.:38:.

Storm

Cadence took in a deep breath through her nose, continuing to stare at the photo that rested in her lap. The photo of Jesse that Harry had wordlessly given them before leaving his office after his stunning admission. He'd lied, twice, and each admission had done nothing more than make things a bit harder for them. He'd kept Jesse a secret, and while they all understood, it would've been easier to empathize with him if he had said it from the beginning. It would've been better to know what he truly wanted instead of accepting that they wouldn't understand.

How many more times would they be lied to or targeted? Harry had come out with everything after his admission, that he stole some of Barry's speed to give to Zoom so that he could save his daughter from the threat that was put over her. Somewhere on Earth-2 she was being held captive. And Barry had listened to everything Harry had to say and continued to hold fast to his notion that he was going to help her no matter what it was.

And Cadence had watched Barry as he made that decision. She could see from the way he crossed his arms, from the way his hands were clenched into fists and tucked under his elbows that he was trying his hardest not to let his emotions get in the way. He was and emotional and sensitive person and she loved that about him, all the same it made his emotions make decisions for him and to feel them on a spectacular level. She'd been on the receiving end of it when her betrayal of him to the Assassination Bureau had been revealed where he unleashed a torrent of anger to her.

Now, she saw how he'd grown as a person, as a hero, as a leader to want to help Harry despite how he had betrayed them as well and she greatly admired that.

But she still couldn't wrap her head around Jesse. It was weird at first; knowing, thinking she was going to be trying to save a version of herself that had been kidnapped. But to know it was someone on this Earth who may as well be her little sister, and that there actually was a version of her on this Earth was throwing her head into a tailspin. It was the hardest part to wrap her head around. She saw Barry's doppelganger and knew how different he was on this Earth, she personally knew Harrison's—her birth father's—doppelganger who was vastly different from him.

She already questioned what it meant for her when she found that Jesse was her doppelganger, but what about her true doppelganger. This Harrison hasn't seen this Cadence since she was born, Cadence thought. I wonder if that was by choice. Cadence could feel her emotions starting to come to the forefront again and did her best to push them away. Emotions weren't her thing; mental toughness and decisive action were.

So why was she getting so emotional over people she didn't even know?

Jesse Wells.

"Are you okay?"

Cadence looked up when she felt a hand moved over her hair then smiled at Barry as he walked by her, moving to sit at the end of the windowsill. He moved her feet aside and sat down, then brought them back to his lap. She thought about lying, saying she was okay, but knew he'd be able to see through it. Not just because of him knowing her, but because of his speed and perceptiveness.

So she told the truth. "Well," she said slowly. "Within about a day, I found out that Harry has been working with Zoom, Jesse is me, Jesse actually isn't me but my little sister on this Earth and I'm actually really hungry. So chances are something's going to come to a head soon." The two laughed at her little joke. Then she shook her head. "I don't know what to feel at this point. All I know is that I'm so confused." She held up a finger. "Actually, confused is when I was trying to understand this 'new math'," she used air quotes, "that they're teaching Brady in school. It's no wonder he doesn't like it."

Barry laughed again. He gently ran his hand up and down her leg. The two were silent for a long moment and Barry said, "There was a time when I was little. Probably about five or six or so. And I constantly begged my mom and dad for a little brother or sister. As time went on I forgot about it and was fine with it just being me, but in the back of my mind I'd still want someone like that. And now I have Iris, she's like my sister."

Cadence started to smile. "Well, if that's the case, I think a part of your life is a bit questionable."

"Ha ha." Barry pinched her leg and Cadence squealed, pulling her legs back away from him to rub at the spot. "What about you? Did you ever want a brother or sister?"

"Yeah, I used to ask for one, too," Cadence said. "Before I knew that my parents couldn't have children I'd asked a lot. But they'd always change the subject so I'd forget about it. I stopped asking and didn't think about it after that."

"Think of it this way. Jesse is that sister that you wanted."

"Yeah, and if that's the case…that meant that the car accident that Harrison and Tess had gotten in, unless things are different on this Earth, she was pregnant and lost the baby."

The weight of her words crashed onto Cadence. Not just for the potential sibling she could've lost, but also because she knew how scary it was. At one point when Brady was almost two he had gotten very sick, to the point that he had to go to the hospital, which opened up another can of worms when it was found that she was in the process of emancipating herself and had been kicked out and…none of that mattered more than crying over her son who laid in a hospital bed with tubes up his nose and more medicine than she could ever imagine.

Barry nodded silently. Then he took in a deep breath and let it out, unsure of what to say next. It was a lose-lose situation as it was. Cadence turned back to Jesse's portrait and changed the subject. "Do you think she looks like me? I mean, there has to be an Asian somewhere in Harrison's or Tess's background to look the way I do."

"I think I see it in her eyes, maybe," Barry said.

