(Cole's POV)

I sat in a chair across from Caitlin and sighed. A week ago, Joe managed to convince his boss, Captain Singh, that the incident with Deacon was in defense of someone else, something that each of the cops from the scene, including the officer with the pacemaker, Officer Martin Warden, backed up the statement. As a result, my powers were logged in the Central City database in case I ever got out of line and they needed to stop me. Based on the fact that the Meta-cuffs didn't seem to work on me, much to their ignorance, they were gonna have a hell of a time doing it. "That was lucky," she said.

"More like convenient. It's been my experience that luck doesn't really exist." I sparked up my hand as I lazily turned in my chair. "Otherwise all of those people would've survived the Blast and I'd be rotting in a grave right now."

"You act like it was your fault."

"It was. In two ways rather than one. I opened the package and Kessler, who is me, remember? Had the Ray Sphere built and sent to me to detonate. The Blast was absolutely my fault. No luck there."

"You're kicking yourself in the ass for something an alternate version of you did?" I looked at her and saw Frost had taken over.

"More than an alternate me. He wasn't a doppelganger like your Earth-2 self. Kessler was me in a future where I was still with Trish. Where I didn't have to fight my way through a quarantine, gangs and a redneck militia. And after thinking about it, if the Beast had killed my family trying to get to me, I'd have done the same thing. He was me. A broken version of me who lost everything. How he sent me here is a fucking mystery and a half."

"You didn't recoil when I showed up."

"Come on, you're not scary. And you're definitely not the first Ice Queen I've met."

"Who else have you met?"

"Back in my world, Lucy Kuo. She was an Ice Conduit. She's also how I got my Ice Powers." I held up my hand and concentrated. It was more difficult to draw out, but I managed to make my hand emit an icy mist instead of sparking electricity. "She was a bit reluctant to use her Powers, much like how Cait is nervous about trusting you."

"Thank you, for that, by the way. Recently, things have been a bit nerve wracking for her. I doubt she told you, but during Barry's 'sabbatical' I found myself working for a criminal. Amunet Black."

"Let me guess, it's coming back to bite her in the ass."

"And then some. When Cisco came and found her, one of her henchmen confronted him."

"And you know this how?"

"For the last week, we've been keeping a diary about our thoughts. We've discussed about certain things. You in particular."

"Good things, I hope."

"Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Well, we both agree you can be a bit of a smartass."

"That's a bad thing? You ask me, it means I got a sense of humor. Don't ladies find that attractive?"

"She's the lady. I'm not."

"Brr. I think I've got frostbite from that one."

"And that's what I mean."

"This Amunet gonna be a problem?"

"We'll let you know if it does." Frost relinquished control back to Caitlin and she looked at me.

"What did she say?"

"That I'm a smartass and you think I'm attractive for it."

"Now I know you're kidding. We agreed that was your least attractive quality."

"But I'm still attractive." I chuckled as she blushed and went back to writing her notes on my powers. I looked up as Wally walked in carrying a large teddy bear and flowers. "Aw, Wally, I'm flattered but I'm straight."

"Very funny," said the speedster while rolling his eyes. "These are for Jesse. It's date night."

"Jesse… Wells, right? Earth-2 girlfriend?"

"That's right."

"You know, I should get an interdimensional girlfriend of my own. You've got Jesse, Cisco's got Gypsy." I grinned and turned to Caitlin. "What do you say, Cait?" Caitlin blushed a deeper shade of red as she stumbled in her writing. I chuckled before standing up as Wally walked to the Breach Site. I sat beside Caitlin and smiled. "I'm half kidding, you know. I'd like to go on a date with you at some point before I gotta up and leave."

"I… would actually like that, Cole."

"Great."

"Hey guys," said Cisco as he, Barry, and Iris entered the labs. "Where's Wally?"

"Went to the Breach," said Caitlin, covering her blush. "He's waiting for Jesse."

"Oh," said Barry. "Well, let's go say hi."

"You guys go on ahead," I said. "Barry, got a second?"

"Sure, Cole. What's going on?"

"Alright. I'm just gonna out and say it. How accurate is Gideon?"

"How do you…?"

"I stumbled upon Thawne's Time Vault last week before we encountered Deacon. It knew who I was and had a news article about me. But, wouldn't that mean I don't go home?"

