(Author's Note: A little shorter this time, so don't feel like you have to skim-read! Climax approaching, Jell-O Squares. Climax approaching. Remember to check my Twitter account [same username] for more info/updates on the fic in these final few chapters, and especially check if you're a Guest user, because that is where I will contact you if I need to reply to your review and you haven't got an account here!

Okay! Enjoy, my Jell-O Squares! Don't forget to blahhh all your thoughts to me; it's my bread and butter. ~Doverstar)

"She's gone."

Eddie's voice came clear and brisk in Savitar's right ear. "What do you mean, she's gone?"

"Park. I don't see her this time."

Savitar glanced up the street, dragging his gaze over every corner, every alley in sight, every rooftop. He wasn't tired—but he wasn't exactly running on adrenaline anymore. This had gone on long enough. He could have caught her by this time if he had resorted to less humane methods; all he'd been doing was grabbing her, losing her, and running after her. Lather, rinse, repeat.

"She didn't just disappear." Eddie's voice was tight with impatience.

Savitar rolled his eyes. Caitlin's turning off the comms system for a time had almost been a blessing—even if it had kept him from complaining to an audience. If it had remained that way, he might actually have been able to focus long enough to nab the meta.

But Linda had vanished seconds ago—after evaporating, blipping out of his grip again, and when the speedster had taken a moment to pinpoint her next location…nothing. No sign of her. And if the past hour was anything to go off of, she should have been making her whereabouts pretty obvious.

So he'd had to switch the comms back on, contacting the two pairs of eyes in the sky he hadn't asked for.

"This thing's been tracking her too." Wally's chair rolled back as he stood; Savitar could hear the wheels against a newly-cleaned floor. "We should be able to figure out where she went."

"Yeah, if she was showing up on the radar," agreed Eddie, with the sound of a frustrated hand slapping down on some poor surface. "Which she isn't anymore."

"She wasn't anywhere near the barricade," Savitar told them, turning on his heel to meet the baffled expressions of several officers a good distance away. "She has to be on the street somewhere. Look again."

"He's right, she's not there." Wally's response was out almost before the speedster had finished speaking. "We can see you, but her mark's totally off the grid."

Eddie sounded slightly further from the mic than he had been before. Tapping away at one of the monitors. "Is there a way to—I don't know—zoom out? Maybe it's still got her, but we're not looking far enough away."

Zoom out? Savitar suddenly missed the eons of acolytes. When he could handpick his backup, they were usually tech savvy—or, provided they were from some Stone Age without smart phones and air conditioning, they were at least carrying an above-average IQ. Eddie Thawne would not have made a good acolyte.

"This isn't Google Maps," he growled. "If she's not there on the screen, we don't have her."

Suddenly, a stammering, elderly tone broke through the background on the other end. "Am I, er, interrupting something?"

"Professor Stein." Eddie's tapping stopped, pure surprise kicking his tone upward.

Savitar's eyes rolled so far back so quickly, his head hurt. Everything with Stein seemed to take altogether too long. He had been oddly satisfied to hear about Caitlin's success with the old man's wife—maybe something of the Flash's my-mom-was-stabbed trauma was still glimmering inside, and the prevention of a similar meta-induced tragedy was a psychological salve of some kind. Maybe Caitlin was rubbing off on him more than he'd thought. Or maybe Barry Allen wasn't quite so deeply buried within after all. But that didn't mean he was happy to hear the old man there in the Cortex just now. It was getting crowded enough already, and Savitar was missing the peace and quiet of a building used only by himself and one driven bioengineer. He didn't want to admit how much more correct it felt, listening to more than one voice coming from the base.

"Forgive me, gentlemen, I left a few items here during the past week—have either of you seen Doctor Snow?"

"She's uh, downstairs," Wally replied distractedly.

"In the Pipeline," Eddie added. "I can walk you—"

"Hold up, what if I wanna see this place too?" West protested.

"I don't have time for this." Savitar switched off the earpiece. Not what the comms are for.

A superpowered race around the street and surrounding buildings told him Linda Park had gone dark. Maybe she'd had some safe spot located all along, and when she'd gotten too tired, she'd bowed out. Or maybe her powers had malfunctioned, and such exhaustive use had caused her to completely whisk out of existence. Either way, he didn't see the sense in wasting more energy on this particular case. She wasn't messing with the police any longer—or him for that matter—and she was no longer available to play tag. He might as well call it a day. A frustrating, sweaty day. Running back and forth across the same short distance worked him up a bit faster than running long ones did.