"Yeah. No matter what, we're going to get her back," Cadence said. She turned and looked at her wrist, studying the face of her watch. "Speaking of, this Earth's Barry is probably going to wake up soon. You need to get going to the CCPD." She waited for Barry to say something but when she looked up at him, she found him staring at her. Something swam in his green eyes that she couldn't quite place. "What?"

"You have to stop relying on your strength to get you through everything," he said.

Cadence's eyebrows rose. "What?"

"I'm trying to talk to you. About what you're feeling about all of this and you keep changing the subject," Barry pointed out. He shifted closer to her, lowering his voice. Cadence could hear the emotion in his voice as he continued. "I know this is hurting you, Cade, and I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine."

"I'm trying not to make this about me. This is about everyone on Earth-2. We have to focus on Zoom and what his endgame is here."

"But it's not going to help if our minds are somewhere else." Barry got up from the windowsill and turned to face her. "We promised not to keep secrets from each other and I also don't want us to be distracted."

Cadence made a face, rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to be distracted. I'll do what I have to do."

"What you have to do is talk. About this, about anything else. Whatever you're feeling. Bottling it up isn't going to help." Barry took in a deep breath. "When my mom died I was like you at first. I didn't want to talk about anything but I really had no choice. With the police interrogations and the constant questions, the therapists…it took me a while until I could realize how much it helped. I'm trying to be supportive."

Cadence gave him a look, noticing the sudden emotion in his voice. "Have we had this argument before?" She couldn't remember if they had. But there was something there, something in the way he was looking at her that felt familiar to him.

"No," he admitted. "Back in the other timeline, when I had run back to keep everyone from dying…we were fighting. You were going off on Felicity when she found out about Oliver being Conner's dad, because she was mad that he had lied to her despite him only just finding out about it. You were getting really mad and I was trying to talk you down and we fought and things got worse after that."

"It was when we died," Cadence realized.

Barry nodded. "Because we weren't working as the team we can always be. I'm trying to listen to you, Cade. To understand how you're feeling."

"Barry, you're trying to be a hero. Just like you always do." Cadence threw her hands into the air. "You can't be the hero in every situation that comes around. Life doesn't work like that!"

"I'm trying to help you."

"No, jackass, you're trying to fix me!"

"I know you don't ever like to talk about these things-"

"Because I've never had the chance, Barry." She finally got it out. Finally admitted that inner turmoil that she could never completely admit. Not for lack of trying, not for fear, but because she didn't have the avenue to do so. Cadence brought up her hands, ran them through her hair. How ironic. The biggest and baddest metahuman didn't scare her. But the thought of having to put herself on display made her hands shake, made her feel like a little girl all over again. "Growing up I always did everything my mom and dad wanted me to do, took on all the pressure they put on me to be perfect, and I kept my mouth shut. No matter how upset or anxious I was feeling about anything. And then, as you know, I got pregnant and got kicked out and I had to grow up fast to be there for Brady and I still didn't have anyone to talk to about that sort of thing. Then everything with the Assassination Bureau and my dad… I've always had moments where I was powerless but I've always fought back by being strong."

Barry stepped forward and cupped her face in his hands. His eyes searched hers and she could see he was being sincere. "You don't have to be with me, that's what I'm saying. I'm your partner. I'm your boyfriend. I'm your friend. I'm here for you, no matter what. You're not alone anymore. You've got all the rest of us and we're nothing if we're not a team."

Cadence lowered her gaze and nodded. But she couldn't say anything. She wanted to, but there was so much that had just waterfalled to of her, bursting through the walls that she'd kept up over the years. A storm was brewing inside her. Her gaze shifted when Harry walked into the room and nodded towards him.

"You ready?" He asked. "It's not going to be much longer until this Barry wakes up and makes a scene."

Barry nodded. He dropped his hands away from Cadence's face and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. He walked over to Harry, who reminded him of what the plan was and Barry nodded back before racing out of STAR Labs. Harry watched him go, crossing his arms, chewing his lower lip. He stared off into space then turned towards Cadence when she walked to his side.

He looked down at her for a long moment then said, "I assume you'd like to know why I lied about everything, too," he said. A sarcastic tone crept into his voice. "Ramon has somehow managed to mention it every time he takes a break from trying to figure out what's going on with his glasses."

"Can you blame him?" Cadence asked. She knew what it was like to not be trusted, having stood on both sides. At this point she couldn't blame any of them for doing an extensive background check the next time they ran into someone else who wanted to help them.

"No. I think that's the worst part." Harry continued to look at her. "I haven't seen my Cadence since she was born, her parents moved her away shortly after the adoption. I had a harder time seeing you than Tess because…knowing my wife is dead it came easy to see her alive once more. I've had that time to spend with her. For my Cadence, having never seen her, gotten to know her, it was like—"

"—Seeing a ghost," Cadence murmured.

Harry nodded.

Cadence's mind whirred. They were on a different Earth. An Earth where everyone she knew and loved had a different life and were different people—thought Earth-2 Barry wasn't that different from their Barry considering his excitement. But it still brought up the question that she couldn't push out of her mind no matter how hard she tried.