"Uh… not necessarily. I mean, it could be you frequently visit our Earth like Jesse and Gypsy. Last year, even Supergirl came over here to help with the Dominator Invasion. There's a lot of pictures about her and speculation about who she is on this Earth."

"Right. Maybe I end up visiting from time to time."

"You're worried."

"Of course I am, man. I'm here on your Earth and I have no idea what happened to mine. The fact that I'm alive means that the RFI didn't kill me. If that's the case then maybe the same is true for the Beast. Cisco's machine isn't working properly and I'm getting kind of freaked here, man."

"Hey, it's all gonna work out, Cole. We're not gonna stop until we get you back to your world, alright?" I sighed and rubbed the top of my head.

"Yeah, alright."

"And hey, I'm sure things are fine on your Earth. Maybe you just weren't affected fully by the RFI."

"Maybe. Thanks for the talk, Barry."

"Oh, any time. Now come on, you want to meet Jesse?"

"Nah. She's your friend. Think I'm gonna hit the town. Don't like being cooped up inside for a week."

"Alright. Oh, hold on." Barry handed me a wallet that felt like it already had some cash in it. "We don't normally do this sort of thing, but considering you're not from this Earth, we had to make an exception. Cisco got into the Central City Database and made you a state ID using the information you gave us. Engineering bachelor from the University of Texas…"

"Nice to see the Longhorns are a thing on this Earth, at least."

"…Got you a job as a courier and you're from Gotham instead of Empire City."

"Gotham… man that sounds so familiar. Ah, well. Thanks."

"Oh, and since you can't interact with machines without shorting them out, we got you cash and Cisco is currently working on a new means of communication since your phone is outdated here."

"Do you know how it still works since I don't have a phone contract on this Earth?"

"Could be you just piggybacked off of the existing contract of whoever has this number on this Earth."

"Well, hopefully they weren't able to listen in on our call last week. Otherwise your secret is blown."

"Here's hoping." I left Barry to say hello to his friend before heading out into the city. I made sure to do some climbing out of the public view and used my Lightning Tether to pull myself to nearby rooftops like a grappling hook. Gotta love static cling. I ran and hopped across several buildings and hovered to cross a few gaps for a few minutes. After about ten minutes, I sat on the edge of a building and let the sunlight bathe my skin. Since getting here, I've only been outside about twice. Been spending more time working with Cisco and Caitlin to better understand what I can do and where my home is. What continued to bother me is the fact that Cisco's machine hadn't already found my Earth. Something about all of this just felt… off. A few minutes later, I answered my new phone as it went off and I spotted Barry running off.

"Talk to me, Cait."

"Just got a report of a bank robbery," she said. "A woman just walked right in and robbed it."

"You want me to go help Barry? What about Wally?"

"Wally's… indisposed at the moment. The bank is just a few blocks north of the labs."

"Alright, I'll provide backup. Gonna have to direct me, Beautiful. I don't know this city like you do."

"Now's not the time for flirting," said a voice from Caitlin's end.

"Who the hell was that?"

"Cole MacGrath," said Cisco. "Meet Harry Wells of Earth-2."

"I'll say hello in person. Cisco, why don't you just Breach me there?"

"Uh… I need line of sight in order to do so, Cole, and I have no idea where you are."

"Fine. Guess I'll go there the fun way. I'm three blocks west of the labs, just tell me where to go." I hopped onto a powerline and started an Induction Grind heading north and following Cisco's directions. I hovered onto a building across the street from the bank and spotted Barry on the ground. I hovered over and landed next to him. "You ok?"

"Yeah. Just slipped on some marbles. How…?" I looked at a cab that was driving off.

"That where the robber went?"

"Yeah. Just be careful, something strange happened when I got close."

"Got it." I stuck a Lightning Tether to the back of the cab and let it pull me toward the car. I looked to my left as I heard a loud horn and grunted as an 18-wheeler smacked into me at full speed. I grunted as I was knocked a block away and stood up.

"Cole," said Cisco. "Buddy? You ok?"

"Get the license of that truck, Cisco." I popped my neck before draining a nearby streetlamp to heal up as Flash ran over.

"You ok," he asked.