It was calorie time, anyway, and the sooner he returned to S.T.A.R. Labs, the sooner Caitlin's Plus-Three would leave. Without a mission to jump onto, they didn't really have another reason to be there—apart from West, who, thankfully, still wasn't getting anywhere with the breach machine, though he was as determined as ever to fix it. Stein should be checked out soon too, considering he was only there to pick up his mess.

But when he entered the Cortex a good twenty minutes later—after a couple dozen Big Belly Burgers—costume on and hood remaining up, they were all still there.

Stein sat in one of the chairs behind the white winding desk now, with Wally gripping the back of it and Eddie standing beside it. The professor was pulling up a 3D model of the city section Savitar had just come from, still talking as the speedster came in.

"…several obvious points, from which she could make an easy escape," Stein was saying, pointing to a few rooftops and enhancing the details with a few clicks. He barely batted an eye, turning to Savitar after the initial whoosh of entry. "I assume your speed and suit allow you to scale taller structures? Run up the sides?" Without waiting for an answer, he went back to the screen. "However, without prior knowledge of her location, you couldn't have made it up before she transported herself to the ground below—thereby securing her own safety. You see?"

"Okay, so she could've just gotten a bird's-eye view and—" Wally snapped his fingers. "She gone?"

"In theory," Stein agreed. "This is only one possible outcome, and only if she did take this path out of that particular street. There are other ways. Infinite ones, really, considering the extent of her abilities even as we know them."

Savitar shook his head. He could speed each one of them out of the Labs, but what would be the point? His uptight companion from Earth-1 wouldn't be pleased, and they'd only be back the very next day. Instead he asked curtly, "Where's Caitlin?"

Eddie glanced up from the monitor, pulling a hand down from his hair. "I'm guessing still in the Pipeline." His tone was apologetic.

Savitar's eyebrows dipped. "What's she doing?"

"Feeding the psychos," Wally explained.

"I beg your pardon?" Stein turned around in his chair, looking as though someone had just belched aloud.

West opened his mouth to explain, but Savitar cut him off, speaking quickly. "No, it never takes her this long. Why hasn't she come back yet?"

Stein looked at Eddie. Wally blinked a few times, looking perplexed.

"I'm not su—" Eddie began, but the speedster was gone from the room before he could finish.

FWOOSH!

Savitar's trip to the Pipeline kicked up an enormous cloud of dust with every charged step as he ran. He went first to Snart's cell. She wasn't there—and the glass was exposed, the hangar left open.

"No." It was a very quiet, very stone-like audible response to the scene. It barely echoed in the empty chamber.

Savitar felt something cold slide over his chest—not quite shock. Not quite anger. Like fear, but sicker. A different kind of fear than he'd felt when the paradox had threatened to wipe him out. He remembered Barry being swamped by it often, almost uncontrollably, like the sensation of vomiting when you came down with the flu. The original Flash would feel it all over when it came, making every limb weak, no real thought aside from the desperation to quell it. It was a fear that had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with someone else. How, then, Savitar wondered, could it feel stronger?

Not bothering to use his speed, he stepped over and checked the palm scanner, pressing a few buttons on the side to observe its history. Caitlin's palm had been used just about an hour ago, but she hadn't shifted the glass wall to enter the cell. However Lisa had escaped, it wasn't because Caitlin had set her free. In fact, the food trolley was left untouched beside the scanner.

Snart didn't touch her. There was zero sign of a struggle, and he didn't go near the cell itself to investigate. Lisa was hardly the most dangerous player they'd locked up here, and if the glass hadn't even been lifted, there was no way Snart could have attacked someone on the other side. Perhaps he should have taken a closer look, but the sight of an empty prison reminded him that there were worse villains in this same level of the Labs, and he dashed from Lisa's cell.

Savitar headed straight for Nimbus', trying to ignore flickers of that same cold, settling heavier and heavier as he ran.

Nimbus was not in his cell.

The hangar door was open.

So was the glass.

