The next morning Barry woke up and started to fidget around in the kitchen. Cat didn't have much in the way of consumables in her fridge, the speedster concluding that most of her eating was ordering out or simply going to a restaurant and having her fill there. He went out and bought materials for the usual pancake extravaganza that he would do every chance he got as long as they weren't pressed for time.
As he was cooking, he also started a pot of coffee which was soon filled as he was going about making breakfast. Kara soon joined him with her usual sleepy face. Her super smell alerted her that there was coffee and food.
"Morning, You do remember we're not in our apartment, right?" She looked at him and smiled
"Good morning to you too. Yes I know we`re at Cat's but that doesn't mean I can't cook breakfast and make coffee. She can always join if she wants. I made sure that I covered all the basics considering we eat like to whales" Barry chuckled while he continued to cook.
"Don't mind if I do. It's been a while since I had something homemade" A voice greeted them from the door of the kitchen "I only cook when Carter is home, the rest I just avoid it, or am too tired"
"You cook?" Kara looked at her rather strange
"Of course I do. I wouldn't give Carter fast food or pizza all day. That food doesn't have everything a growing boy needs to stay healthy" she replied giving the blonde a grin.
"Morning, Cat. Take a seat and help yourself. I don't know where you put the syrup for the pancakes though" Barry spoke as he was finishing the last batch.
"I don't have any. I always buy it when I know I'm going to use it" She replied and Barry was gone, coming back in a few minutes with an assortment of small syrup jars for everyone "Now I guess I do have it. You two have woven your abilities into your normal life just like I would consider clothing, huh?" She inquired
"Mostly Barry. I can't move that fast and it would require me to go out wearing my costume and so on. He however can go out in shorts and t shirt and he moves so fast that nobody can actually see what he's wearing" Kara chuckled.
"Don't lie, Kara. You use your speed for tasks as well. Sure mostly around the house but you still do. Especially speed changing" Barry grinned
"I guess it would be normal to do that considering that you have that available to you. Hell, I would probably kill for a speed change option" Cat started to laugh as she was eating some pancakes and made large eyes when the two finished their huge portions in the time it took her to eat half her plate. As they finished, they received a call
"Are you two all right? We saw what happened in National yesterday" Caitlin's voice could be heard from the other side of the line.
"Morning, Caitlin. Yeah, we're fine. Barry told me to sit outside while he cleared the flames. The bombs were laced with Kryptonite" Kara replied as Barry was washing the dishes that were already empty
"So they were a warning specifically for you and your cousin I take it. Do you have anywhere to stay at the moment?" Young Barry's voice could be heard through the speaker.
"Hey, bro. We're staying at Cat Grant's place. She found out what happened and offered us a room until we find something to replace the bombed apartment" older Barry chimed in
"Ah, I remember Cat, she came to the beach house on that day you FINALLY decided to ask Kara to marry you. I'm glad that you have somewhere to stay then. Did you think about buying a new house, apartment or … why not, maybe another penthouse?" young Barry chuckled from the other side of the line.
"We're thinking about it. Don't worry, we'll tell you how much money we need and when we need it. I know you told us you`d help" Older Barry chimed in.
"Good, that's what I wanted to remind you" his younger counterpart smiled. Cat was making signs toward Kara. She still didn't manage to get an interview with the two owners of STAR Labs and maybe this was the time to ask
"Hey, Barry, Caitlin. Cat wanted to know if you'd be interested in giving her an interview for the paper. After the merger it turns out that not many people know about you two and the work you do" Kara inquired the two that were on the other end of the line.
"You know we don't really do interviews, but hey, a friend of yours is a friend of ours. Have her come to the beach house when we're all gathered for something like an outing or BBQ and we can talk then" Caitlin chuckled
"All right. Take care of yourselves and don't worry. If we need anything we'll call. Thank you so much for that" The blonde alien expressed her gratitude
"Don't thank us for nothing. You know by now that you two are family. As for you, Kara, you'll be proper family soon enough. Take care yourselves. If the whole Kryptonite problem becomes too annoying, remember to call for backup" Young Barry closed the line and the two cleaned up after Cat was done eating as well.