"Just peachy. Should count myself lucky heavy hits and falls don't affect me."

"Did you see where the cab went?"

"Not after I got a face full of metal. Cisco?"

"This girl's luck is unbelievable. She got the only Uber in Central City without a working GPS. Both of you get back here. We need to figure out what happened." Cole grabbed my shoulder and tried running. Just like with Wally, my body instinctively drained his energy and I shook my head from the rush.

"Damn. Sorry. Hold on." I concentrated on keeping my powers in check so he could run us back to the lab and I shook my head as we came to a stop. "I don't think I'm getting used to Speed Force energy."

"It happened with Barry," asked Caitlin.

"Yeah," said Barry, sounding worried. "Something like that hasn't happened since Blackout. I thought I could prevent it this time."

"Or my powers work on a different scale than Blackout. I mean, the Conduit Gene and Meta Gene seem to be two different genetic traits."

"Conduit," asked the man from the radio. I turned to him and saw he was tall with short dark hair and wearing a black outfit. His presence just screamed 'I'm smarter than you so shut up and listen.'

"Yeah. Different Earth. You must be Cisco's favorite person just behind Gypsy."

"What is a Conduit?"

"I'm like a Metahuman." I walked over to the computer and looked at Cisco as he pulled up the security feed from the bank. Turned out the camera was being worked on while this woman robbed the bank, so the footage was like a bad found footage movie.

"That's the least secure security footage I've ever seen," said Cisco.

"Yeah," said Barry. "That's not even the strangest thing she made happen."

"Yeah. The marbles tripping you up," I said. "And the truck hitting me out of nowhere. And the cab not having a working GPS. What kind of superpower causes everyone around you to have bad luck?"

"There's no such thing as luck," said Wells. "It's quantum entanglement. Discreet quantum particles are connected, and when triggered, they stimulate a synchronicity that, to the untrained eye… the common eye… could seem like luck."

"So, kind of like when you save a stranger's life and then years later when your life is in danger they are somehow there to save you in return?"

"Not quite, but yes."

"Huh… is there a way to disrupt it?"

"Disrupt quantum particles and essentially break whatever synchronicity is there to begin with?"

"Not permanently. Just long enough to get in close and stop her powers."

"Hmm… maybe. Ramon. Come with me, we're going to test this." I watched as they walked away before spotting Wally sitting on a cot in the lab infirmary. I walked over to him and tapped his arm.

"Everything good man?" He looked up at me and back down at the floor, shaking his head.

"Jesse," he said. "She uh… she broke up with me."

"Damn man. Sorry to hear that." I sat next to him.

"She broke up with me with a cube, man!"

"A cube?" He went on to explain the whole Break Up Cube thing of Earth-2 and I shook my head. "That's messed up." I stood up and went to the fridge before pulling out a couple of beers. I zapped off the caps and handed him one before sitting back down. "What are you gonna do?" Wally hopped off the cot and looked at me.

"I'm going to Earth-2. I… I need to hear this from her in person. Not from a cube."

"Just remember to keep a cool head, man. Going in angry is not a good thing, trust me."

"Got any advice for staying calm?"

"Just keeping it down and vent when everything is said and done. Or, you can focus on good and happy thoughts. Sounds like crappy advice, but it's the only kind I got."

"Better than no advice at all." He handed me back the untouched beer and clapped me on the back before speeding off to the Breach Site. I sighed and walked over to the lab where Cisco and Harry were working on an equation.

"Hey, Wells."

"What," he asked, not turning from the equation. "I'm busy."

"When you're done figuring out a way to disrupt Lady Luck's powers…"

"Unoriginal," said Cisco.

"…You mind figuring out what's wrong with the computer in the lab. Cisco's trying to find the Earth I'm from, but it hasn't found anything yet."

"No. It's working fine. Don't need your help, Harry."

"Did you calibrate the…" started Harry.

"Yes."

"What about…"

"Yes!"

"Cisco," I said. "Swallow your damn pride and let him help, or I swear to god I will fucking zap your ass." I turned to Wells. "Please help me. I need to see if my world is safe or not." Wells looked me in the eye before turning back to the equation.

"I'll fix Ramon's computer when we're done with this," he said.