Did that mean her father was alive on this Earth?

Oh, my head is starting to hurt, Cadence thought. She looked up and ran her hands through her hair. "I need some air," She said.

"It's not safe out there," Harry said. "If Zoom finds you, what we're working on will all be over."

"Spoken like a true parent, Harry." Cadence reached up, started to pat him on the shoulder, but he took a step back, letting her hand fall to her side. She nodded, understanding why he did so. The ghost was haunting him now. An even better reason for her to get out of STAR Labs and get some air. Some time to figure things out. "I'll be fine. I can teleport back as soon as I need to. Even I don't think Zoom is fast enough to figure that out so fast."

Harry rolled his eyes, shook his head in disdain. But he still backed away, making room for her to leave. Cadence nodded her thanks and left. She teleported to cross-connecting streets where her apartment was on Earth-1. The only thing she found this time around was a dilapidated building. Even from the sidewalk she could see there were sleeping bags on the floor from the broken bottom windows. No one had truly lived there for years.

Now that she had that figured out, she was stuck in a dead-end. There were too many things she wanted to figure out, but didn't know where to start. If Earth-2 is moving on a different frequency, then our cell phones probably don't either, she thought. So calling her parents was out. Letting out a long breath, Cadence placed her hands on her hips and turned away to face the street. She shook her head.

How could everything look exactly the same; the way the street was set up, the street names, the looks of the buildings, but everything be so different? Cadence glanced at the time. It was still early, so that meant there was a good chance, that Jitters was open. She could start looking there. Cadence teleported once more, stopping when she looked at the outside of the building.

She blinked once, twice, three times before coming to terms with what was so off-putting to her. Once again, everything was different. It wasn't just for the way the citizens of Central City were dressed; the sort of 20s inspired attire was actually starting to grow on her. It was everything else that was different. Jitters was Jitterbug and instead of it being a coffee house, it looked like a jazz lounge and she could hear a smooth crooner singing from outside. A couple walked out, making the music swell in volume before the door closed once more.

Cadence went inside, looking around the room. The floor plan of Jitters was the same, but one wall had been turned into a stage that held a big band and…Joe West? He clutched a microphone and swooned into the microphone to the jazz music that was playing, smiling at everyone that passed. A fedora sat by his feet, filling up with tips as the seconds passed. Cadence eyed him as she walked by the stage.

He still looked the same as he did on their Earth.

She shook her head. No. She had to remember, they were on a different Earth, everything was different. Keeping attention away from herself, Cadence sat down in one of the few empty chairs that were left. She crossed her leg at the knee and rested her hands in her lap. After a few seconds, her foot started to shake back and forth.

"I see I'm not the only one who has that habit," a voice said from beside her. "Let me guess, boy troubles? You look like the kind of girl that'd have many suitors falling at her feet." Cadence froze for a moment, confused as to where the voice was coming from. It sounded like it had come from her head but…she hadn't had those thoughts. Slowly, Cadence turned to face her doppelganger, who smiled back at her. If she were confused or surprised to see a mirror-image of herself, the doppelganger didn't show it. "With a face like that, I think I'm right," she added with a wink.

Cadence's mouth dropped open. For once in her life, she had nothing witty to say in response. Had nothing to say at all. Thankfully, her doppelganger turned as two people joined her in other seats. Cadence glanced at them in surprise. Ronnie? Caitlin?

It couldn't be. Ronnie didn't look any different save for the evil fire in his eyes and a smirk splayed on his lips. Caitlin was the one who looked different in all manners of the word. Her brown locks were now a stark blonde, almost completely white against her pale skin. Her eyes, instead of the warm chocolate brown were now an icy blue, matching the dark blue lipstick and navy blue leather clothes along with it.

She looked like Caitlin's exact opposite. The exact opposite of her warm and kind best friend.

"What took you so long?"

"Oh, come on, Burnout. We all know you would've waited here for us."

Burnout's eyes flashed over towards her companions. "Maybe, maybe not. I had something I needed to do." She crossed her legs at the knee, falling into the same stance Cadence was sitting in. A flicking sound filled the air and Cadence realized she was messing with a lighter in hand. She flicked it open with her thumb then closed it again with the palm of her free hand.

"Deathstorm, you know how sensitive she is about seeing her son." Cadence watched as this Earth's Caitlin shifted her eyes towards Burnout, her lips curling in the corner. While her eyes were on Burnout, she gently stroked Deathstorm's face, trailing her fingertips down his skin. "It's been…what? Ten years since you've seen him? How is Ryder doing? It can't be easy to see him again since giving up Brady."

Cadence stared at this Caitlin in dismay, could feel her heart starting to hurt at the callous words of this version of her friend. Then her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes widened. Her entire body ran cold. The gravity of her words hit her. She gave up Brady. On this Earth, she gave up Brady. Ryder had him, had custody of him.