"There you go. Now you can get your interview the next time we go to Central City" Barry smiled at Cat who seemed to be very happy about this predicament.
"Thank you. While many people in Central City already know them, here they are much of a mystery and shedding light on their activities would be beneficial for the image of the labs and everything they work for" Cat smiled at the blonde. Another phone was ringing, this time it was Barry's
"Are you all right, you two?" Oliver's voice was heard
"Nothing major. You know an explosion can't really put us down. Except when it's laced with liquid Kryptonite" Kara replied "Thank you for the concern thought, Ollie" She smiled
"I managed to track that symbol you wanted me to look into yesterday" Felicity's voice came from the other side of the line. "It seems to be a shell company that was set up by the mother company that Damien Darhk was head of. It seems to have ties all within the government since it has stayed a large military contractor beside Wayne Corp. We already know that guy's dead, but the person that is running it has not yet come to light. He is a recluse and rarely is seen in public"
"That has to be more than just simple coincidence" Barry voiced " Does it offer private security as well as other services?"
"Yes, but their system is closed, I don't know who they have for a contractor. Why? Do you suspect foul play?" the blonde inquired being curious about what the speedster was thinking.
"I do. I don't know if they are helping the aliens, or just making some money off of them, but in this case they can be treated as collaborators. It is entirely possible that the management of that corporation has been infiltrated and they are using it as a front for their operations. Can you dig deeper into that shell company?" Barry explained what was behind the way he presented the problem
"I can, but it will take a while. I'll call you back when we have more. By the way, do you have where to stay?" Felicity asked.
"We're staying at Cat's place for now, until we find something else that we like" Barry concluded
"Ok, you two take care. Felicity will get back to you with any new developments." Oliver's voice came from the phone.
"Thank you. Have a good day" Kara closed the line. Cat was sitting in the corner with eyes like saucers looking at the two "What?"
"What's that about aliens and collaborators? Is it something I should be worried about?" the media mogul asked as she was getting up to go get ready for work.
"Not as of yet. If you need to worry we'll tell you. For now there is nothing to indicate that there is an invasion imminent, although the fact that they are already here doesn't say anything to the contrary" Barry told her and she seemed to calm down somewhat.
"It's high time that we go to work. I'm pretty sure Chief Singer would want our statements about what happened last night" Kara realized. Barry nodded and in the span of less than 10 seconds the two were ready to go. Suits, weapons and badges were at their usual places. Cat smirked.
"See, I would love to be able to do that. Have a good day you two, it's time for me to get moving as well. We'll talk more tonight" She smiled and went up to her room to get ready.
The couple went out the door and raced toward the NCPD, stopping as usual in the alley behind the precinct. The moment they went in the desk sergeant told them to go talk to the chief, which they promptly did, going straight for his office and going inside.
"I see the ultimatum those terrorists had Cat play wasn't as truthful as they wanted us to think" Singer almost hissed looking at the two "I heard about your apartment. Is anything salvageable from inside? Not only your things but something that would be considered evidence?"
"More than likely not, sir. The bomb was different than the one in your apartment. Our contained highly combustible accelerant and something that I could only classify as Napalm. We were lucky the Flash was in the vicinity or else Kara and I would have had a really bad day. The trigger was the same as yours though, not when we were inside but when we opened the door" Barry explained what he had managed to see the day before while putting out the flames.
"Another really similar thing was that the bomb contained liquid Kryptonite. Yesterday we managed to analyze the substance and we came to the conclusion that there was no point in putting it inside a bomb. It doesn't help with the explosion power, nor with the reaction speed. The only thing that it does help with is keep Superwoman away" Kara continued her fiancée's thoughts.
"Why do you think that is? It's not like she would go into those crime scenes and investigate. She only helped to put out the fires and as far as I have seen when she came over to my apartment, she was not really affected by what was in there" Singer voiced his thoughts
"I think the whole point was that she doesn't go in. There might have been something she could see that could give them away." Barry interjected.
