Chapter 23: Disco Inferno

"It's lined with lead." Barry announced, looking the bug over with a magnifying glass. "That's why neither you nor Kal-El where able to detect it during your annual scans."

"How about sound? Why was Slade able to hear it and not us?" Kara asked, leaning over his shoulder.

"My guess? Luck. The bug's been designed to be almost entirely silent. The only time it makes noise is when it's being activated, a static that's so quiet that you would only hear it, and only if you were specifically searching for it. Slade, however, being paranoid, would keep his ears alert at all times, and since they weren't expecting someone other than you two to be able to hear it…" Barry shrugged.

Oliver frowned. "Can you back trace the signal?"

Barry shook his head. "It's not a strong transmitter. Only supposed to go as far as across the street. My guess is that a Kryptonian with supervision was spying on Kara and using this to listen in to the apartment. With Slade finding the bug, when it fails to transmit, they'll know they've been had and stop their surveillance of the apartment."

"Another dead end, then." Oliver sighed.

Kara sympathized with him. "The only thing we know from all this is that they know who Kal-El and I really are. We need to be more careful."

"If we be anymore careful, we're only going to inconvenience ourselves, Kara." Oliver pointed out.

"I'm not saying we should be throwing our families and friends into bunkers and throwing away the key. I'm saying we need to be more vigilant. This?" She picked up the bug, holding it up for both of her older brothers to see. "This shouldn't have eluded me. We need to be more vigilant. Keep ourselves more aware of our surroundings. All three of us our stuck in our own conspiracies, and getting lax will get us all killed."

"Kara, that is not your fault. We are as vigilant as we've ever been. We aren't gods. No matter how skilled, how powerful we all are, we aren't perfect. We're just going to have to accept the fact that some things like this are going to fall through the cracks." Oliver calmly rebutted. Kara crossed her arms, defiant.

Beep!

The argument stopped there. Barry got up from his chair and went to the computer, clicking the message open. "We got a name, and a redacted file."

"League?"

"League. The rogue's name is Al Sa-Her."

"Pizza?" Barry noted the many boxes from his place in the back of the van, idly clicking on some of the surveillance gear. He nonchalantly opened one and removed a slice, shoving it into his mouth with little abandon.

"Cheap, filling, and Ronnie's favorite." Caitlin, sitting across from him, took a slice of her own and began to nibble on it. They were staking out the Steins' house, waiting for Ronnie to appear. In another car a little ways off was Cisco and Dr. Wells doing their own surveillance.

Barry smirked. "Peace offering?"

"If he torches you, yes. Otherwise, I imagine he hasn't had a decent meal in a while. Last I saw him, he looked rather…ragged."

"Let me guess – he looks like a hobo."

Caitlin grimaced. "Not an inaccurate comparison. He's going to need a lot of work when we get back to the lab."

Barry nodded along, taking another bite of his pizza. "And you and Dr. Wells have got a cocktail of meds prepped and ready to deal with the warring minds?"

"Yes. I just hope they'll work."

"We're flying blind here, Caitlin. They're going to have to." Barry pointed out.

Caitlin sighed. "Barry, if Ronnie can't be cured…are you…"

"…going to kill him?" Barry finished for her, causing the bio-engineer to flinch. "Of course not, Caitlin. If he's hurt anyone, it's obviously wasn't by choice."

"And how are you sure of that?" Caitlin couldn't help but ask, slightly accusatory.

"Because of you." He replied calmly, stopping her anger cold. "You told me how he 'died' the first time Caitlin, and I trust you enough to know you wouldn't lie about something like that." Caitlin continued to glare, causing Barry to groan and return her gaze.

Barry stared hard at her. "Caitlin, I know you don't like me. I know you don't like my methods. But make one thing perfectly clear – I'm not going to harm someone who's only looking for help. Not intentionally, in any case."

