Chapter 36: Something of a Happy Ending

Watching the rest of Task Force X helping other A.R.G.U.S. agents take the remaining fugitives into custody, Oliver, Barry, and Kara gave Amanda and Slade flat looks.

"How did they escape?" Barry asked quietly, deathly serious for once.

"We don't know." Slade responded tiredly. "Somebody hacked the prison's systems and released them. Why they came back here is still unclear, however – we're starting interrogations when we get back."

"And as for the Fort Rozz escapees, according to our team in Coast City, someone transmitted a feed of Miss Danvers flying here. I assume they came here for revenge as well, but…" Amanda bit her lip, thinking silently. She needn't say anything, they could all tell that didn't sound right. Metas and aliens working together? When they didn't even know their respective vigilantes were in cahoots until recently? The entire situation was off, and experience had taught them all not to take anything at face value.

"And Astra?" Kara asked, her hands opening and closing.

Amanda perked up, but only just. "Still in captivity. We were actually in the process of transferring her to another cell – this one using red sunlight lamps instead of Kryptonite emitters to suppress her abilities – when the breakout happened. As bad as all those metahumans being released are, Astra on the loose would've been even worse, so we completed the transfer and then went after the metas. Unfortunately, by the time we were done they were already on the way here."

Barry rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner. "This is all too coincidental. The metas, the aliens, Thawne, the Particle Accelerator, that damn portal – someone orchestrated all of this to happen."

"But who?" Oliver postulated, dread creeping on him. "It couldn't have been Thawne – he had no access to technology in his cell, and even if he did, he still needed you to get him back home. He was obviously expecting you to accept his deal. There's no way he would've arranged this beforehand, it risks setting his timetable back by several months, it risks you,and he was already prepared for the endgame, whether you accepted or not."

"There's another player in this game." Barry sighed. "It's not just my timeline that was screwed up, remember? Kara's timeline was screwed up too, and her divergence point was long before mine. There's another person involved in all this, messing with us, playing us. Someone who wanted Thawne out of the picture but didn't want me to win."

"Are we even sure he's dead, though? That portal could've led anywhere." Slade pointed out.

"It is possible he survived." Barry conceded. "Wherever he is, though, something tells me it's somewhere we can't follow. And whoever this other player is, they were banking on that."

Kara groaned. "This is just one big mess. Why can't things ever be simple?"

"That's life for you." Barry stated bitterly, startling everyone. With dawning realization on their faces, Oliver, Kara, and Slade all made to comfort him.

But Barry wouldn't have it. "Don't." He pleaded, sighing. "I'll figure it out eventually."

Cisco pushed his hand outwards once more, trying to reach deep within himself, and then –

The mannequin fell backwards, singed from the mysterious blue energy that emitted from his hand.

"Yes!" The mechanical engineer pumped his fist, elated.

Off to the side, Ronnie, Caitlin, and Stein watched in slight awe.

"Well, I'll be." Ronnie muttered to his fiancée, who gave a small chuckle of her own.

"I wonder what else I can do?" Cisco asked them, holding up his hands in glee.

"Well, with Thawne I guess we've got a lot of time to figure that out, don't we?" Caitlin smiled at her best friend.

"You think I can become a superhero?" Cisco suggested to her, causing her smile to falter.

Caitlin shook her head. "Cisco, I don't think that's a great idea." she told him gently. "You could get hurt."

"Barry goes out there all the time and he does just fine." Cisco argued back.

"Barry's trained, Cisco."

Cisco shrugged. "So? Why can't I be trained too?"

"Don't bother trying to reason with him, Caitlin." Barry told the bioengineer as he entered the Cortex. "He'll just go behind your back anyway. And with that being said," he clasped a firm hand on Cisco's shoulder, "I'll train him."

"You will?" Both scientists chorused, one in relief and one in dread.

"I will. It won't be easy, though." He warned his friend.

"Something tells me it'll be worth it!" Cisco grinned.