"I guess there is no point in sending you back to your apartment, to look for clues, is there?" The Chief looked at the couple who shook their heads
"The fire lasted only a little while, but the napalm compound was bad enough considering that even half our fridge melted. I doubt we'll be able to find anything useful. But if you want us to go … we'll go look" Kara replied.
"No, there's no point. If there was something lighter, and maybe part of your apartment would have been spared then I would have kept a little hope that there might be some evidence left. But if what you told me is true and only a few minutes of blaze completely melted part of your fridge, then more than likely all the evidence is calcified or melted. Keep at it. Ever since your apartment exploded there haven't been any other attempts, but something tells me since we aren't going to stop doing what they told us to, that the bombings will continue" Singer said with disdain on his face.
"We're all over it. One of our friends from the DEO is tracking some evidence in the military branch that we couldn't track ourselves from the NCPD. We're waiting on answers" Barry told him
"Which reminds me. Do you have anywhere else to live while your apartment is being renovated?" Singer was concerned that the two would be practically homeless until them.
"My brother from Central City has a vacation house where we could go. But it's there. At the moment, Cat Grant was gracious enough to offer us her guest room, since she is living alone in a mansion" Kara smiled
"Cat Grant offered you a place to stay? That is something that I wouldn't think she would do. However my opinion of her has very much improved ever since I met you two. You have a brother? You never mentioned him" Singer smiled
"Yes, I do have a brother. A twin brother actually that shares my name. He and his wife are the owners of STAR Labs from Central" Barry told him with a grin on his face.
"Wait, so … Barry and Caitlin Allen are related to you? I just thought it was a coincidence of names when I read the first time about them" Singer had a surprised look on his face.
"Yes, Barry Allen is my twin brother. Just don't let it get around, we both have our own separate lives. He's a billionaire and I'm a detective at the NCPD" Barry smiled.
"You do forget about the folio that you have with your brother. You know the one that basically makes you a millionaire" Kara just hit the nail on the head as Singer's face fell to the ground.
"You know I don't really care about that as long as I have you. Although I might have to go into that fund so we can get a new house. Which reminds me, Chief, if there is nothing to follow up on, we'd like to head out and maybe look at some homes. I don't think our apartment will be livable anywhere in the next few months" Barry looked at Singer who managed to get out of the shock of finding out that the two were basically millionaires.
"Sure. As usual if we get something you'll get a call to come help, but I do agree that getting a home is the larger priority here. I don't know how much time Cat will be able to host you two" Chief Singer told the couple
"That won't be a problem, she told us that we can stay there as long as we need. She was very welcoming when she found out our home blew up" Kara replied to the chief who motioned them away. The two exited the building and went back to Cat's. She had the foresight to leave one of the balconies on the upper floors open since she already knew that the two didn't really need a key.
"Where do we start then? In looking for a new house I mean" Barry looked at his fiancée while he was looking for something to eat.
"The best place would be to look on the internet. But since none of us has a laptop, I think we should go back to the precinct and look over there" Kara had a point, neither of them had anything that would help them with that. The two never needed tech in their lives except at work. If anything they wanted to keep their work and home life separate.
"We should be able to find something. We can always make notes and call the agents. Since we don't know when we will be recalled to work, it would be prudent to just go and see the houses whenever the agent has time" Barry replied to her while also figuring out that there was nothing to eat in the fridge. "Come on. Let's get something to eat and then we should go back to the precinct to start our search. There's nothing to eat here at the moment and I'm not in the mood to cook. We would lose some time if I decided to do that"
"All right. Donuts it is then. Let's go" the blonde smiled at the speedster as they both left the house and went straight to their favorite donut shop. As soon as they finished eating they returned to the precinct. The chief saw them and asked what they were doing back starting to laugh when the couple told him that they didn't have any sort of computer at home to look for houses or to contact agents so they had to do that from work. He soon stopped however realizing that their house had been torched in a bombing and it would have made sense that they would have nothing of the sort. The two went up to the lab and started looking at houses.