"Thank you." I picked up the Amp and looked at Cisco. "Did you…"

"No, I didn't do anything to it," he said. "Was busy all week trying to figure out how Deacon became a Meta. He wasn't in Central City when the Particle Accelerator exploded. I did, however, think of a way for you to shoot with it, though. Channel a current through it like you would when shooting a bolt at someone. It won't give you better accuracy, but it should decrease the amount of electricity needed for a bolt. Everything else I suggest you stick with the normal method until I think up of something." I tried holding the Amp aloft but found it was difficult to hold that way. I moved it to the crook of my arm and stared down the shaft towards the prongs as electricity arced between them. I fired off a shot at the wall and grinned as it covered the wall before dissipating.

"It's like an Overload Burst, now. Wider spread with the same output as an Alpha Bolt. That'll do."

"Hey, guys," said Caitlin as she walked in with Barry. "I was digging up information on the Meta that robbed the bank. Her name is Becky Sharpe. She moved here to Central City. She doesn't have any prior criminal history, but she is in the system."

"For what?"

"Well, her car's been rear-ended four times, her identity stolen twice, and her cat was taken by a cat burglar."

"Wait," said Cisco. "As in a cat burglar…"

"Or a burglar of cats," I finished, thinking the same thing.

"Guys," she said. "Be serious."

"Fine, fine. So she was unlucky for I'm guessing majority of her life. You said she moved here three years ago?"

"Yeah. A year after the Particle Accelerator explosion."

"So she wasn't exposed to the first initial wave of Dark Matter," said Cisco. "Just like Deacon."

"Where the hell did these two get exposed to Dark Matter," I asked.

"I think we should find out," said Wells, clearly very frustrated. "Ramon. Allen. MacGrath. Come with me." He picked up a device and Cisco followed after him. I looked at Caitlin as I holstered the Amp.

"Be honest. What am I getting myself into?"

"Old married couple well into their eighties," she said with a smirk. I groaned as I followed them before turning to her.

"Hey, when I get back, let's discuss where to go on our date."

"Wait… date?!" I grinned as she blushed before catching up with the two geniuses and speedster. I stayed silent as Cisco and Wells constantly bickered.

"Is it always like this with those two?" Barry turned to me.

"Uh… yeah. You kinda get used to it," he said.

"God. Hopefully we find the source of Dark Matter soon. I'm about to shock those two to hell."

"This is actually how they get along."

"This is them getting along? I'd hate to see them arguing." We came to a street corner and I looked around. "This is the place? It's just an ordinary street block."

"How could Dark Matter just appear in the middle of nowhere," asked Cisco.

"Wait," said Barry as he looked around. "Wait I know this place. I came out of the Speed Force right here." I looked at him.

"I thought you exited in Ivy City."

"That's where I ran to. But I came out here."

"So you exited the Speed Force," said Wells. "Who knows how many people you exposed to Dark Matter when you did." I watched as a bus drove past us and groaned.

"Well, this shit just keeps getting better and better. We've potentially got a bus load of people suddenly with Metahuman powers."

An hour later, we were back in the lab and I was pacing in the Accelerator. It felt like Kessler was pulling strings all over again. While they were focusing on getting Becky behind bars, my mind focused on the series of events that led to this point. A robot samurai threatens the city's destruction unless he fights the Flash, leading the team to bring him out of the Speed Force. At the same time, a bus of people is exposed to Dark Matter and potentially turned into Metahumans. A memory of the Blast raced through my head and I growled before lobbing a Cluster Grenade in anger and let it explode. This felt like a manipulation. Someone with knowledge of upcoming events setting things up for some sort of scheme. It felt exactly like Empire City all over again. Like someone was pulling the strings. I didn't know I was being manipulated back then. Looking back, it was obvious as hell.

I was asked to deliver a package by name. Kessler watched me carefully to ensure I didn't venture from the path he wanted. He was there right as the Blast occurred but managed to get away before he could be affected by it. He framed me for terrorism, made me a monster in the eyes of the public and murdered Trish, the love of my life, of our life, just so I would have the resolve I would need to fight the Beast. Everything that happened in Empire City was part of his overall plan. And now it was happening again, only I was looking at it from the outside in instead of being the subject of manipulations. Someone wanted Barry out of the Speed Force to make new Metas, but why? Whatever the reason, I'd already thrown a monkey wrench in their plans with the death of Deacon. But there was no way to assume that without further proof, or that they wouldn't have contingencies.