Burnout didn't respond to the question, though Cadence could sense her body temperature immediately rise at the questions that came her way. Instead, she sat up straight in her chair and asked, "How'd it go?"

Deathstorm smirked. "You'd know if you were there."

"And you know why I wasn't. My personal life aside, I had some other stuff I needed to deal with."

"Mm." Killer Frost's lips curled even further, her eyes flashed with mirth. "You mean with White Hot?" Burnout lifted a dangerous eyebrow and Caitlin's smile immediately turned into a pout. She leaned back in her seat, removing her hand from Deathstorm's face. "Boo. You're no fun. I thought we told each other everything. Anyway, things went fine. We got the money. But where do these people get off robbing Central City's Royal Bank? This town belongs to Zoom and those of us he deems worthy to enforce his will and they think they can get away with taking things from us?"

Burnout tsked and wagged her finger. "Too bad we always have to teach them that lesson. I mean, it's fun, but you think these morons would learn how to stay out of trouble by now. How much did you get?"

"Maybe we don't want to tell you," Killer Frost said.

Now Burnout smirked. "Aww, sweetie, you know I have ways to make you talk." With that she flipped open the flap of the lighter and a fireball danced and wiggled above its starter. The light reflected in her eyes and she smiled sweetly while Caitlin's frown deepened. "It must really burn you up to know that I have that old over you."

Deathstorm held up his hand as it started to glow orange, embers spinning around his fingers. Burnout flicked her gaze over to him, eyes narrowing for a moment. Then she lowered her hand to her lap. "That's what I thought," Deathstorm gloated. "All talk and no action."

"Actually, I was more concerned with the whining I'd have to deal with when your dearly beloved over there attacked me for maiming you."

At her mention, Killer Frost leaned over and made a show of kissing Ronnie on the cheek, keeping her eyes on Burnout as she did so. Burnout mimed sticking a finger down her throat, the fake vomit threatening to turn into a real one when Deathstorm said to Killer Frost, 'What did I tell you about watching that behind?" with a flirtatious lift to his voice and replied, "I thought that was your job," and gave him a real kiss.

She smiled and wiped lipstick off his cheek with her thumb. "Good thing the only one I can kiss is the only one I want to."

"The second one," Burnout pointed out. "But he's the only one that wouldn't kill you if you tried."

Killer Frost rolled her eyes. "You can't still be mad about that."

"It took hours for me to defrost my lips."

"You talk too much anyway."

Burnout smirked in response. Then her eyes shifted over to Deathstorm as he pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. He nodded, lips pressing together in a firm line. "What's up?" She asked.

"Just got word that breachers came through," he said.

Killer Frost's eyes widened with glee. She did all but clap her hands together like a little school girl. "yYu know I love to kill people from other earth's."

"Then today's your lucky day." Burnout spun in her seat and locked eyes with Cadence once more. This time Cadence could see her eyes turning a solid, scary shade of red. "Sweetie, you made a big mistake," she said.

Cadence glared back.

Barry stepped out of the elevator at the CCPD, adjusting the tie that sat around his neck. "Yeah, this si a fashion statement you're never bringing back," he murmured under his breath, trying to keep his bowtie straight. It continued to twist around, poking him in the chin. Then he turned his attention back to his surroundings.

The CCPD. Even on Earth-2 Barry got goosebumps when walking into his place of work. Officers, Detectives, and Inspectors walked around casually chatting to each other. He looked over at the front desk and his mouth dropped open in happy surprise when he spotted Eddie Thawne. Eddie looked at the papers in front of him and carefully filed them before looking down at the couple that came up to his desk. He listened, smiled, and nodded before sending them in the right direction.

Barry turned as there was a commotion and saw two police officers walking into the precinct with a man handcuffed between them. The man continued to twist back and forth, trying to break free. His lips were pulled back into a snarl as he went. Eddie looked over as the three entered.

"What've you got there?" He asked.

"Captain," Barry whispered, finally getting a look at the man's face. He would've laughed so hard had he not been trying to keep from having attention brought on him. Nevertheless, he walked forward to get a better look at the commotion.

"David Singh," the officer on the left said. He tightened his grip on Singh's arms. "He and his partner have finally slipped up when robbing a bank and we're bringing them in."

"We're all acting like this isn't going to happen again," Singh said in a lazy drawl.

"And we'll be excited to see it happen," Eddie said. He waved as the man was taken away and turned back the two other Detectives that walked up to them. Barry's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he spotted Iris and Deadshot.

"What's going on here?" Iris asked, crossing her arms.

"Just David Singh again," Eddie said.

"Was it another shootout?" Deadshot asked.

Iris laughed and patted Deadshot on the shoulder. "You wish. I don't know anyone else who's as bad of a shot as you are. But then again, I've seen a lot of things on the job." Her eyes then shifted to Eddie and she lifted her chin. "May I see you in my office, Mr. Thawne? There's something we need to discuss."