He didn't get her. Savitar couldn't smell anything even close to the poison Nimbus became when on the offensive, and didn't bother checking what time Caitlin had opened both barriers here. What he could smell was acid. He recognized the scent; he'd used plenty of different acids when cleaning his metal armor throughout the ages. A suit like that needed obsessive upkeep if it was going to work properly for so long. Without a nitpicky Cisco Ramon to take care of it, he'd had to be disciplined.

There was a yawning hole in the floor of Nimbus' prison.

The cold feeling expanded; he could feel it in his very heartbeat. He threw off the hood of his costume, stooping over the tunnel entrance. Too dark to see how far the initial drop was. Where had Kyle Nimbus obtained acid? Had Caitlin simply gone right down there after him? She wasn't that stupid. She would have called him first. Something had happened in this room, and he could think of only one way to find out what as quickly as possible.

Savitar was back in the Cortex in seconds. His hood was still down, face exposed to the three men still gathered in their base of operations. "Caitlin's missing," he announced, wondering suddenly if his voice had always sounded that rough and short.

They all stood there for too long, staring at him, probably taking in the sight of a human head and features to fit the voice, no vibrating vocal chords, no mask involved. Savitar didn't care. He didn't have another identity. This was it. And it didn't matter anymore that they could see him—nothing mattered now apart from finding Caitlin Snow.

Unfortunately, they didn't seem to see things the same way. As usual.

"You're…younger than I thought," Eddie said at last, eyebrows pinched.

Wally appeared especially interested, lifting a feeble underhand to point at him. "I know you," he said slowly, finger bobbing a little. "I've met you."

Savitar's voice rose; he could hear the cold, that new fear, running down his tone like raindrops on a window. "You're not hearing me—"

Stein held a hand out in West's direction, standing. "You said Doctor Snow is missing," he said stiffly. "What do you mean, missing?"

"Are we sure she didn't just go out for a bit?" Eddie added, eyes still glued to Savitar's civilian form. "I mean, she's not under house arrest, is she?"

Savitar went to the nearest monitor, shouldering Eddie out of his way and retrieving the security footage for the Pipeline in the past hour. After a rapid series of clicks and the tapping of keys, the same images were displayed on every screen in the Cortex. Savitar stood, arms limp apart from a hand on the trackpad, driving the video forward until Caitlin's blurred figure entered Nimbus' cell, fast-forwarding through her discovery of Snart's flight. He must have gone right past Kyle and Lisa's actual escape; he clicked so far ahead on the timeline. That didn't matter either.

All four men watched as Caitlin shakily opened both hangar door and glass wall, inspecting the hole for herself. Savitar could see her knuckles grip the sides of the tunnel edges until they went white. She wasn't turned toward the cameras, but she didn't have to be—she would be biting her lip, eyes huge as they dutifully combed the scene, trying to resurrect information on her own.

"In the corner," Eddie's voice was sharp and all-business as he pointed to the edge of the picture.

There was another figure slipping into view, silent and lanky. Savitar felt his chest bend and tighten and clench in on itself—instant fury, instant enmity. Red was spiking and darting around the shores of his vision. The intruder was dressed comically, with a doll's mask and soundless steps as he advanced upon Caitlin.

Sometimes I even dream I'm being chased by dolls. She'd told him that, the first night she'd caught him with nightmares here. The red splashed further, looking at the tall, twisting stranger leering at her. Savitar's jaw worked until it ached.

The team in the Cortex didn't speak, glued to the footage. The man was playing with her. He moved as if both muscles and spine were nothing but putty, able to morph into any shape, not simply a series of lines but one big curve in all directions.

"It's him," Eddie breathed, listening to the man's cheery English monologue. "This is the guy she was talking about. The leader."

"Leader?" Stein echoed, shooting Eddie a glance that said he resented not having the most knowledge in the room for once.

"Of the metahumans."

"How many?" Wally demanded. "Rory?"

Eddie nodded. "Rory. Snart too. Caitlin was right. He's probably got others, they could be more dang—"

"There!" Stein shouted, waving a hand again, this time at both Eddie and Wally. His eyes were practically aflame. "Nimbus. He said it. The man who attacked Clarissa, they're in league with one another. Is he himself a metahuman? Are they all—"

"Stop." Savitar thudded out. He only had to say it once. The Cortex was quiet again, apart from the low voices coming from the security footage.

