Chapter 57: Beneath the Surface

Barry had a very uncharacteristic frown on his face as he all but stomped into the Cortex. Caitlin briefly looked up from her place in the infirmary at the sounds of his steps, then got back to her work immediately. There was no way she was dealing with her friend while he was in that kind of mood.

Cisco, unfortunately, did not have the luxury. While he was thankful for the lull in his recently restarted training, having to deal with Barry when he was one bad day away from slaughtering every criminal in Central City almost made him regret it. Almost.

"We got anything?" The speedster all but demanded, leaning over the other side of the computer monitors.

"You," Cisco pointed to Barry, mindful of keeping his finger far away before his friend could bite it off his hand, "I have no clue. As for me, however, nada. I've hacked into like every camera feed in the city and used facial recognition, and gotten zero pings. The dude's a ghost."

"I'd be impressed if he hadn't made a wreck of my city and nearly killed Iris." Barry all but snarled, incensed. "Come on, there has to be something. The guy might have weather powers, but he's a crook, not a criminal mastermind."

"And yet, he's managed to evade you for this long." Cisco countered, only to take a step back when Barry directed his glare at him. "I'm just saying, you don't have to be geniuses like us to be clever, Barry. He avoided detection from us for a long time; hell, we didn't even know he existed."

"I did." Barry admitted, anger now directed towards himself. "I knew he existed. I just assumed he died during the Particle Accelerator Explosion when he failed to show up alongside his brother. I should've known better — bastard probably skipped town when he realized what he could do. Went out of the country and learned how to harness his powers in some place remote so none of the Justice League could find him."

Cisco furrowed his eyebrows. "And why do you suppose he came back?"

Barry narrowed his eyes. "For his brother. You saw their dossier in the CCPD database. The Mardons are — were — scum, but even scum love their families."

Cisco blinked. "Wow. And you managed to figure all that out on conjecture without a hint of the evidence I could have given you."

Now it was Barry's turn to look confused. "What?"

Instead of answering, Cisco pulled out a police report on one of the plasma screens. Barry fisted his hands when saw it - the Head Coroner at the City Morgue had just recently been murdered under mysterious circumstances.

"According to the preliminary analysis of the CSI on the case, our dear coroner was most likely murdered via concussive force to the chest via some kind of large piece of hail. Sound familiar?" Barry growled. "Not only that, they lifted some audio from an automated dictation system that the coroner had installed for autopsy reports. The attacker was demanding the name of whoever killed Clyde Mardon."

"And you couldn't tell me any of this sooner!?"

"I didn't even know any of this happened until recently. The murder just hit the news. And even then, it doesn't really matter - this report didn't tell us anything that we didn't already know."

Barry palmed his face. "Okay, okay, fine. I'm sorry. What about the wand?"

For the first time in the conversation, Cisco smiled. He picked something up and lifted it high for Barry to see. It looked like a wand - if it weren't for the many mechanical protrusions lining the sides.

"I can't believe we were working on the same concept for this." The engineer chuckled. "That's quite a coincidence."

Barry shrugged. "When I first learned of Clyde Mardon's existence, I made the basic schematics just in case he somehow managed to escape me. After I killed him," Cisco winced, "there was no need to make it anymore, so I just left them around to collect dust, just in case I ever needed it for something else. I guess taking down his older brother counts."

Cisco looked down at the wand, bemused. "Being a little paranoid, don't you think?"

Barry slapped Cisco on the shoulder, playfully. All the fury from earlier had finally begun to drain away. "Better paranoid than dead, Cisco. That's something I had to learn all too painfully over the years, and it's something you best take to heart as well if you're really serious about becoming a vigilante. You'll live longer that way." He turned to leave, no doubt patrolling the city for Mardon, again.

Cisco sighed as he sped out, and turned back to the computers. Something had to come up eventually.

Ralph Dibny fingered through some files as he walked up the stairs. There was a new round of crime scene reports he had to hand off to their CSI — a prickly man by the name of Julian — and then he had to continue cleaning out his old case room. Now that the case was over and they had finally finished all the paperwork, it was time for it to be vacated for a new detective pair to start their own big investigation.

He entered the lab, elating in the fact that Julian wasn't present, and left the files in the rooms 'IN' box before fleeing to his old case room. He opened the door - and froze.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed at a working Iris, quick to close the door behind him and lock it. "If Eddie or Joe or even Barry find out you're here, they'll have a goddamn fit! That is the last thing we need right now!"

"I'm working, Ralph." Iris replied, cross. "A couple of bumps and bruises aren't going to stop me from doing my job. I've been cleared anyway."