Caitlin shrank back at that. Of course, she should've known that. Ever since Barry entered the service of S.T.A.R. Labs, he had been taking care of metas left and right. That being said, he was only brutal with those who were looking to profit off their powers with crime and cause harm to innocent people. Roy Bivolo, or Rainbow Raider as she had called him,, nearly had his eyes gouged out after one of his heists left several dozen people in the hospital. While they were still left intact in the end to the point he could somewhat see, he knew better than to try to use them in such a fashion again, especially against the Streak, and was left to rot in the Pipeline.

By contrast, Barry was far kinder to Danton Black, though only after learning his story. He had offered to help Black expose Stagg, reasoning that being exposed would be a far worse fate than just killing him, but Black had been too far gone after the death of his wife, and if he couldn't have the head of Stagg, he'd rather die. Which he did do, by his own hand. The same had happened with Farooq Gibran, but Farooq was too focused on revenge on Harrison Wells and Barry had been forced to kill him in defense of Cisco and Caitlin.

To Bette San Souci, he was comparatively angelic. It was clear that Barry wanted her to make something of her life – if not as a hero, then as something else. But Plastique had unfortunately been recaptured by the government, and, judging by the later explosion off in the outskirts of Central City not long afterwards, killed by them as well. It was this particular incident that had convinced Caitlin that she could ask Barry for his help regarding Ronnie. Surely, Barry would understand.

And he did. And Caitlin doubted him regardless.

"I'm sorry."

Barry sighed. "It's alright. I understand where you're coming from. I can be a little…rough."

"Why is that by the way?" she asked suddenly, curiosity getting the better of her.

"I imagine you and Cisco already have an idea as to why." Barry leaned back, grabbing another slice of pizza.

"You weren't alone on the island, that much we guessed." she admitted. "But even then, you've shown knowledge and understanding that you couldn't have learned there, being that isolated from society. The only explanation would be if you weren't always on the island."

"And I wasn't."

Caitlin blinked. "Pardon?"

"Your assumption is correct. I wasn't always on the island." Barry took a gulp of water from the bottle beside him. "In fact, I spent most of the last ten years off of it."

"Why didn't you go back home, then? Where did you go?"

"If I answered that honestly, I would have to kill you."

Noting his serious tone, Caitlin swallowed audibly. "You're not joking, are you?"

Barry shook his head. "I'm not. If I told you, I would kill you, if only to spare you from a far worse fate." He exhaled. "Where I went, Caitlin, let's just say it was a place that wasn't very kind. It was also somewhere that is far older than you and me and will endure long after you and I pass from this world. Their ideals, morals, sense of justice, are all…unconventional, to say the least. So, listen to me when I tell you, you are better off not knowing that part of my past."

Caitlin slowly nodded, and slumped against the wall of the van. "Is that why you didn't return home?"

"Partly. If I made any contact with Iris or Joe or even my dad, they would've killed not only me, but also them. It was only recently that I was able to return with no consequences. I suspect that had it not been for certain…circumstances, I would've had to wait for far longer to leave."

"What kind of circumstances?"

Wordlessly, Barry lifted his arm, which began to vibrate. Caitlin, getting the message, nodded, and went for another slice of pizza.

"'The Magician' – you know, even with knowing that we have access to a magical hot tub that can revive the dead, I'm almost positive this name is metaphorical." Kara commented. She and Oliver were currently driving to a clothing store for a fitting, and Kara was looking through the digital file the League had sent on her iPad (a Christmas gift from Moira)

Oliver snorted. "Of course it is. Everything in the League is metaphorical on some level. I imagine someone who earned the name of 'The Magician' is someone good at tricks, simple deception, which fits the profile of our rogue. He tried to trick me using the attire of the League, figuring the next time a member showed up in town I'd kill them and get myself killed in the process when they found out. It's brilliant when you think about it. Too bad it backfired on him."

"And in the worst way possible, too. Now we know he's here and know that he doesn't want you sniffing around something." Kara noted, continuing to scroll down the file.

"Anything notable about the profile they sent?" Oliver asked.