"There doesn't seem to be much in the way of apartment vacancies in this city, huh?" Barry looked a bit disappointed considering after the search he did there were only 2 places that were open to be bought.
"Not so much. National has always had an apartment issue. Back when I got mine, I searched for like 5 months to get it and waited another 2 for the bidding on it to finish. That was a real pain in the ass" Kara made a grimace remembering the crappy times she went through that time.
"It seems that there are more houses available. Let me look into those" The speedster replied while changing the search parameters. Much to his dismay the houses that were open were either too small or too far away from the city to be of any use. She detected the annoyance coming off of him
"Nothing in that category either?" Kara asked
"There are a few, but some are even smaller than our apartment. Look at this, two bedroom home in the suburbs, no back yard and nothing else that comes with it. While I don't have an issue with the size, the suburbs would mean that we are quite a ways away from the city. With our speed we'd be better off living in Central" the speedster told his fiancée.
"Keep searching I guess. We will have to get something eventually" the blonde alien smiled at him and he instantly calmed down seeing
"Maybe it's time that we splurge on something way bigger. I didn't even dare to look at the other things except small houses and apartments. Since Caitlin and Barry already told us that there would be no problems with money … maybe we should just take the plunge" The speedster replied, awaiting for her take on what he had said.
"I'm not the person that would need something like that. But I guess everyone is right, we will have children of our own one day and they should have space to run in. Hopefully with not too many walls since I suspect we'll be throwing most of our paychecks on patching them up" Kara replied truthfully to his inquiry
"There is a caveat to that. I would look for a penthouse, but imagine what would happen if our child goes through a wall that's 30 stories up. He might not even have invulnerability since we have no idea which powers he will have and which he won't. I think best case would be for us to buy a large house somewhere. At least if he has my regeneration capabilities, falling down from 2-3 floors up won't mean much. While 30 is quite a lot. I don't think even I would come out unscathed out of something like that" Barry reasoned. Kara saw that he had thought that through quite a lot, something that she always loved in the speedster. His planning capabilities got them out of trouble numerous times, or even avoided problems all together.
"I agree with you. A house it is then. Don't limit the number of rooms, we should at least get an idea of what we're dealing with and what are the prices" She responded and came up behind him putting her hands on his chest and her head on his shoulder, watching what results would come up herself.
"Ok. These are what I found. 32 houses in the National City area. All with 3+ rooms" He pointed at the screen
"Eliminate the ones that are in the suburbs. A 5 km radius in the city should be enough" She replied and the speedster did as he was told. But as soon as he applied the filter, they both realized that the houses they were looking for were all mostly mansions in the richest district there was in town "Great, so if we want an apartment in town we only have small ones, and a normal sized house or even an above average one are all in the suburbs. That's annoying as hell"
"That's if we don't take into account that we need at least a little bit of space around the house for the children to play in. If I look for that" Barry pressed some buttons and added the additional requirements "All the results boil down to these three houses. All in the same neighborhood and all with pretty steep prices"
"Well price isn't a problem, and even if it's a big house we can keep it clean and tidy with our speed. I think we should go see them. Wait, why does this address seem familiar to me?" she pointed at one of the large abodes they were looking at. The speedster took the coordinates and punched up some maps.
"Because it's the house right next to where Cat lives right now. That would be something, us being neighbors" Barry started to chuckle at the idea of them living next to the media mogul.
"If this is all we have, we should talk to the real estate agent and go see them as soon as possible. I don't think Cat minds us staying over that much, but I would rather have my own place to live" Kara looked at Barry and then corrected herself "Our own place to live"
"All right, I searched, you call to setup the appointments" the speedster grinned while he flashed out. It was already lunch and he came back a few minutes later with a few dozen pot stickers and some donuts which he deposited on one of the tables. While he was gone, Kara phoned the real estate agency and set up meeting for the three houses. They were large so they had to set a meeting for today and the last house that was next to Cat they would see the next day.