"Yes, right away Detective West," Eddie said. He moved out from behind his desk and started to follow Iris out from the lobby. Eddie's eyes landed on Barry and he clasped his hand on his shoulder. "Good to see you, Bare."

"Yeah…good to see you too, Eddie," Barry replied in awe. He felt Eddie's hand on his shoulder. Actually felt it. He was really there. He was alive. It took a few seconds for Barry to hear Deadshot's snickering then he turned to face Deadshot. "What? What's so funny?" He asked.

"Those two are always going off like that," Deadshot explained. "Saying how they need to talk to each other when the whole precinct knows they're just hoping to get sometime alone to neck." He shook his head. "They're married for God's sake, they don't need to hide anything."

"Right. Yeah." Barry nodded. So Iris and Eddie were married on this Earth. His heart felt a stab of pain for the life Iris could've had if Eddie hadn't sacrificed himself. How happy they could've been. Even as they smiled at each other while trying to be professional, Barry could see and feel how much they loved each other.

"So, what about you?"

"Huh?"

Deadshot continued to look at him patiently. "What about you and your girl? You think she'd be interested at a job here at the CCPD?"

"Uh, I guess." Earth-2 Barry, embarrassingly enough, hadn't struck him as someone who had a girlfriend. Or maybe he was projecting his own insecurities into it. "I'll have to ask her. Uh, I'm going to head up to my office…?" he phrased it as a question, spinning around as if a neon sign were to pop up showing him where to go.

Deadshot looked at him as if he were crazy. "It's always in the same spot," he remarked.

Barry nodded again, then pressed his glasses up his nose. Not his glasses, he reminded himself, but the glasses of Earth-2 Barry. God, he had no idea how the other man could see. Everything warped around him as he tried to step forward. If it weren't for his eyes rapidly moving things into focus for him, he was sure he'd walk into walls. Or, God forbid, trip up the steps on the way to his office like he did on the first day of work back on Earth-1.

"Why did you have to go and remember that, Barry?" He muttered, the image of the laughing faces coming back to haunt him. He hurried up to his office, spinning in a quick circle to make sure no one was around before using his superspeed to race through all the files and evidence sitting around.

No. Nothing that would have him track down Zoom.

He should've known it wouldn't be that easy.

With a sigh, Barry sat down at his desk and looked around the papers that were piled up. There had to be something that would give him a step in the right direction. He picked up the stack of papers and glanced over his shoulder once more. There didn't need to be anyone else who knew about his powers or else they'd realize he wasn't supposed to be there. I'm not the Flash here, he reminded himself. I'm just plain old Barry Allen.

That was the hardest part of him to wrap his head around. What was it like to be 'plain old Barry Allen?' He hadn't been himself in a long time, sometimes not knowing where The Flash ended and began.

"Barry, you're trying to be a hero. Just like you always do." Cadence threw her hands into the air. "You can't be the hero in every situation that comes around. Life doesn't work like that!"

Maybe she was right, maybe he was too busy being a hero that he didn't know how to truly be himself anymore. He knew she didn't mean it in a bad way, and was just getting very upset with the conversation, he was pushing her to talk about things. Maybe he pushed her too hard. Nevertheless, being a hero was what he was used to. Even before powers, he could never sit back and just watch injustice happen. He only hoped she understood his efforts in helping her.

He pushed the thought out of his head, paying attention to what was in front of him. Using his superspeed he went over the pages a few times, hoping it'd stick in his short term and long-term memory a little longer than normal. So far it had nothing to do with Zoom exactly but gave clues to the kinds of things he did. And they were all horrifying.

One was a woman who was on a date with her boyfriend as soon as there was a gust of wind, his head was turned around and body slumped to the side. As the witness said, she had the chance to blink before he was gone. If Zoom was that fast then…

Barry's eyes trailed over to the phone that sat on his desk, eyes roving over the numbers. Mom Work, Dad work, Mom and Dad, Eddie, Bruce, Hal, Diana. The other numbers were blank, more likely for those that worked at the CCPD. He didn't recognize half of the names on the phone but the ones for his parents caught his breath. Mom. Barry reached out and carefully ran his finger across the name tag.

"Mom," he whispered.

"Well, you certainly took your time to call us back."

Startled, Barry whirled around, seconds away from attacking whomever had snuck up behind him. Then he stopped, blinking in surprise at his parents. Or, this Earth's parents. Earth-2's Barry's parents. But…it was his mother standing in front of him, smiling a bemused smile as Barry continued to gape at them.

"Hey Slugger," Earth-2 Henry said. He walked over to his son and grabbed his shoulders, gently shaking him. "It looks like you've gotten a little frozen again." He laughed and gently patted his son on the cheek. "But you're okay, right? It's like your mother said, you haven't called us back in some time."

Barry finally blinked back into consciousness. "Yeah, I'm sorry," he whispered.