I growled and drained energy from a nearby power box and saw it was colored red. I blinked as I looked at it and thought for a moment. I went over to the others and saw them moping. "You're not cursed. You all should be cursed at," said Wells as he tinkered with something.

"Guys," I said. "There's time for moping later. "Wells. If I'm charged up with negative energy, would that counteract her power?"

"Negative energy?"

"I can control electrical energy. It's linked to my emotions. If I focus my anger, my lightning has a negative charge rather than a positive one. If her power revolves around the swapping of positive and negative particles to benefit herself, would me keeping a negative charge negate her luck effect on me?"

"You're asking me if a negatively charged electron would negate the power of a quantum particle?"

"You're the genius. I'm just a guy who was six credits short of graduating college when I was kicked out. I majored in engineering, not whatever the hell it is you do." Wells sighed before looking at me.

"In theory it should negate the effects to a point. But you need the right amount of negative energy."

"Just means I gotta keep it going." I surged my electricity and covered myself in red lightning. I winced as they started hurting me.

"Have you done this before," asked Caitlin.

"Not for longer than it takes to drain someone. God. Sustaining it is difficult."

"How long can you sustain that," asked Cisco.

"No idea. Never switched to red for long. Just when I needed a drain in a blackout, and I was in a fight." I dropped the lightning and shook my head as I groaned. "Damn."

"Maybe save that for when you confront Becky," said Caitlin.

"Yeah, I hear you. That hurt."

"Weren't you a vampire and using red lightning then," asked Cisco.

"Wait, what," asked Barry. "You were a vampire?"

"Blood Conduit. Oldest Conduits on my Earth. Don't know how they had their powers activated without the Ray Sphere, but they could make other Conduits like them. Worst twelve hours of my life. Zeke thought it was like a virus. Only once the host was destroyed…"

"No more invading cells," said Cisco. "Ok, remind me to come up with something to counter vampires in the future. Anyways, why do you think it didn't hurt then?"

"I don't know if it hurt or not. I don't remember a thing from Pyre Night."

"Maybe being a Blood Conduit dulls your sense of pain, preventing you from getting hurt by it," said Wells.

"Well I'm not looking to test it out any time soon. Do we know where she's at right now?"

"She's at Jitters," said Caitlin. "She tweeted from there a few minutes ago."

"What the hell does tweeted mean?"

A few minutes later, me and Barry, in his civilian clothes, arrived at the café. I looked at him as he nodded to a girl sitting alone. "Who's doing the talking? Me or you?"

"I'll talk with her," said Barry. "Your face has been on the news recently after the incident with Kilgore and she may recognize you."

"Come on. People didn't recognize me on the way in."

"Just… stay back and if I can't talk her down, follow her."

"Alright. I'll hang out by the entrance then." I ordered a basic coffee and sat in a chair by the front entrance at Becky's back. I looked around and started thinking on how things could go wrong. To me, Becky's power seemed to work like a Rube Goldberg machine, causing a domino effect of events that lead to her good luck. Pluck the right domino, and it all falls apart.

"Stupid machine," muttered the barista as their latte machine started acting up. I walked over.

"Excuse me," I said. "I know some engineering tricks. Mind if I take a look?" She looked at me and gasped.

"You're the Megawatt!"

"Mega-what?"

"The meta from the news who helped that cop!"

"Could you please keep it down? Can't work if people are hounding me."

"Oh, uh… sorry." I gestured to the machine as I ignored Becky's eyes on me.

"You mind?"

"Uh… go ahead, but we have someone who works on this thing for us."

"Consider this a good deed." I started tinkering with the machine, using its latent electricity to heal whatever burns I got. I saw Becky start leaving for the exit and zapped it with red lightning, magnetically locking the doors in place. She exclaimed as they shocked her, and I finished working on the machine. "There, that should do it. Now, if you'll excuse me." I walked over to the doors and leaned on them as she tried to open them. "What's the hurry?" She glared at me.

"Excuse me, I have somewhere to be," she said.