Ralph leaned against the doorway, making his displeasure clear. "Yes, you were cleared. But if I remember correctly, your father, your boyfriend, and your best friend stressed - quite heavily - that you were welcome to take as much time as you needed. Preferably more than one day."

"And if I remember correctly, it was a suggestion, not an order."

"You and I both know that it was most definitely an order."

Iris huffed. "Oh well. I'm here. What are they going to do about it?"

Ralph sighed, not deigning to answer. He had been around long enough to know not to interfere with the Wests' inner disputes, and while it had been a while since the last one, that didn't make him any less experienced with them. Instead, he turned to the file that Iris had been perusing through, and groaned when he spotted the photo on the page.

"What?" Iris demanded, having heard him.

"Couldn't you have chosen a safer target?" Ralph asked, gesturing to the file.

"I'm not going after him, if that's what you're asking." Iris replied. "I'm just… looking for possible places he might be. And investigating them."

"By yourself, I'm guessing?" Ralph deadpanned. Iris huffed, answering his question. "I'm going with you."

"What? Ralph-"

"No buts, Iris — I'm going. Not only am I your partner, I'm your senior. If you're going to recklessly put yourself in danger like this, I might as well go with you to make sure you don't get killed."

"Fine." Iris sighed. She handed him the file. "The first location's at the top of the page. Let's go."

The Flash continued to speed around the shadier parts of Central City, searching for his prey. His time as Bolt had allowed him to further familiarize himself with these areas, and thus he had a better idea of what kind of place a man like Mardon would hide himself in. Unfortunately, even with that knowledge, his search proved fruitless.

"Barry." His comm buzzed to life, momentarily distracting him. The earpiece of the suit was rarely used; he hardly ever needed extra information for his patrols, nor coordination for a fight. Even with Green Arrow and Supergirl, looks alone were sufficient for communication. Years of working together allowed for that, and even his powers had done nothing to diminish their teamwork.

"What is it, Cisco?"

"I've had the satellites scanning the weather patterns like you asked, and we've got an anomaly over at the abandoned airfield. It just dropped below freezing temperature there, suddenly."

"Oh?" The Flash narrowed his eyes. "How interesting."

"The airfield? Really?" Ralph asked, deeply unimpressed.

"We've checked everywhere else, Ralph." Iris defended herself. "This is the last place he could feasibly hide in the city. It's not like the guy is rolling in dough, you know."

"But still — this is the most obvious place to hide. So many criminals have made their hideouts here, the only reason we haven't appropriated it yet is because it's the first place we'd look for the dumber ones. There is no way Mardon is here — he's smarter than that."

"Or maybe he's smart enough to realize that we'd think he's too smart to hide here." Iris countered. She really didn't think that, but it didn't hurt to check.

Ralph paused, and sighed. "Let's go."

The two trekked down the unused runway, which was overflowing with grass, weeds, and dirt. They were walking towards the abandoned airplane hangar — the biggest building in the vicinity, and thus the most likely place Mardon was hiding. With how rundown all the other buildings were, the hangar was the most likely place where Mardon could find some place habitable.

"Is it me, or is it getting colder?" Ralph asked, rubbing his arms to warm up his skin. He had elected to wear a short-sleeved shirt, and was now starting to regret it.

Iris narrowed her eyes. "No, you're right. It is getting colder."

"Brilliant deduction."

The two whipped around, spotting the criminal they had been searching for: Mark Mardon. The man in question had his hands pocketed in his trench coat, and a slimy smirk on his face.

"Now then, what are two cops doing all the way out here?" He mockingly asked, taking out one of his hands and gesturing to the air. From the above periphery, Iris and Ralph could see a gradually forming cloud above them — that looked dark and ominous. Their apprehension was well-founded, as they heard thunder crackle above them.

"Could it be to look for little old me?" Mardon suggested, that blasted smirk still on his face.

Knowing that running was futile, the two cops whipped out their guns, both turning off the safeties and aiming them at Mardon's chest. "Put your hands up, Mardon! No more people have to die anymore!" Iris called out, tensed and ready.

The criminal lidded his eyes. "Now that's where you wrong, sweetcheeks. Plenty of people are going to die, and they're going to keep on dying until the Flash finally shows his sorry ass and dies with them. So, unless you have the Flash on speed dial, I think I'm going to start with the two of you."

With that, a large gust of wind blew at them, powerful enough to rip their weapons away from their hands. Iris and Ralph tried steady themselves, staying grounded, but the strength of the gale was too much — they flew to the dirty ground, coughing and trying desperately to stand back up. Mardon looked back up to the cloud, and with a snap, lightning flew from it, aiming directly at them. Both managed to turn around long enough to see death coming for them, their lives flashing right before their eyes-

-Before they were flashed away.