Earth-2 Nora smiled, clutching her purse in front of her. "Well, we wanted to say thank you for the anniversary tickets to Atlantis." She reached out her arm and looped it through Henry's, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. "Your dad and I always wanted to go."

Barry nodded. "I'm glad you liked them," he managed to croak. Tears came to his eyes as he watched his mother, watching her, studying her, taking in everything of her face so that he would never forget.

"Are you okay?" Nora walked forward and rested her hands on the sides of Barry's face in the gentle caress that only his mother could do. She smoothed the brimming tears away. "You sound kind of strange"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Barry took in a deep breath and steadied himself. "It's just…I was looking over case files. Some Zoom stuff…"

"Yes, yes, that menace that has been running through the city," Henry remarked. He shook his head, lowering his gaze. "There's been so many lives lost. But I Know you and the rest of the CCPD are working hard to keep the city safe for us."

"My beautiful boy is making us proud every day," Nora continued. She smiled as she studied Barry's face. "But you look like you haven't slept in a while. Maybe you need some time away for a while." Her eyes lit up and she removed her hands from Barry's face, moving to dig through her purse. "I know. Why don't I give you and Cadence the tickets to Atlantis? Make it a nice little romantic getaway."

Barry felt his face grow hot, his mind coming to the only conclusion considering how Earth-2 Barry had reacted to Cadence before. They weren't dating but Barry had told everyone they were. Or maybe that they had a relationship at some point before. Nevertheless, he deflected his mother's suggestion. "No, no, I want you to use them. You and dad." He looked back and forth between them again. "I'm really glad to see you happy, mom."

"Aww." Nora squeezed Barry in a hug, which he eagerly returned. "I love you Barry."

"I love you, too, mom. Both of you." Barry's chest swelled with his deep breath and turned to go back to lunch, stopping once more when his mother said, "Great, now that we have that settled, let's go to lunch."

Barry looked at her in confusion then at his desk. He wanted to eat but…there was so much he needed to do to figure things out with Zoom first. But when was he ever going to get a chance to speak and spend time with his mother again?

Henry laughed again. "What's wrong, Slugger? You think we only wanted to come here to demand to know why you haven't called us back?" He and his wife exchanged a look. "That's very true, it was our original idea, but we haven't had lunch as a family in a while so we thought we'd treat our only son."

Barry grinned. Zoom could wait a little, and as it was, he may get some more information from others in the vicinity. "Let's go," he said.

Twenty minutes later the three arrived at Jitterbugs. That made Barry stop in his tracks and study the outside before ducking inside. The first thing that caught his attention was the big band music that was playing, immediately setting a cozy atmosphere for everyone inside. Then he noticed who was onstage and for probably the tenth time since arriving at Earth-2 that morning, his jaw dropped.

Joe was finishing up his music set, making everyone smile, clap and cheer for him. Barry stared at Joe before noticing his parents were no longer with him. He saw they were sitting at a table with Iris and Eddie and moved to join them.

"Hey Barry, glad to see you were on time this time," Iris said as Barry sat with them.

"Very funny," Barry replied. Of course he couldn't get past those jokes even on another Earth. It must be encoded in his DNA.

"He came with us this time, so we wouldn't let him," Nora said.

"Well, if there's anyone ever to wait for, it's definitely you, Mrs. Allen," Eddie said with a warm smile. He nodded to Henry then sat up straight in his seat, lifting his hand above his head. "Joe! Over here!" Joe stepped off the stage and walked to the group. Iris leaned over to give her father a hug and kiss while Eddie said, "That was a great number, Joe. Very rousing."

"Aw, you're just saying that," Joe replied, pulling at the lapels of his work vest. "It's true, but you're just saying that."

"Now why would I do that?"

"To get in good with my daughter."

"I'm already married to her, sir."

"And I couldn't ask for a better son-in-law."

Barry's eyebrows briefly before falling. Joe and Eddie had managed to get on good terms after some time of working together, but here it looked like they were complete best friends. Who knew he'd be so excited about Iris getting married? Then again, it was still taking some time for him to wrap his head around her being the Detective rather than Joe.

Not that he didn't think Iris could do it. She had done well enough to get into the Police Academy before Joe made her stop, he thought. He remembered how crushed she was about it, though not letting Joe in on just how bad it made her. Instead, he and Iris had many late nights as they tried to figure out what she would do instead.

Instead, Barry leaned over and patted Joe on the arm saying, "So, you're a singer, Joe!"

Joe glared ruefully at Barry, pushing the speedster's hand off his arm. "It's Joseph to you and I see you're still and idiot."

Stung, Barry removed his hand. Beside him, Barry could see his mother and father exchange glances before Nora said, "Come on, Joe, you know Barry means well."

Joe's nostrils flared in disbelief. "He means well and he had the audacity to ask that I'm a singer?" A scoffing guffaw came from Joe's lips.