"He was initiated about nineteen years ago, but only trained and served for about two years. According to the file, this was because in his life prior to the League, he had already mastered most of the supplementary training and had his extracurricular training waved. In exchange, he acted as Ra's horseman for those two years, before finally being released on the grounds that uphold the League's ideals and principles." Kara said, finally closing the file and deleting it (there was a backup on the Foundry's computer). "While helpful, we still have no idea where to start. We don't know where he came from, when he moved to the city, his motives…"

Oliver frowned. While Kara was correct, there was something in the file that had caught his attention. The timeframe in which Al Sa-Her had entered the League and left, it sounded very familiar…

He was broken from his thoughts when he saw the store, and made a right turn, parking the car on the side of the street. "We're here."

Kara looked out the window and clicked her teeth nervously. "Honestly, your mom loves to spoil me. Getting me a brand new outfit, all for this one event."

"You're family, Kara. Dad said so himself. Plus, I think she's still planning on setting you up with Carter Bowen." Oliver smiled cheekily.

Kara blanched. "That tool?"

Kara and Carter's initial meeting had not gone well, to say the least. While Carter and Janice Bowen were amiable enough to the returning Oliver, the moment they saw Kara and her familiarity with the Queens, it was as if a fire lit under Carter's ass, and not the good kind. He had immediately started posturing, boasting about his many achievements, and failing to flirt with her. While Moira and Janice seemed rather oblivious to his showboating and tried pushing Kara to talk to him, Kara was not, nor was Oliver and Thea. She had tried to be polite, but knew even her threshold was failing, especially after Oliver found an opening to ditch and head to Laurel's. Eventually, however, she had enough, made a blatant excuse, a fake smile to Carter, and a walk-run to the car.

"I though she loved me!" Kara cried out. "Why him?"

"Well, on paper, he's a great catch." Oliver pointed out as they got out of the car.

"Yeah, if I were some money-grubbing gold digger. The guy's an ass. And according to you and Laurel and Tommy, he's always been like that." she grumbled.

Oliver shrugged. "He's going to be there either way, Kara. Might as well accept it and prepare yourself."

"Why did Malcolm invite the Bowens to the ceremony anyway? And better yet, why would they accept? Last I checked, they aren't as close to the Merlyns as they are to your family." Kara asked, crossing her arms.

"Being named Humanitarian of the Year by the city is a huge honor, and that makes it a status marker. Uncle Malcolm just doesn't want to snub anyone." Oliver explained as they arrived at the store.

"That was way easier than it should've been." Barry announced as the loaded the unconscious Ronnie into the car.

And it was. The moment Ronnie arrived on the scene, Barry changed into his suit and jumped him, knocking him down. The fire throwing metahuman had recovered quickly, however, and started throwing fireballs and flying upwards to get a better vantage point, at which point Barry decided enough was enough and threw lightning at him, unceremoniously ending the fight.

"Well, that's only to be expected when you THROW LIGHTNING AT HIM!" Caitlin screeched after shutting the door.

Barry waved her off. "Don't worry, I knew he could take it."

"Still!"

"Would you rather he set fire to Clarissa's rosebushes? Or Lily's car? Or maybe allow the entire house to catch fire?" Barry pointed out the very nice house across the street.

Caitlin groaned.

"I am impressed, Barry. I didn't know you had such an ability." Harrison Wells stated genially, a calculating look in his eye.

Barry shrugged. "I worked it out in the first couple of months I had my powers. It's not like I had much to do." He turned his eyes back to the window, where Caitlin was testing Ronnie on the other side, and then looked down at the readings. "He's going to go nuclear, isn't he?"

Harrison sighed and nodded.

"I suggest a Quantum Splicer!" Barry shouted over all the bickering.

Harrison blinked at him. "How do you know what a Quantum Splicer is?"

Barry just smiled blandly at him.

Jor-El was quite the conversationalist for a glorified database.

Sorry everyone, I need to take a short break. Get the creative juices flowing. On the bright side, Arc II's planning is finally done, so I now I can completely focus on writing the chapters. After this arc is over, though, I will take a short sabbatical of two weeks or so, both to plan Arc III and start the general for another story. This trend will continue until I finish Arc V (the half-way point), where I take a sabbatical of three to six months from this story, so I can write something else. Oh, I made a small continuity correction in Chapter 19 involving the fate of Cyrus Vanch. He's dead.