"What? Got another bank to rob?" She glanced at me and I pointed to the bench beside us, arms sparking with red lightning. "Sit. Down." I waved Barry over and we boxed her in to prevent her from running. "Now then, ma'am, we need to take you in. You know that, right?"

"Just when my luck was finally looking up…"

"Listen. Your luck was doing more than going up, you weren't just robbing banks, you were robbing good luck. Keep this up and you're bound to end up killing someone on accident. How would you feel then?"

"…Pretty shitty… I just… I wanted things to be great for me for once! You don't know what it's like being jinxed!"

"Maybe we don't. But you can't say that justifies putting others in danger," said Barry.

"Now," I continued. "You've got two options, Becky. "One, use your power to try and get out of this the dirty way and potentially threaten the lives of everyone including yourself, because luck always runs out eventually, or you can let us call Barry's friends at the CCPD, come in quietly and return the money, and you can get a reduced sentence as well as hopefully some community service rather than federal prison. Or take option 3 and…" I held up my hand and sparked red lightning between my fingers."

"Cole." Becky stared at my hand and sighed. She held up her arms and Barry placed the Meta-cuffs on her before standing up and making the call to Joe. I turned to her as she sighed and sipped from her latte that she placed on the table when I forced her to sit down.

"There's one thing I gotta do first before the police arrive, Becky."

"What?"

"Just… sit still." I placed my finger on her temple and Pulsed, allowing flashes of her memory course through my mind.

Oh, thank god! I thought I was gonna have to wait another hour! Stupid heel. Oh, compose yourself, Becky, there's people here and you're dressed like a hooker with a broken heel.

Whoa! What was that just now?! Was that the Flash?! Is he back?!

*gasp* Holy crap! A hundred bucks! Oh, universe! Thank you!"

I shook my head as she stared at me. "Y-you just…"

"Saw your memories, yeah. Look, every dog has their day, alright? Sometimes you need to find the good in the bad. I know it's shitty advice, but I know what I'm talking about. Life gives you a bad hand. But…" I held up my hands and sparked normal blue lightning. "You take your bad hand and roll with it. See this? Kind of a double-edged sword. Its got ups and downs. It takes a lot to make sure I don't seriously hurt or kill anyone. Moderation is key. Keep that in mind, Becky."

"What was your name?"

"Cole MacGrath. Though, I guess people are calling me Megawatt."

"I'll try and find some moderation, Cole." I nodded before escorting her to the police cruiser that pulled up a few minutes later. Barry turned to me as the cruiser drove off.

"Did you find out anything?"

"Bus 405. There were twelve passengers and the driver. Let's get back to the lab, I think I can pass these memories to you to draw them out."

"Alright." Barry grabbed my shoulder when no one was looking and we arrived at the lab. I put my finger to his temple and sent him the memories. Barry worked fast and started drawing as I turned to Caitlin.

"Is Wally back from Earth-2?"

"Wally was on Earth-2?"

"Was I seriously the only one who noticed? He went to talk with Jesse. Had to hear what happened in person not from a cube or from her father."

"I guess everyone was too caught up in what was going on to notice. Joe's house is falling apart, Barry and Iris are in couple's counseling and were having trouble with landing a venue, Cisco was in the doghouse with Gypsy…"

"And let me guess, Amunet came calling for you?" Caitlin stayed silent for a moment before changing the subject.

"Hey, did you have any bad luck today?"

"Other than getting side barred by a big rig? Not really."

"MacGrath," said Wells from the computer. "Come here."

"Then again, it may just change." I walked over to the computer as Barry set the drawings of the riders of bus 405 on the clear board. "Let me get a scan of you."

"Yeah. The faster I find my Earth, the better."

"Ok," said Barry. "Thanks to Cole we have an image of each of the Metas of Bus 405." I looked at each of them and nodded when they matched up with the memories from Becky. "And… me and Joe know one of them."

"Which one?" He pointed to a drawing he placed on the bottom right of the board.

"His name is Ralph Dibny. He was a dirty cop. Nowadays he's a private investigator."

"Dirty cop?"

"…Let's not go into it right now."

"MacGrath," said Wells. "You are from another Earth, right?"

"Uh… pretty sure, why?"

"Because according to your vibrational frequency…" He turned a tablet towards me and showed a a graph with two lines showing identical motions. "You're from this Earth. Not a different one."