That stung even more. A storm of emotions was starting to brew inside Barry. A storm he wasn't sure he could wait out. "A-are you upset with me? Did I…did I do something to hurt you?" He asked. Joe's glare turned to land pointedly at him and Barry flinched. The last time he'd been struck by that glare had been when he was caught skipping school to go to a science conference in Gotham. "O-or do you just not like me?"

"Have you lost your mind?" Joe demanded. Iris clasped her hands over her face and Eddie shook his head. "Central City has a lunatic running around and you're asking what's going on with you? You're the most selfish person I've ever met and I'm a musician. All of us are selfish."

"With all due respect, Joe, Barry's been working really hard lately," Henry said, quickly coming to his son's defense. He spoke in a smooth, dulcet tone that showed friendliness though his eyes flashed with warning. "Trying to do everything he can to stop Zoom. Forgive him if he's worked so hard that his mind is on other things."

"Then I hope you forgive me if I think he takes his job way too damn seriously," Joe snapped back. "When was the last time he's come to visit you?"

What? Barry thought, looking back and forth between the two most important men in his life.

Henry shrugged. To anyone it would look like a careless, nonchalant move, but Barry had seen his father do it enough to know it was a warning. "He's my son, not yours."

"Then make sure he acts like it."

Barry opened his mouth to say something but was then stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Barry turned around and felt himself immediately relax when he saw Cadence was the one who grabbed him. Not just because he knew she was okay, but also because he always felt relaxed when he was around her.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey," She replied. Without acknowledging the others at the table, she took his wrist and dragged him a few steps away. "There's something you need to know—"

"—First," Barry interrupted. "I have something I need to tell you." Cadence bit her lip and waited. "I wanted to apologize for our fight earlier—"

"—I'm the one who needs to apologize, Tholly," Cadence interrupted him. "You were just trying to help me work through what was going on. And you were right, about everything. I do need to talk more about what I'm feeling all the time instead of keeping it bottled up. And, I'm sorry for calling you a jackass."

"I've been called worse things," Barry said.

Cadence smiled and stepped in, giving him a quick peck. "Barry…" She stopped when a sudden beeping sound filled the air. Barry and Cadence turned and saw Iris holding her wrist up to her face. Where a regular watch would be was a similar device shooting off red image waves. She pressed her lips together, looking at him curiously. "Have you noticed this running theme that we've got here?"

"How we're always interrupted?" Barry replied. "Yeah, I noticed that too." His eyes moved around the café, trying to figure out what the sound was. Judging by the looks of the people whose own devices started to beep, it couldn't be a good thing.

"It's the metahuman warning app," Iris said. She stood up and started to look around.

Barry's eyes widened and he exchanged another glance with Cadence, whose eyes widened as well before turning to face the front of the café where Killer Frost, Deathstorm, and Burnout were standing menacingly.

The storm had arrived.

"Brady? Have you been listening to a word I've said?"

Brady lowered his headphones from his ears and nodded. He sat up straight in the passenger seat of Ryder's car. "Yes. You were saying that I can't skip school anymore."

"Because?" Ryder prompted.

"Because mom would be mad at me?" Brady guessed. He hadn't been paying that close attention. Instead, he was thinking of metahuman things, as what seemed to preoccupy his mind as of late. Ryder chuckled and shifted his blonde fringe from his blue eyes.

"I'm sure that's true, but no that's no tit, buddy. Try again," Ryder said.

Brady blew out his buff of air, blowing a raspberry. "Because I'd be mindlessly dwindling away my education?"

"Where'd you get that one?"

"YouTube."

"Gotcha." Ryder pulled up in front of the school and threw the car in park. He shifted in his seat to look at his son seriously. "You don't want to skip school just because you're missing out on an education. But because you're putting yourself in unnecessary danger. Not to mention that it's against the law for you not to be in school unless you were homeschooled and your mother and I could go to jail over it."

Brady grimaced. The last thing he wanted was for them to get into any kind of trouble because of him. "So homeschool me then," Brady insisted.

Ryder smiled. "Sorry, buddy, but with my line of work, I wouldn't have the time to do that. And neither would your mom."

Brady's eyes shifted for a second. Okay, this wasn't going as well as he thought it would. "Well, then, why can't Aunt Caitlin homeschool me? Or Harrison? Or Tess? They're all smart, they could do it." And it'd keep me around STAR Labs more.

"I can't ask them to homeschool you like that, they'd need to be certified. The only person that could do it is Tess and she's already very busy trying tom make sure that you and the other metahumans can live safely in the city." Ryder reached out and ruffled his son's hair. "I know you're trying to prove that you can be a good hero. And from what I've seen, you're a great hero. You just need some more time before you grow up to shoulder the burden yourself. You're a kid, you should be focused on having fun."

"But d—"Brady cut himself off, then said instead, "But Ryder, I'm not just a little kid. I can do stuff to help."