The more the stranger spoke onscreen, the less Savitar felt he could breathe. Park. Linda Park had been a set-up. It was all to keep him occupied while this man came right into the heart of their lives here on Earth-66, right into S.T.A.R. Labs itself and freed their prisoners. Came in and found Caitlin. He could have blown the Labs apart and Savitar would have been indifferent. The only thing in this entire alternate Earth that mattered was the one thing this creature had to take.

Behind him, Wally shuffled to the white winding desk, picking up Caitlin's Bluetooth device. He didn't speak, but Eddie, Stein, and Savitar all gave it a look each. The speedster pictured his friend carefully depositing the earpiece on the countertop before leaving for the Pipeline, oblivious to the danger waiting in the level below this one. Why did she leave them here? Why would she take them off? How could she be so stupid? Swallowing, his eyes returned to the mounted wall screen.

Savitar's head began shaking when Caitlin asked the man what he wanted, and it simply wagged harder and harder as seconds went by. A spray can, a drug of some kind, Caitlin reaching for her necklace—she didn't get the chance—and then the man picked her up effortlessly, scrawny as he was. He carried her carelessly, like a sack, actually slung over his shoulder. The red was all-encompassing.

Then they were gone, and the room was as empty as ever.

Silence filled the Cortex. Savitar snatched the Bluetooth earpiece out of Wally's hand quick as blinking, tossing it onto a nearby chair. It was useless now. Had it ever been much help, really? When it really mattered? Eddie had both hands in his hair now, and West was outright pacing.

Stein remained standing tall and calm, but his jaw was tightened as he spoke. "This explains why we couldn't find Miss Park," he ground through almost-clenched teeth. "That man disappeared beneath the surface of this structure. He contacted her before he left, ergo she must have retreated to the same area. I suppose Harrison Wells never designed your system for underground tracking."

The speedster hardly heard him. He had already come to that conclusion, nearly subconsciously, while the video had played. It didn't matter. None of this information could find Caitlin. Caitlin. She had left her earpiece upstairs and had been taken by a man in a doll's clothes. And where had he been?

Wally was watching him. "Savitar?" His voice was muted. Careful.

Eddie and Stein turned toward the former God of Speed. He could feel their eyes on him. That, too, was inconsequential.

Savitar's eyes remained fixed on the screen. He knew there was nothing to watch anymore, but the sight of the hole in the cell, the sight of the empty Pipeline—it was like the scene itself were laughing at him. He remembered this feeling, this Barry Allen sense of choking, the cold just eating at him. He'd thought—he'd known—he would never have to feel it again. And then Caitlin Snow came along and ruined everything. Where was she to revel in her handiwork? Where had he been?

"It was all a trap." He spat the word, picking up the nearest wireless trackpad and flinging it into the right-hand wall monitor. The screen cracked, smack in the center, showering a handful of sparks down as the trackpad crashed to the floor. The cold feeling didn't subside, and neither did the red, but it still felt good to break something.

"It's not over yet, man," Wally began in slightly shaking tones, but Savitar turned on him.

"He knew I was gone, he knew she was down there!" Savitar used one arm to point stabbingly at the broken monitor, as if the footage were still playing on it. "You were all here! I could've been here! But all he had to do—"

Eddie interrupted him with the voice he doubtless used for people about to jump out a window, but he clearly didn't need a megaphone. He didn't flinch at the aggression either, instead taking a few steps closer. "Wally's right. We can fix this."

Savitar didn't respond. He barely looked at any of them. He was too busy, mind whirling, flashing to the computers at the white winding desk and zipping from keyboard to keyboard, searching for schematics of the city's underbelly. Even the maps sewer workers used seemed either outdated or lacking in detail. None of this gave him a definite clue as to where Caitlin had been taken to. Really, according to these images, she could be anywhere. Including out of Central City.

"I'm getting her back."

"There's no doubt we have to act quickly." Stein moved to the other side of the desk, paralleling Savitar. "But not without a plan. We've no idea what this man wants, or how much he knows. He may be expecting you at every corner. If you go racing down the nearest tunnel, you may take a wrong turn and choke on Nimbus—"

"Or get torched by Rory," added Wally, picking up the trackpad and dropping it on Caitlin's worktable against the wall, not being very gentle. "He's got all kinds of freaks with him."