"The Flash…" Ralph coughed out, trying to get his breath. Beside him, Iris remained silent, shaking. The familiar form of the vigilante both elated her and filled her with dread.

The Flash paid them no mind, and instead sped over to Mardon, holding out what looked to be a… wand?

Mardon saw what he was doing, and burst out laughing. "What? Do you think I'm some kind of weather wizard and that you can stop me with some magic of your own?" He joked, preparing another shot of lightning.

The Flash shook his head. "No. This isn't magic — it's science." He pushed a button on the wand, and waited.

Mardon frowned, and decided to forego the lightning for some hail — with a speedster, area of effect was for more useful than speedy shots. However, the hail never came. He looked up and gestured again for the hail to come, but the cloud refused to answer him. Instead, it started moving, before gradually drawing itself into the wand the Flash was holding.

The criminal watched the scene in dawning horror, and tried some smaller attacks instead — only for them to be drawn into the wand as well. Realizing that his powers were useless now, he tried to flee, only to be tripped up by the Flash. The vigilante grabbed him by the front of his shirt and held him up, taking out one of his knives to prepare a killing blow.

"Wait! Don't!"

He turned to see Iris running towards him, with Ralph following behind her. "Don't kill him! Please, Flash, there's been enough death already. Just take him to Iron Heights, they can hold him there for as long as they have to."

"He killed over a dozen people with his stunt the other day. He was planning to kill more." The Flash reminded her. Iris was stunned to hear him speak, but overcame her astonishment almost immediately, knowing how dire the situation was.

"Only because you killed his brother, remember?"

The Flash snorted. "The same brother that was going to kill your father and your boyfriend and destroy Central City with a tornado? That brother? Are you asking me to feel sorry for killing him?"

"No." Iris admitted. "You had no choice. There was no prison that could hold him." Her eyes became determined, her voice pleading. "But you have a choice here. You can kill him and prove all your detractors right, that it's only your justice that matters. Or you can leave him alive and let the law handle things from here."

The Flash stared at her for a long moment. A second later, he was gone, leaving Mark Mardon behind him. Iris and Ralph watched him speed away for but a moment, then rushed over to Mardon as fast as they could. They reached his body, breathing sighs of relief when they realized that he was merely unconscious, not dead. They turned his body around to see that his hands had been cuffed, with the same meta-dampening cuffs that S.T.A.R. Labs had provided for them.

"How'd the Flash get a pair of those?" Ralph asked, confounded. Iris simply shook her head, not knowing the answer either.

"Joe, Thawne, welcome back." David Singh said as he watched two of his best file back into the precinct. He frowned when he saw the mood the two were in. "I take it you didn't find Mardon at his old hideout?"

Joe shook his head. "We canvassed his old associates again — nothing. The guy vanished into thin air."

"Maybe we should look over Clyde Mardon's dossier again." Eddie suggested, already plying for more clues.

"No need!"

The three — along with everyone else in the precinct — turned around to Ralph Dibny and Iris West pushing forward a restrained Mardon. The place erupted in cheers at the sight as the two handed their arrest over to another cop for booking. A stunned Joe, Eddie, and David walked over to them.

"Shouldn't you be at home?" Joe glowered at his daughter, clearly unhappy to see her working so soon after her last confrontation with Mardon.

Iris crossed her arms, unrepentant. "I'll tell you what I told Ralph — I'm not gonna let a few bruises stop me from doing my job."

Joe looked ready to blow, as did Eddie. David, ever the voice of reason, cut in before either of them could. "It's done, guys. Iris is safe and Mardon's locked up." He then turned to the other two, curious. "How did you find and catch Mardon anyway?"

Ralph jabbed his thumb towards his partner. "Iris here made a list of hideouts and was planning on checking them out. I went with her because I knew these two," he gestured to Joe and Eddie, "wouldn't be happy if I let her investigate on her own. We checked off every place on the list except for the old abandoned airfield, and guess where Mardon was?"

"The Ferris Air airfield?" Eddie clarified. "The same airfield that every two-bit thug in the city has tried to hide out in at least once?"

"Got it in one, Thawne." Ralph mimicked a gun and clicked his teeth for emphasis. At the unamused looks everyone shot him, he quickly shaped up and continued his explanation. "So, anyway, we found Mardon at the airfield. And as for catching him…" Ralph winced. "… we didn't."

"You didn't?" Joe asked, perplexed.

"We didn't." Iris said again. "The Flash did. He was tracking Mardon, too. Even saved us from Mardon before taking him down."

"How'd he get past the weather?"

Ralph rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "See, that's the strangest part — and that's really saying something — he used some kind of wand to absorb Mardon's weather powers."