Ryder looked at him for a long moment. Then he smiled mysteriously. "Then figure out a way that you can help in your school and go from there. I'm sure there's plenty of people that can use your sense of heroics." Brady looked back at him in confusion. Ryder unlocked the car doors and nodded towards the school. "Have a good day. And don't worry about your mom, she's going to be fine."

"I know she is," Brady said confidently. And he truly believed it, too. She was strong, but he was strong too, she taught him how to be. His body was stronger from his powers, form what she taught him, and from what Ryder taught him. Wait a minute…A thought entered Brady's head and he smiled. "I have to get going. I'll see you later, Ryder."

"See ya, buddy."

Brady slid out of the car—reminded himself not to phase—and hurried over to Conner and Leah and they looked over something on her phone, heads pressed together. Brady grabbed their arms and dragged them away from the bench they were sitting on and as far away from the other students as they could without getting out of the teacher's view. Morning carpool 'security' had been amped up in light of recent events as well.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Conner asked, trying to keep himself from falling. He grabbed his backpack to keep it from falling down his shoulder.

"Yeah, you almost broke my phone" Leah complained.

"Forget your phone," Brady said impatiently. "I know what we can do to help."

"Help what?" Leah asked. She placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head, eyes widening. "How to keep from getting in trouble?"

"Yeah, I don't think we're going to be able to do that," Conner agreed. He looked at Brady then pointed to his face. "Especially with that look he has."

"You noticed it, too?"

Brady ignored the both of them. "I was talking to dad and he pointed something out to me. Our school keeps getting attacked."

"Duh," Leah said.

"And this city is filled with people who were here when the Particle Accelerator blew up," Brady said. He pointed to himself. "I was and Leah was."

"I was, too," Conner agreed.

"And the two of us became metahumans. There was Kyle from last year who was a meta who mom and Barry helped before he and his parents moved away. But with how many people who are in the city there has to be more kids that turned into metahumans because of it, right?" Brady looked back and forth between his friends, waiting for them to get it. When they didn't, he rolled his eyes and said, "If there are more kids who are metas then they have to be hiding, too. So what if we found them?"

"How are we going to do that?" Conner asked.

"Yeah, did you become some sort of a meta-detector?"

"Good one," Conner said.

Brady smiled. "No, I haven't.

"That'd be a cool power though," Conner declared. Then he frowned. "So say we figure out who the rest of these metas are? What are we going to do with them after that? We can't train them."

"Who says we can't?" Brady asked.

"We don't have the stuff to do that! We don't even have the stuff to force them to tell us that they are metahumans. Well, if that Registration Act doesn't come out, anyway."

"Then we'll have to do the same thing," Leah said. "Make a list or something to figure it out. Or, make a secret code that only metahumans will know to get them to come to a meeting. Or have a secret group on Facebook or Twitter. Everyone in our class has a Facebook, remember? It's how we were all invited to Jacob's birthday party last year."

"Okay," Conner said. He looked to be warming up to the idea. "But what about the other metas? The bigger ones here in Central City? While Barry and your mom are gone, they might still attack."

"We're going to have to do it ourselves," Brady decided. "I'm tired of sitting around and waiting to be told what to do and wait for things to happen. So let's make them happen." He reached out and placed his hands on Conner's and Leah's shoulders, leaning his head close so that only they could hear him. "We're going to find other metahumans in this school and we're going to train them ourselves."

A/N: So, what did you guys think so far? ;)

Please remember to review; any feedback helps me become a better writer and motivates me to write more. I respond to every review, even anonymous ones.

I update this story every Wednesday. But follow us on twitter at DarkElements10 or tumblr at purple-and-red-ribbons for updates and sneak peaks as the story goes on and status updates in case I can't upload on time.

Cheers,

-Riles

Review Replies

Ethan: Unfortunately, things people don't understand tend to scare others and they'd rather not deal with it than accept it. So that's very reminiscent of today's times I think. It's all of the work to keep their citizens as safe as possible with Zoom and other metahumans running around, better safe than sorry, even if it were at a school. But their school had been attacked a lot, so…As for Cadence's freakout over Earth-2, it's two things to be excited at the idea of what going to another Earth would be like and actually being there knowing things could be vastly different. I think it'd give anyone a panic attack. Even a little one.

luna: Well, in the next chapter it'll come to a head so we'll see what happens next.

DarkHelm145: Yeah, I'm not sure anyone thought it was coming so I'm glad it worked for it's purpose

PowerHero432: Conner and Leah are just so innocent, I love writing them together. Though they're so young I can't do too much with them, but it's still fun. I thought of them being twins, but figured it was a bad idea considering it seemed that Jesse was only about 20 years old or so and I didn't want to age her up. Hope you liked this Earth-2 part.

Josephguy217: Thank you! Hope you liked this one as well. Your comments keep me going.

yummers: Thanks, more in the next chapter.

Guest: This one should hold your attention until the next one, plenty of Earth-2 things and more changes with it coming in the next one.