood pressure's two-hundred and his heart rate is one-forty-seven; guys he's losing higher brain function," said Caitlin worriedly.
"Cisco, you're gonna be okay. It's just a dream you're gonna be okay," Dick restated, trying to keep his friend calm.
"His hand – it's vibrating. . . he's gonna kill me!" Cisco said.
"Oh my God, he's gonna have a stroke!" Caitlin said.
"Well get him outta there!" Alicia shrieked.
"Help me!" Cisco called out.
"Cait, pull him out!" Eddie yelled anxiously.
"Help me please!" Cisco screamed.
"Cait, shut it down!" Barry yelled out, putting his hands on both of Cisco's shoulders, worried sick. Cisco let out a scream as Caitlin ripped the goggles off of his face.
"Oh God," Alicia whispered. "Oh thank Christ. Jesus, Moses, Bartholomew!" She ran a hand over her face as she went over to Cisco and hugged him from behind. "It's okay. . . it was just a dream. . . you're okay."
"Oh God. . . it felt so real," Cisco breathed out, catching his breath as Barry turned around, running his hands through his hair.
"Barry?" Eddie asked quietly.
"My mom. . . it was all my fault," said Barry. He had been the reason his mother had died; Dr. Wells hadn't intended on killing Nora, he was trying to kill an eleven-year-old Barry. However, that was when Barry's phone rang with an incoming call. "Hello?" he asked.
"Where are you?" Dr. Wells asked him.
"Dr. Wells?" Barry asked.
"Where are you and Alicia?" Dr. Wells asked.
"We're together; what's going on?"
"A fire; a huge fire erupted," Dr. Wells – no Eobard Thawne, said.
"Bradford Tower High-Rise," Wells said when Barry put him on speaker.
"I know that place; that's where Captain Singh's fiancé works," Dick said.
"We'll be there," Eddie added.
Alicia flew through the building, shattering the glass of the window of the twenty-first floor. She knew that she had to get as many people out of there as she could carry. She knew from experience that she could get at least three people out at a time, but, there was no way she could get every single person out of there by herself. Alicia lifted up the first three people that she could carry, and got them to safety outside. However, she turned to Barry. The fire was getting worse and worse, the smoke rising in the air. Alicia, while thankful for her lungs being able to rapidly regenerate, knew that she couldn't be in there too long.
"Dr. Wells, please, what do I do?" Barry asked, panicked. He felt sick that he had to take advice from this man right now; the man that murdered his mom. But at this point, he had no other choice but to rely on Wells.
"You create a vacuum by rotating your arms at super speed. That'll suck the air right out of the room," Wells said.
"It's making it worse!" Barry yelled after his first attempt at it.
"Barry, listen to me! You need to move your arms faster!" Wells shouted.
"I believe in you," Alicia told him gently, before getting a few more people out of the burning building. Alicia's words seemed to ignite some type of faith in Barry, because Alicia watched on in amazement as Barry created the wind funnel at super speed, and the smoke started to get sucked out. The fire proceeded to go out too. Alicia proceeded to help him out by flying farther up into the air, and she flew around in a circle at super speed in an effort to stop the fire. She was happy with the results, especially as she watched Captain Singh holding his fiancé, Rob, closely. Alicia let out a sigh, and she and Barry went off to take off their suits. They then went off to S.T.A.R Labs, needing to relax after the night that they had had. They were interrupted from their thoughts when Wells approached them.
"Mr. Allen," Dr. Wells said. "Tonight, at the fire, I saw hesitation. I saw you doubting yourself. Why is that?" he inquired.
"I don't know. I, uh, guess I was afraid I couldn't save everyone," said Barry, lying through his teeth.
"Right, but if there is one thing that I have learned in our experience of working together, Barry, is that the only thing standing between you and achieving every goal that you can achieve, is yourself," said Dr. Wells.
"Thank you, Dr. Wells," Barry said. "You know, I couldn't have done any of this without you."
"I feel the same way about you," Dr. Wells told him.
Alicia let out a sigh, going over to Barry and squeezing his fingers lightly. She pressed a kiss to his cheek, and they proceeded to head to Joe's house. When they got there, they explained everything to Joe.
