West Household [Central City]
12:23 pm
It had been two weeks since Jessie attacked Dalton Academy. During the first week, Kara, Alex and J'onn continued to try and find his location, hoping that they still had time to get him. Barry had fully healed by the time they had gone back to their earth. Oliver and Team Arrow had returned to Star City after Vigilante had made his reappearance.
"Iris, do you mind helping me in the backyard?" Joe asked his daughter.
They were planning on having a barbecue, the entirety of Team Flash to sort out the tension between themselves and Barry after the whole secret. Barry was currently lying on the couch, Iris sat next to him as they watched an old sitcom on the TV. Barry didn't bother to look up as Iris stood up and went to help her father.
"Barry, you okay?" Cecile asked, placing herself in Iris' seat beside Barry. He turned to her slowly, his lips in a tight line as he did. She could tell he wanted to reply, say something but he didn't. He focused his attention back onto the TV.
"Bear?" She tried once more, sighing softly as he didn't even bother to look at her. He had been like that with them all. He had been ignoring them as best as he could, and they knew it was hurting him more than themselves. Whilst he had been ignoring them, he had began speaking to his friends from High school a lot more.
"You know, I'm sure their intentions were good when they kept that secret from you," she began, standing up, "We can tell that you know that too"
Cecile sighed once more as Barry didn't respond to her. She turned around and left Barry alone in the room, letting him mull over her words.
"I can't just forgive and forget, just yet," Barry whispered to himself, closing his eyes to try and calm himself down. He wasn't about to break down. Not yet.
Lima [Ohio]
The same time
"So, you're 100% sure that your dad doesn't mind us holding these meetings in here?" Thad asked Stacey. Thad, Nick, Jeff, David and Stacey were all in Alan's study room whilst they were trying to figure out Jessie's true motives.
"Like I told you last week," Stacey began, "He is completely okay with it"
Nick and Jeff smiled at each other, holding hands as they listened to Stacey explain to Thad why he was fine with it. After the whole Jessie incident, Dalton had closed for good, there were just too many bad moments there as of recently. It was painful to hear the news, but they understood why. That first attack on Dalton had hurt, it had left its marks on so many students. Now, students had actually died. There was no way that Dalton could ever come back from something like that.
"So, Hunter just vanished?" David asked, looking more interested in the conversation.
Stacey nodded, grabbing her phone and pulling up her's and Barry's messages. She passed her phone to the older man and he read them all. It was true. Barry's friend Kara, who looked exactly like McKinley's very own Marley Rose, had clarified that Hunter had gotten away when she went to go rescue Vibe and Killer Frost.
"That's messed up," David began, "I mean who points a loaded gun at a two-year olds head?"
"Jessie apparently," Thad scoffed. They knew Jessie wanted to be feared but that was something else. He didn't care about people other than himself.
"Is your dad still throwing that gala at the lake house?" Nick asked, turning to Stacey.
After the events at Dalton, her father had decided to hold a gala/ fundraiser to help support the families who had been affected the most. He had asked the New Directions and The Warblers to perform but she knew that he really wanted Barry to perform. He was hoping that Barry would still be in Ohio but he wasn't by the time he had decided to do it, so he gave up on hoping that his nephew would turn up so he decided to invite the clubs that had been affected greatly.
"Yeah, he is," Stacey said, taking her phone back from David.
"Is he gonna have security there?" Jeff asked. Now, he wasn't as smart as the others but he had seen enough TV shows to know that there was a high chance that the criminals would try to bust the gala. Especially if they wanted someone to suffer the worst.
"No, he's not.." Stacey led off, coming to the same conclusion as Jeff.
"Well then, let's convince him to bring some." David concluded, standing up and heading towards the door. Stacey, Nick, Thad and Jeff followed after him. This could be their chance to finally get Jessie once and for all.
Foundry [Star City]
The same time
Felicity was busy looking into Jessie's disappearance when she spotted something. Oliver, John and Thea turned to the hacker after hearing her stop rapidly typing. They all saw the look she had on her face and they all felt uneasy. Hopefully it was nothing bad.
"I think I know where Jessie might be attacking next," She said.
She put what she had seen up on the monitors on the wall and waited for their reactions. Only Oliver gasped. Thea and Diggle looked at the pair confused. Of course they didn't understand what the big deal was. It looked like a normal gala poster for them.
"Oliver, we need to warn Barry," Felicity said, gaining Oliver's attention. He nodded and pulled his phone out, dialing Barry's number.
"Wait, what's the big deal?" Thea asked. She didn't know anything about Sebastian Smythe; Barry's alter ego.
"Nothing bad will happen, it's just a gala" John added, supporting Thea's questioning face.
"Yeah, but it will go bad," Felicity contradicted, watching as Oliver left the room from his call with Barry.
"It will go horribly wrong, especially if said gala was being held by Barry's uncle" She added, not bothering to look up and see their reactions. The silence they were in told her everything. She continued to work until a red blur appeared, standing in the middle of the room as he calmed down from the run. Oliver walked in moments later, his phone off as he looked at his friend.
"Damn, you're fast" Thea muttered under her breath and John simply chuckled softly. Either in disbelief or because of Thea's reaction was unknown but they didn't care.
"Looks like I gotta make a phone call," Barry said to Oliver, nodding his head at the older man before walking out of the room.
"Jessie wants for Barry to suffer, that's the main reason he took Barry's kid," Oliver explained, "and so if his uncle is throwing a gala like that, I can guarantee that Jessie will make an appearance"
Lima [Ohio]
12:34 pm
Alan looked at his lake house in awe. He had hired decorators to turn the place into a professional house set up and it looked stunning.
He turned his attention from the house to his phone when it began ringing. Checking who it was, a smile lit up his face as he answered. It was about time this kid decided to speak to him again.
"Hey, Bas," He said, smiling widely.
"So, word on the street is that you're hosting a gala," Barry began and Alan knew why he was mentioning it. After the fallout at Dalton, he didn't want the same thing to happen at the gala.
"You heard correct, kiddo," He said, finding a rogue seat and sitting in it.
"Well, I've got a favour to ask," Barry started.
Alan just nodded his head as he listened to his nephew ramble on. He made very valid points.
"I'll see what I can do," Alan answered, "Also, I'll make sure that the invites get sent"
"Thank you," Barry said, "I'll see you soon then"
"Take care, son," Alan said, ending the call.