"If we can figure out exactly where they are, figure out the safest way to get there, it'll save you time." Eddie sat down in the chair beside the speedster, reaching for the keys.

"Get out."

They just stared at him. Savitar heard his own heartbeat in his ears. Weren't they listening? There wasn't time for this. There wasn't time for anything. How long had he been waiting to throw them out of here? How many times had he said this, in how many ways? Didn't they understand, now more than ever?

"I don't want you here, Thawne." Savitar turned from the detective to the professor. "Or you." Glared at Wally. "Or you, or any of you. Caitlin did. I don't need your help—I don't need your skills—get. Out."

"I'm afraid Caitlin is precisely the reason the three of us are here in the first place," Stein countered. "Doctor Snow has committed to helping each of us, as I understand it, and I for one owe her a debt that has yet to be repaid. I can think of no better way to do it than rescuing her from whatever monster has control over this city's largest criminals."

"It's our turn to help her," Eddie agreed, rigid in his seat. "She needs all the help she can get. If we catch this guy, we catch all of them. Rory, Nimbus, Snart, the city's safer when we're done. We're not going anywhere, Savitar."

"You'll slow me down." Savitar returned to the monitor.

"No, man." Wally scoffed. "We'll speed things up."

Savitar's eyes darted up to strike the boy, mouth open to rebuke him, but the look on Wally's face made him pause, just for a moment. Iris' steel was in those big brown eyes, the steel that made Barry Allen shut up and listen. Joe's matter-of-fact tone, the voice of reason, the wisest in the room. It had been a very long time since a West told him what to do.

"You go down there alone, you gonna get yourself killed," Wally went on steadily. "And then what? Caitlin's stuck. Cuz you were too busy playing God to swallow your pride, do the smart thing." He shook his head, chin tilted up. "Yeah, you need us." West held up both palms. "You got an extra pair of hands, the CCPD's best detective, a freakin' genius with way too many PhDs—"

"Five," Stein grunted, adjusting his glasses.

"—you're not gonna use all that? Come on. We can get the job done faster if we work together." Wally held out a hand. "You're not the only one who cares about Caitlin in here. Let us help you."

Savitar stared at Wally's outstretched hand. Stein's were behind his back, and Eddie's were gripping the arms of his chair. Work together. The only person he had ever technically worked together with was trapped in the sewers somewhere. If that was all he had to go on in the way of teamwork, Caitlin had been right. He was in good hands.

For a second, looking at those three nervous, determined people immovable around him, all he could see was Team Flash. The future Team Flash, Team Flash-2024. Looking at him as if he were a particularly poor drawing of Barry Allen instead of the exact copy of the real thing, standing there pleading with them to really see him. To want him.

But he blinked and the vision disappeared. Instead, he really saw them. An engineer's apprentice who took his advice, a cop who had saved him from Nimbus, an old teacher who called him a hero. He didn't have anyone else. And somewhere beneath the cold fear stretching in Caitlin's favor, past the red clouding his gaze, shoving aside the images of 2024's rejections, he wanted them. He wanted people who depended on him, yes, but not the way he had when he'd tried being a god. People who depended on him—and people he could depend on in return. These weren't acolytes, and they weren't Team Flash of 2024. They were something new. Something that could be just his, Savitar's. Not Barry Allen's. If he was willing to try.

He had promised Caitlin one chance.

Refusing to waste any more time, Savitar took Wally's hand.

There was a general murmur of relief. Wally beamed at him, Iris' smile and Joe's firm grip, but the warmth was all his own. "Okay, let's do this," the boy chortled.

Savitar was firm and quick where Barry would have been meaningful and repetitive in his instructions. He went around to the other side of the desk, talking as he walked and the others moved into position. "Wally, you're on comms with Stein. Professor," he added, nodding to the older man, "I need a map of the sewers. A helpful one. Detective—"

Just then, every monitor, every speaker system in S.T.A.R. Labs burst into life. Wally's chair slid backward, and Stein's head snapped toward the remaining wall monitor. Savitar could almost feel his nails digging into his palms through the suit; he recognized the same English accent from the Pipeline footage.