"It's so strange; I mean, I look at him now, and I know he killed my mom and I know he sent my dad to jail, but I mean, sometimes he's so nice, and I actually like him," Barry admitted, feeling ashamed to admit it. "But you never did."
"No, I didn't," Joe said.
"Well, at least we know how to trap him," said Alicia from where she sat on the couch. "In Cisco's dream, he confessed to everything. If we can just recreate those conditions, he will do it again."
"Guys," Joe said. "Pulling confessions, taking down bad guys, Alicia, Dick and I are the cops we're the ones that are supposed to be doing this."
"Look, if we're gonna get him to confess, it has to be with someone that he truly trusts; someone he would genuinely let his guard down with; he thinks of Cisco as a son," Barry pointed out.
"Well, then we need to do a hell lot of a better job at protecting him than I did protecting the two of you," said Joe.
"Joe what are you talking about?" Alicia asked.
"This is all because of me!" Joe said.
"No, it's not!" Barry said.
"I never should've let Wells take you two from that hospital; if I didn't, none of this would have ever happened," Joe said.
"If you hadn't Alicia and I would have been dead for sure!" Barry said.
"But even then, I knew something was not right. Everything in my gut was telling me not to trust him, but I did, because I just wanted to see the both of you okay," Joe said.
"Joe, every bad thing that has happened to us started with Dr. Wells; now he's gonna pay for it," Alicia said. "We're going to make sure that he pays."
The next day, Alicia had the day off, so she decided to take it upon herself to train. She went off to her lab that Cisco had built for her, and she flew around on the track at super speed, pushing herself to go faster with Caitlin and Cisco monitoring her and her vitals. She flew around the track, feeling the wind smacking her cheeks, her long, jet-black hair flying. When Alicia decided that she was done with flight, happy to see that she was getting a lot faster, she moved onto the special weights that Cisco had designed for her. She could now life an eight-hundred pound weight; she was getting a lot stronger now. Alicia lifted her dumbbells, breathing deeply. She had taken up yoga recently due to her loving the discipline of it, plus, she needed something to relax her. Alicia felt her muscles growing the more she lifted her weights. Even though she wasn't bulky and still fairly lean, she was still incredibly strong. After a good few hours of training, of flying, doing yoga, and weight-lifting, as well as a run around her training area, Alicia decided that that was good enough. She grabbed a shower at S.T.A.R Labs and changed into her tight, ripped black jeans and a loose-fitted ivory button-up. Later on that afternoon, Alicia, Barry, Dick, Joe and Eddie found themselves down in the bunker, where the trap for the Reverse Flash was set up. When they all looked at it, they saw the hologram.
"So, Wells set up a fake showdown with a fake opponent?" asked Eddie.
"It was to make us believe that he wasn't the Reverse Flash," said Dick.
"This all just keeps getting crazier and crazier," said Eddie.
Caitlin then entered the bunker. "Okay, Dr. Wells is going to be at a lecture downtown, he won't be back until late tonight," she announced.
"Good," Alicia said with a nod.
"Besides, when Dr. Wells arrives, isn't that the part in your dream where –?" Barry started asking Cisco.
"Temple of Doom," Cisco replied. "Okay." He went over to the monitors in the bunker. "I originally designed the force-field to prevent a speedster from getting out. Now, it won't let one come in." Cisco walked into the containment system and turned it on. He nodded at Barry, who was going to be the test-guinea pig. Barry nodded and ran straight into the force field, crashing into the ground and hitting his head.
"Barry are you okay?" asked Caitlin, giving him a hand up.
"Yeah, at least we know it works," said Barry around an optimistic smile.
"Alright, well, as long as I am inside, Wells won't be able to get to me," Cisco said.
"And I will be in the cortex watching and recording everything that happens," said Caitlin.
"And Barry, Dick, Joe and I will all be on standby, hiding," Alicia said.
"Well where do you want me?" asked Eddie.
"Dr. Wells threatened Iris too," said Dick. "We need you to stay close to her tonight."