"Trust me, by the time I'm done, you're not going to feel like that at all." Barry noted, smiling, slightly sadistically. "It's not just your powers, after all, that will be going through the ringer."

Everyone paused at that, and then Cisco suddenly paled.

"Can I retract my previous statements?" He squeaked.

"No." Barry notified cheerfully as Caitlin smiled smugly.

"Francisco Ramon, Ronald Raymond, and Martin Stein." Amanda muttered under her breath on her way back to the base. Her smile was knife sharp.

Better keep an eye on them. Something tells me they'll be good additions to the team one day.

The moment he got home, Barry found himself with an armful of Iris. He blinked, his mind briefly going back to Eobard's words, before he mentally shook them away. He could ruminate on that later.

"Hey. What's wrong?" He asked, feeling his best friend's trembling.

"We heard about the attack on S.T.A.R. Labs." Barry looked up to see Joe standing up from where he was sitting on the couch. "Singh was about to send in a team to investigate until the army – again – appeared and told them it was no longer under our jurisdiction." Joe looked pointedly at his foster son. "What happened there, Barry? You've been incommunicado for hours, and we've been worrying ourselves sick."

Iris let go of her best friend to also look at him sternly, though the undercurrent of worry in her eyes diminished the effect. Barry sighed.

"I'm sorry. What happened at the lab, I can't say. It's been classified, and I've been given a gag order. What I can say, however, is that Dr. Wells is dead."

"…What?" Joe gasped. "And you're absolutely positive you can't say anything else?"

"Not a peep. I want to, trust me, there's something you really need to know, but I can't." Barry exhaled in frustration.

Iris pursed her lips. "Let's forget about all that for now, there's nothing we can do about it. How about you? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" Barry stated drily, only to wince slightly when Iris glared at him.

"Don't sass me, mister."

"Fine, fine. Don't worry – I stayed out of the line of fire. Nothing more than a few scratches."

"Good. And now, you can join us when we visit Eddie in the hospital later today."

Barry blinked, mask already settling in. "Eddie? What happened to him?"

"The Streak." Iris confessed, Barry let his eyes widen, imitating shock. "Eddie managed to get the drop on him the other night along with the rest of the task force. They even managed to dampen his speed. Unfortunately, it seems the Streak is far more dangerous than first assumed – he took out most of the team and then knocked out Eddie himself after a brief fight. He got knocked pretty hard, and they're keeping him in the hospital for observation, just to make sure it isn't anything major."

Barry crossed his arms, frowning. "This city has gotten a lot more dangerous lately."

Joe mirrored his actions, eyes narrowing. "Agreed. And something in my gut is telling me that isn't going to change anytime soon."

A few days later, Barry was arriving at S.T.A.R. Labs, looking to continue the cleanup effort, when he saw man standing in front of the building, observing the damage. Upon noticing Barry, he smiled.

"Barry Allen?" He held out his hand, which Barry took warily.

"Yes. And you might be?"

"I'm Greg Turk. An attorney at Weathersbee and Stone. I'm also the manager of Harrison Wells' estate in lieu of his death."

"Uh huh." Barry pulled a small face. "I'm assume you're here to survey the damage?"

Turk shook his head. "Not exactly. Can I come inside? We need to talk."

Barry continued to watch him suspiciously as they headed inside the building.

Joe West blinked as he noticed his foster son enter the precinct, face pale. In his hands was a flash drive, gripped so tightly that his knuckles were almost white.

"Barry?"

The speedster placed the drive on his desk, his arm almost trembling. "You need to watch that."

Joe raised an eyebrow. "Okay. When I get home tonight–"

"No." Barry stated firmly. "You need to watch that today."

"Barry. What's wrong?" Joe asked, concern welling up in him.

"Nothing's wrong, Joe." Barry shook his head, and Joe blinked as he began to smile. "On the contrary, for once, everything's going to be just fine."

Short chapter, I know. I was tempted to merge this with the next one – which is also supposed to be rather short – but honestly, I didn't want to. Next chapter, we tie up Barry's storyline, and move on to Oliver's.