"Done. We're going to see two of them today, or better said in about 2 hours. The last one, the one that is near Cat, we'll see tomorrow morning. How's that?" Kara asked her fiancée as they were both munching on food.
"Fine. So we have to finish eating and head out" Barry replied as he was finishing a box of donuts. After the two ate and spent a little time resting, since eating was a very tiring sport for people that were gulping down more than 5 times to food that a normal human being would, they started on foot, taking a little stroll up to the first house which Kara had set them up to see. At the entrance, they saw a woman waiting for them.
"Good day, Are you Elisabeth?" Kara sked politely
"Yes, you two must be Barry and Kara Allen" The woman offered a hand. The speedster was a bit taken aback by the fact that the woman had addressed them as such
"That's how you introduced us?" He looked at the alien blonde and smirked
"No I did not, but I did say that my name was Kara and the person that was coming with me would be Barry Allen. I'm guessing from that she presumed we were married" Kara replied to him and the turned to the sales agent "We will be that, after a while" She gave her a pleasant smile. The woman nodded seeing the large ring on her finger and invited them in.
As she started to present the property the two decided to talk amongst themselves. So she couldn't hear.
"The land around the house seems a bit small don't you think? It only took us like a minute to get to the house" Kara discussed with him
"That could just be because it's closer on this side rather than on the back. We'll see when we get to the yard. Do me a favor though, scan the structure. Some of these old houses have just been repainted but underneath they are wrecks" Barry replied to her and she realized that he was right. Even if the house had been renovated, her vision would give her more than enough information about the status of the structure.
The building was imposing, but also way too large. With its 32 rooms, not counting utility closets, bathrooms and other types, it was enormous.
"Here's the deal. Unless we plan to have 16 kids, this house is way too large for what we need" Barry told his fiancée as the two were walking behind the agent.
"Maybe I do want to have 16 kids, who are you to judge?" Kara replied with a smirk and Barry was left speechless and with a face that not only denoted surprise but also terror.
"I hope you`re kidding. Even three kids with our powers would be way too much to handle. 15 of them would mean that we have to call everyone, Clark, Oliver, Felicity, Barry and Caitlin, Cisco and Bette, Firestorm and the time cops and even then, most of them are humans. Imagine the hospital bills for the poor things" Barry replied with his face still frozen from her joke.
"Of course I'm kidding, your dork. While that might yet happen" she winked leaving him to wonder "This house isn't suitable. I took a glance at the superstructure and underneath. There are cracks everywhere that were covered up with fresh paint and patched in. There are a few places that if I just punch a wall, this whole thing could come down on itself. With kids that might go through walls, I don't think this is safe enough. One wrong move and the whole thing might fall down on our heads. I might be invulnerable, but you are not" She replied, seriously this time.
"This isn't the one then. We should stop her until it takes too much time for the tour. Although the garden looks beautiful" Barry pointed at the back yard who was carefully crafted into a garden that was extending up to the edges of the property
"Excuse me, Elisabeth? Can we go see the other house now?" Kara interjected into the sales person's monologue
"Did you find something you didn't like at this location?" she asked surprised considering the two were extremely silent while she talked.
"Not so much as didn't like, but the sheer size of this place is a bit overwhelming. It's just for us and whatever family will come after we get married. I sincerely doubt that there will be any circumstance in which we would need so many rooms. Buying a house just so that more than half of it is permanently empty is not how you buy a house" Barry replied quite nonchalantly, but still courteous
"I understand. I would say so myself, it is a bit large for a family of two. Come on, the other house is further down the street" She smiled as they exited the property and started to walk slowly toward the next house. "If you don't mind me asking, is there any relation between yourself and the owners of STAR Labs?"
"Yes, Barry Allen is my twin brother. But why would that interest you, Elisabeth?" Barry looked at the agent quite creepily
"Just curious, Mr. Allen. Since you two have the same name, I thought it was either a coincidence or he decided to have someone else on the side except his wife. I see now that I was mistaken" Elisabeth smiled at the two
"It happens a lot. Even if their own town, having two people with the same name is confusing for everyone. Don't worry about it. Also, I would suggest you don't ask questions that impede in people's lives. Even if he was that Barry Allen, it would be none of your business what he does" Kara replied as they were approaching a large gate which the agent opened with a set of keys that she had on her person. The speedster was smiling, he knew Kara had some sass to her when it came to certain issues, but it was the first time that he saw it being applied to someone.