"I will always keep Iris safe," said Eddie around a nod. Barry and Alicia's phones rang with texts from Iris.
"Ahh, speaking of Iris, she wants to talk to the two of us," said Alicia. "We've gotta go."
A minute later, Alicia and Barry arrived at Barry's crime lab in the CCPD, where Iris requested to see the both of them.
"Hey, Iris," said Alicia.
"What's going on?" asked Barry.
"Look, I need the both of you to listen to me, and really listen to me," said Iris.
"Yeah, sure, we're all ears," Alicia said, sitting down.
"Okay, I mean, I know this is gonna sound crazy at first but, everything strange that's been going on in Central City, it all goes back to that night; the night that the particle accelerator exploded" Iris said around a wide smile. I have gone through every bit of information, every tip, every rumor, every strange sighting since I started my blog. Nothing predates the explosion. Whatever was released into the atmosphere that night, I think that it changed people, causing them to have powers. I think that the Burning Man worked there, and I think that that is how the Flash and the Angel got their powers too. So, what do you think?" She handed them a folder that contained all of the evidence that she had gathered.
"Well, Iris, that's a good theory, but, Barry and I were knocked out the night that the particle accelerator exploded, and we don't have any powers," said Alicia.
"Of course; I know," Iris said with a smile. "I mean, it's all so new I haven't even talked to Eddie about it yet."
"Well, are things better between you and Eddie?" asked Barry.
"Yeah, we're great now," Iris said.
"Well Iris, the both of us really need to get going, but we will read this over later. We'll get back to you," Barry said, before grabbing Alicia by the hand and dragging her out of the crime lab. They knew that Iris was getting closer to cracking their secret identities. It seemed that the longer they tried keeping Iris in the dark, the more she was finding out.
Later that evening, Alicia found herself crouched down behind the super compositors with Barry, Joe and Dick. The way they had everything set up was to the T. Alicia had her gun at the ready, hoping that she didn't have to use it. She was wearing the locket that Barry had gotten her for Christmas, as well as her signature lip color: Wine Not by Soap and Glory, her favorite. She took a deep breath as she heard Caitlin saying through the comms, "Here he comes."
Alicia felt herself starting to breathe hard as the sound of clapping filled the room. She watched from the corner of her dark blue eyes the image of Harrison Wells standing there.
"Hello, Cisco, you've been busy," Wells said. "You're incredibly clever, Cisco, I've always said it."
"You're him; the Reverse Flash," Cisco said shakily. Even though Joe, Dick and Alicia had their guns on them, he still felt scared to death. "Joe, Dick and Alicia were right this whole time."
"Good old Joe, Dick and Alicia," Wells said. "They had their doubts all along. Even from that first night in the hospital, Joe knew something wasn't right. Cops. . . as inconvenient as they will be in a hundred years."
"Come on, Cisco, we need a confession," Barry whispered pleadingly. Dick reached over and squeezed his shoulder.
"You killed Barry's mother; I want to know why," Cisco said, his voice a little stronger.
"It was never my intention to kill Nora; from my perspective she was already dead. It just happened sooner than it was supposed to," Wells said.
"No, no that's not a confession," whispered Alicia.
"You're not gonna get away with this," said Cisco.
"I'm not gonna get away with it?" asked Wells lightly. "Oh you're smart. You're smart, Cisco." Wells took a step into the containment system. "But you're not that smart." He raised his hand up, and Alicia jumped up, scared for Cisco's life. She fired three bullets right at Wells, not willing to risk it.
"NOOO!" Barry shouted. He ran forward at super speed, determined to catch the bullets before they could hit Wells. However, he couldn't catch the third one, because by the time the third one went into the containment system Barry was thrown off his feet and onto his back.
Caitlin ran into the room as Barry said. "He didn't confess!"
"Cisco, are you okay?" Dick asked.
"Yeah, I am never going to sleep ever again but yeah I'm okay," Cisco said, trembling in fear.
"He didn't –" Barry choked out, tears stinging his eyes. "My dad's gonna be in prison forever!"
"Barry I'm so sorry," Joe whispered. They had done everything they possibly could have done, and it led to nothing.