On the screen was the mystery man, zero mask this time, blonde, thin, and not at all familiar.

"Good evening, Savitar!"

"How's he know your name?" Wally demanded, glancing from the speedster to the screen.

"It's not exactly evening," Stein muttered, narrowing his eyes at the video. "Perhaps a different time zone?"

Savitar didn't know, and he didn't care. This was a one-way live call—he could tell from the watermark in the corner of the screen. They couldn't rewind if they missed anything. And they couldn't talk back.

"I know this guy," Eddie murmured. "I've seen him somewhere before."

The man was chattering away, oblivious to the team talking over him. "You are home by now, aren't you? We haven't formally met, I'm afraid, which is fine because I have a feeling it won't be that way for long."

Behind him, the speedster heard Stein hit a few keys. Eddie caught his eye and mouthed recording. A trickle of comfort made its way down the base of Savitar's mind. Having a full team really had been something he'd missed.

"Not once you see who came to visit me, anyway."

Savitar saw the camera—which hardly shook at all in its owner's nimble hands—point over the man's shoulder. He couldn't tell where this was being taken. Wherever it was, it was pitch-black dark, apart from the light of the man's phone shining out as he filmed.

Then a flicker of white-blue, artificial light lit up a beaten old phone booth behind the enemy. Inside, past heavily marked glass and an iron pole smashed into the center of the floor, was Caitlin. The light only flickered for a second, but to a speedster, it could have been an hour. Savitar's head pounded, meeting dark brown eyes he knew couldn't actually see him in return. She was stiff, curled there on the ground. His eyes moved faster than anyone there could breathe. He saw the swollen ankle, four or five zip ties around her wrists, the chain keeping her from reaching her snowflake pendant. She's hurt. Had the intruder wounded her to keep her from getting away? There hadn't been a struggle on the security feed. This must have happened more recently than that.

He went on watching Caitlin as the video continued. The phone booth, the blackness in the background, the man's face and voice didn't seem to really exist. The only thing solid as far as he was concerned was the bioengineer in the corner, trying to look brave.

"Fancy a trip here? You've got…oh, look at that, I forgot to strap on my watch! Let's say twenty minutes. Should be enough time to track us down, eh?"

The video ended, and Savitar exhaled.

Eddie was behind the white winding desk, Wally coming around to join him, and in a few minutes their opposition's picture appeared on each monitor. He looked a little less thin in the photos, but his hair was the same, and so were his beady, unhealthily-bright eyes. It was some kind of poster he featured in.

"We don't have a lot of time," Eddie admitted, talking quickly. "But I knew he looked familiar. Name's Peter Merkel Jr., used to work as a contortionist at his dad's circus. A serious piece of work. Guy was charged with the murder of his castmates and family—and several dozen civilians—after he burned down their tent during a performance. We always assumed he died at the scene, though."

"Merkel," Wally repeated. "Yeah. Iris mentioned him once, I think."

"And that outfit he was wearing—when he got Caitlin—I've seen that before too." Eddie pulled up an old newspaper image of the same costume in some kind of shop, clearly taken from a security camera.

"Ah, yes," Stein grunted, scowling at the photo. "So have I. I remember the newscasters focusing on a particular series of elaborate heists a few years back. A figure dresses as an oversized rag doll, stealing his way through the East Side, as I recall."

Thawne let a hand fall against his side. "After the particle accelerator exploded here, he disappeared. Went completely off the grid. We never did catch him."

"We ought to remedy that," Stein mused. Eddie grinned at him.

Savitar heard all of this, but couldn't linger on it. He didn't want to move.

As soon as Caitlin was no longer onscreen, as soon as everything turned dark, a new wave of red made his throat hot and his muscles tight. It was everywhere. The last time he'd felt this way, he'd been on Infantino Street, looking into Barry's eyes, calling up every inch of pain and torture he'd suffered at the hands of his double. It had given him the roaring, wicked strength he'd needed to drive that metal spear through Iris West's back. Here, it made his hands shake and his sight dim. There was nothing like this rush of anger. Except it was stronger now, the way the cold fear had been stronger in the Pipeline.

Merkel had hurt her ankle. There was a chain around her wrists. She thought she needed to look strong. Caged in a phone booth in the dark.