"A wand." David repeated disbelievingly.

"He's not lying." Iris said, knowing that her word counted more than Ralph's despite being the junior partner.

Their captain sighed and waved them off. "Just put all in the report. God knows that with how crazy this city has gotten over the last year, the guys up top will let it pass." He walked away, no doubt taking something for his newly formed headache.

His four subordinates watched him go, then turned back to each other and shrugged.

"Hey, Bare." Iris greeted her friend as the door to her childhood home opened.

Barry leveled her an unimpressed look. "Joe told me about what you did."

Iris let her smile fall and sighed. "I'm alright, aren't I?" she pointed out, gesturing to her body for emphasis.

"From what Joe told me, if it weren't for the Flash you wouldn't have been."

"Barry, please. It's over. Done with. I already got a dressing down from Dad and Eddie. I don't need one from you, too."

Barry narrowed his eyes. "You got the goods?"

Iris held her hands up, revealing the "goods"; bags of popcorn, candy, and chips. "The brownies are in the back of my car."

Barry eyed her a moment more before grinning. "Fine, you're forgiven. Movie night will go on as scheduled." He stepped to the side to allow Iris in. "Just set everything down on the coffee table. I've got pizza baking in the oven."

"Dad let you near the oven?" Iris asked, stunned.

Barry pouted at her. "I'll have you know that those videos were really helpful; I now know for sure how to work that darn machine."

"Fine, fine." Iris held up her hands in surrender. Appeased, Barry went to the kitchen to check on the food, leaving Iris to her lonesome. Iris set down the snacks and watched him leave, and once he was out of sight, quickly spotted his jacket, thrown across the top of the couch. As silently as she could, she leaned over it, careful not to disturb its place as she rifled through the pockets. Once she found what she was looking for, she slid it into one of the many compartments of her handbag, zipping it shut just as Barry returned.

Iris was careful to keep any nervousness out of her voice as she spoke once more. "I'm gonna get the brownies, alright?"

Barry blinked, and shrugged. "Alright."

After movie night was over, Iris drove. However, when she was about to make the turn to her apartment, she instead drove in the other direction, towards another building. A very infamous building.

She felt guilty, of course, of her underhandedness, but she needed to know. It was only in the aftermath of the confrontation with Mardon, when she and Ralph had been driving silently back to the precinct, that everything the Flash said finally sunk in. He spoke of the confrontation of Clyde Mardon, and he had called Joe and Eddie her 'father' and 'boyfriend'. It didn't make any sense for him to know that unless… unless he knew her.

But how did he know her? And that's when everything started falling into place. How fast Barry's cut had healed the other day. How the Flash had almost never appeared when Barry was in the vicinity. Even the less frequent appearances the Flash had coincided with Barry's tenure as Bolt — which wouldn't have happened unless Barry himself knew he was at risk of being found out if he tried to juggle three different identities at once. There was, of course, the incident with Amunet, but considering that one of Barry's crewmates had been a shapeshifter, she wouldn't be surprised if Barry knew someone else to take his place as Bolt.

That is, if Barry really was the Flash.

There was only one way to know: S.T.A.R. Labs. Iris had never been inside Barry's workplace before — not once. Nor had Barry ever offered to show her the place. She hadn't noticed it before, but now… he had to be hiding something there. There was only one way to find out. If she was wrong, well, better to ask forgiveness than permission.

She parked her car in the underground garage, using Barry's own key card to let her in. She walked over to the elevator, briefly overwhelmed by the number of floors there were, before choosing the one that said "Cortex" — Iris had remembered hearing about a "cortex" while accidentally overhearing a conversation between Barry and Cisco at the precinct.

The elevator stopped, and Iris stepped outside, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. She walked down the hall, noting how it gradually began to light up more and more with every step she took.

Finally, she arrived at a room. It was wide and spacious. In the front was a computer apparatus with several monitors. She stepped in further, and saw to the left was an infirmary, and to the right was another workshop.

However, the most interesting thing was a cylinder towards the back of the room. It was tinted black glass, obscuring her sight from whatever was inside.

That's suspicious looking. She carefully walked towards it, trying to take in every feature. She spotted a scanner on the wall next to it. She took out Barry's key card and held it over the scanner, breathing in as the glass slid upwards. Iris stumbled back when she saw what it was.

A mannequin… with the Flash's suit on.

No.

"I should've known you'd be the first to figure it out."

Iris turned around to see Barry leaning against the entrance of the Cortex, with a bitter smirk on his face.

"You always were too curious for your own good."

Iris finally learns the truth. You'll see her reaction next chapter, and then we'll be going to Starling City.

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