"Whoa!" Cisco shouted as the dead body of Wells suddenly transformed into the dead form of Hannibal Bates.
"Haha," a voice said to them through the comms. "I told you, I am always, one step ahead Flash. Allow me to introduce to you, Mr. Hannibal Bates, and his amazing ability to transform into anyone he touches. Of course, I knew it would come in handy I just wasn't expecting it to come in handy this soon." The voice belonged to Eobard Thawne, the devil himself.
"You used him!" Barry screamed angrily. "Like you've used all of us!"
"Well, he served a purpose," said Eobard. "Didn't take much convincing just the simple promise of his freedom."
"You ruined my life! All of our lives!" Barry yelled.
"We stood by you after everything that happened!" Caitlin cried out.
"I can see how this must be difficult for you to understand, but trust me, your lives are so much better now because of what I've done for you," Eobard taunted.
"You don't have to hide anymore!" Dick yelled angrily. "We know you're not Harrison Wells, just tell us who you are!"
"A confession will get you nowhere, Richard Grayson," Wells said. "AKA, Nightwing, Robin, Batman's prodigy and Bruce Wayne's adoptive son."
"You've seen who I am you've seen what I can do! I know what you wanted! You wanted to kill me! Kill me if you want I won't fight you! Just confess to what you did get my dad out of prison!" Barry pled. Alicia's heart broke as she listened to the desperation in his voice.
"I don't want to kill you, Barry, I need you. And Alicia too. And also, I did not anticipate. . . as difficult as these last few years have been, how much I have grown to love working with you. . . with all of you," Thawne said sickly.
"Then face us now!" Alicia dared.
"Oh, we will face each other again, very, very soon," Wells said.
"He's in the time vault!" Cisco yelled. And with that Alicia and Barry sped out of the room.
"LICIA! BARRY!" Dick shouted after them as Barry ran with Alicia in his arms to the time vault. However, they didn't see Eobard there, but they saw what was in there. Dozens of security footage from the past few months in there. Eobard had been spying on them, watching their every move from the time Barry was eleven years old. Alicia felt herself starting to breathe hard.
"Oh my God," whispered Alicia with realization. "Oh God, Iris!" She and Barry darted out of the time vault and saw everyone in the cortex.
"We have to find Iris!" Barry said shakily as he went for his suit.
"Wells, he's been watching all of us! He's got surveillance set up everywhere! Our homes, the lab at the police station, SCPD, the Arrowcave, Central City Picture News," Alicia explained. "Cisco, get us a location ping Iris' cell! I'm gonna go look now!" She changed into her suit at super speed and she flew out of the lab, however, she completely forgot to take off her necklace and her dark red lipstick, two trademarks of hers that made her Alicia Paloma Galloway, and not the Angel. Alicia scoured the city until she finally found Iris at the waterfront, alone. She landed down quickly.
"Hey, hey, are you all right?" Alicia demanded. She noticed the ring on Iris' finger; Eddie proposed.
"No!" Iris sobbed out, tears stinging her eyes. "The-The man in yellow he took Eddie he took my fiancé!"
"I promise I will get him back! Okay? I'm going to look for him!" Alicia took off into the night, leaving Iris standing there in realization that the Angel was her best friend, Detective Alicia Galloway, in disguise.
A/N:
Next up, the appearance of Gorilla Grodd, my favorite foe of the Flash. He is the cutest, most savage beast next to Dexx-Starr the Red Lantern! Oh how I cannot wait to start writing it! The reason why Grodd is my favorite, is because who would expect a gorilla to just start attacking people with telekinetic abilities? He attacks when he is least expected to, and that's why I love the Grodd character so much. I say many times I hate Grodd, but that's only when I am fighting him in Injustice 2, because he is a pain in the ass who thinks he is so special because's he's an ape.
Flashraven: So, Iris found out. Alicia really should have thought to change her lipstick color, because a detail as small as that can be a huge mistake. In the next chapter, she is going to piece everything together. After that, that should be the last two chapters or so up. I cannot wait for this story to be wrapped up. Plus, it's my birthday week! Cheers to 20 years!