"Of course, you are correct. Just curious I guess. This is the second location. The house is smaller and the patch of land is larger than the first" Elisabeth started her monologue again as she was guiding them through the front gardens to reach the house. The moment they did, Kara started to x ray the building.
"It seems fine to me, 16 rooms, two levels with 5 bathrooms and dependences, a kitchen and two living areas. It will be way more than we would need, but since our friends might drop by, the extra room would be welcomed" Barry started to discuss what he was hearing from the real estate agent.
"There is just one slight problem. The basement is flooded, that includes everything that the house needs to maintain its temperature as well as a few other electrical key points. I would say that's fine, since we can take out the water in a flash" He grinned at the statement "Except the ground water is really high here. There is a spring straight to the east of the house that feeds directly into the basement" Kara told him as they were looking around
"You mean no matter how much water we pull from the basement it will almost always fill up again?" the speedster looked at her rather saddened.
"Precisely. Unless we pay to dig the spring out and capture it and use it for water which again would be pretty easy work just for us, but since we have to make sure it's done by a construction team, which might take a few weeks, I would rather not have the hassle. I'm not really picky about it, but the water that still is in the basement has begun to eat away at the support structure of the house as well" the blonde alien looked closer and described what she was seeing.
"So the more we wait, the more damage it will do. That doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Let's call it a day then. We can go tomorrow and check out the other house and then we can decide. Although, seeing what we have seen, the only real hope we have is that the other one is better than these two" Barry replied and then turned toward Elisabeth "Mam, I think we have seen enough"
"Do you want to buy it or skip?" the woman inquired looking hopeful at the two
"Skip. There are some things that worry us" Kara replied.
"What would those be, Mrs. Allen?" Elisabeth was waiting for a few valid reasons.
"I would suggest checking the basement of the house. It's flooded. Not only that but the water that has been sitting there ever since the last owner sold it would have more than likely corroded and eaten away at the structure. I suggest if you really want to sell this property that the water is taken out and the source is either plugged or rerouted toward something akin to a pond or a small ornamental lake" The blonde alien told her leaving her with a surprised face. She went immediately to check what she had heard and came back with a sad look on her face.
"You`re right. The basement is flooded. How did you know?" she asked surprised.
"I have very good ears. Ever since we came here I heard water running and since there weren't any sort of springs or ponds nearby the only logical explanation was that the basement was either filling up with water or being flooded" Barry explained in a manner that would not be strange to the woman in front of them, thus helping Kara avoid questions that would have been annoying.
"It's getting late. See you tomorrow for the third and final house?" She asked with a smile on her face.
"Yes, 8 AM sharp at the address you told us" Barry confirmed the meeting as they were coming out from the property and the woman closed the gate once more. She got into her car and drove away as the two sped directly into Cat's house. It was pretty late, the visiting had taken way more than they anticipated. The media mogul was waiting for them in the back yard with her usual coffee and reading something on her tablet.
"Did you find anything? I thought you two would start house hunting by now" She smirked taking a sip of hot coffee.
"Nothing as of yet. Everything we looked at was either damaged, full of water or had cracks the size of fists in the masonry. Nothing that we would want to live in, considering our children might be strong enough to bust through walls" Kara sat down with her while Barry went to the kitchen and got them both a cup.
"That's a bit shit. Do you have other places to see?" Cat inquired
"Yes one more tomorrow morning. If that doesn't pan out we might have to reconsider where we want a house and how close to the city it should be . But we're hopeful" Barry entered the conversation.
"Let us hope that is not the case then and you find something you like without changing what your initial plan was" She replied while they started talking of other things. After a bit when they finished their beverages the couple went to bed. They both hoped that the last house they were going to visit would be better than the last two.