Savitar didn't realize he was actually vibrating—all of him—until he saw his feet blur beneath him.

Eddie was just behind him, the detective's sharp voice cutting into the red, as if from far away, like he'd been talking for some time and was only at this moment getting close enough to be heard. "…Savitar—we can track the call."

In a stretch of sickly yellow light, Savitar was beside Stein at the monitor. But it wasn't the professor who stepped up to take the controls. Thawne didn't even sit down, hands flying across the keys, using the trackpad only once or twice. The other three stood behind him, Savitar hungrily watching the screen change, change, and change again until a map and a beacon of a yellow circle folding in on itself in a loop pointed him home.

"Right below the center of the city," Stein announced aloud, thumb brushing his chin thoughtfully. "The security footage showed them leaving through their own manufactured exit in the Pipeline. You can use it to make your way to their location."

Savitar pulled on the hood of his suit, turning to flash down to the Pipeline, but the monitors erupted, humoring a new video call from Merkel.

"Hello hello hello!" The Rag Doll waved into the camera. This time there was no photo booth to be seen, nothing but Merkel's wax-like face. "Sorry, see, this is how I know I'm really dreadful at this—first I forget my watch, and now it seems I've forgotten to mention the bomb!"

"Bomb," Eddie repeated, lips barely moving. The word dropped into the air like a stone into a creek, disturbing any shred of calm they may have had on their side.

"Bomb, yes," Merkel replied, as if he could hear the detective. "Savvie, mate, I know I said twenty minutes, but I'm feeling rather gracious. Caity is awfully lovely—pretty girls always did have a bit of a sway over me, I admit it—perhaps she's rubbing off on me? I hear she's a marvelous influence. You'd know, though, wouldn't you?"

Savitar's breathing was heavy, as though something large and metal were sitting on his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eddie give him a warning glance. Wally was at his shoulder, not touching the speedster, but very solidly there all the same. He wanted to feel better with them around, but even hearing Caitlin's name seemed to make the pounding in his head louder. It made the tension of the situation all the more real.

"Anyway, I think she'd like me to give you an hour, considering I mucked up and left the bit about the city-devastating explosive out last time we spoke." Merkel grinned. "Central City just isn't afraid anymore with you around, is it, and I can't have that! So I think half of downtown being burned alive is honestly the best way to go. Don't you? An hour'll do. An hour before burning begins, and I do mean burning everything on this side, Savitar, as in Caity too, you know."

Stein was checking the location of the feed, but as there wasn't much clicking or tapping behind him, Savitar could only assume Merkel was in the same spot as he had been from the beginning.

"Best of luck and all that. Really. Sincerely."

Blackness consumed the screen, and Wally was the first to break the silence this time.

"Okay, we got this. Right? I'm on the comms. Me and Stein'll tell you where to go." The boy took a seat beside the professor and the two began copying Stein's tracker on each monitor.

Savitar nodded, once. He wasn't sure what he'd say if he tried to speak. Thank you felt a little premature. And time-wasting, at this point. He was almost to the exit when the detective stopped him.

Eddie had his gun out. "I'm going with you."

Savitar shook his head. "No."

"You're gonna need backup, and I have the training to disarm—"

"Not underground," Savitar interrupted, raising a hand to shut him up. "Follow me from up here, Detective. Stop talking," he added as Eddie opened his mouth to object, "and listen. I need you above us so that when I get her out, I have someone to get her away from the city if the bomb blows." He paused, and then jerked his chin a little carelessly toward Stein and Wally. "Them too. If there's time."

"Touching," Stein commented dryly, not looking up from the screen.

"Y'all know this is a trap, right?" Wally cleared his throat, pointing to the ceiling as though gesturing to the situation in its entirety.

Eddie and Savitar nodded simultaneously. Stein did glance around, palms open. "Obviously."

"Okay. Just figured somebody had to say it, you know—out loud."

"I'm not worried." Savitar felt the Speed Force charge behind his eyes, felt the red boiling up within him again, preparing to dash down to the Pipeline and into the city's underbelly. "You can't trap a god."

(Author's Note: Shhhh, ScareBare, you're not really a god, don't be such a drama-llama. Let's hear those reviews, J-Squares! I'm so ready. Next chapter coming soon! ~Doverstar)