Chapter 100: Investigation
"Hartley, welcome back," Barry nodded to the other man as he filed into S.T.A.R. Labs with the rest of the team. "I'm sorry we cut your leave short. If you want to take more time off after Zoom is defeated, just say so."
Hartley shrugged, looking unusually glum compared to his usual haughty demeanor. "Normally I would be mad, but considering what just happened and who was responsible…" his face darkened.
Noises of assent were heard from all along. Zoom and his little gang had pissed off all of them with this replacement scheme. They were all eager to finally bring him down and end whatever plot he had before it could succeed.
"Right," Barry licked his lips. "These are your assignments. Caitlin, Ronnie, Professor Stein, continue inventory and figure out what Zoom's people took from here, and their possible locations. According to Deathstorm he wanted to blanket the city in dark matter. Whatever that has to do with his plans, it's not going to happen either way."
After those three left, Barry turned his attentions to Hartley and Cisco. "As for us three, we've got two assignments. The priority assignment is devising a way to differentiate us from our Earth-2 counterparts. According to the database we downloaded no one else in the Justice League, nor in our immediate social circles has any criminal doppelgangers that Zoom could exploit, but better safe than sorry. Reverb, after all, is still out in the wind — provided Zoom hasn't killed him already for running and failing him."
"And how are we going to do this?" Hartley asked, crossing his arms.
"Vibrational frequency," Cisco answered for him, putting his hands on his hips. When Hartley gave him a questioning look, the engineer sighed. "The Harrison Wells of Earth-2 suggested it. Since matter vibrates at its own unique frequency—"
"—and Earth-2 vibrates at a different frequency than Earth-1, it stands to reason that that matter from Earth-2 vibrates at a different frequency than matter from Earth-1," Hartley continued, catching on. "So if we can find and disrupt that frequency…"
"… we can differentiate anyone from Earth-2 from those from Earth-1," Barry finished for all of them.
"Do we have test subjects?" Hartley demanded.
"Amanda offered us Doctor Light, Killer Frost, and Deathstorm. Pick your poison."
The two other scientists exchanged looks. "Light?" Cisco suggested.
"Light," Hartley agreed.
"So you won't feel guilty when you look at Caitlin and Ronnie, right?" Barry instantly deduced. At the looks they gave him, he shrugged. "Hey, no judgment here. I was thinking the same thing."
"Whatever. What's the second assignment?" Hartley demanded.
That question caused Barry to cringe slightly.
"Barry…?" Cisco asked hesitantly.
"Laurel made a request for us to build a device for her. An offensive device, inspired by her doppelganger's powers," Barry confessed.
Both men blinked. "You told Oliver, didn't you?" Hartley said knowingly.
Barry winced.
"Laurel, why did you request S.T.A.R. Labs build you a sonic device?"
Laurel groaned as she sat up from her crunches, gazing up at her boyfriend. Oliver had a serious look on his face, his arms crossed and his foot tapping. "Barry told you?"
"Of course he did. Now, could you please answer the question?"
The Black Canary rubbed her shoulders. "Because I'm the weak link."
Oliver sighed when he heard that. "Laurel—"
"No, Ollie. You know I am. I'm good, but I'm not as good as you or your siblings, and it will be years before I am. And everyone else has powers. I… I need something to close the gap. Fighting dirty isn't going to do that, but this might."
The Green Arrow bit his lip. "… Did she really scare you that much?"
Laurel's head shot up, but she didn't deny his words. She just looked away.
"Laurel…" Oliver exhaled deeply.
"I was winning Ollie, and then all she had to do was scream and it was over. I've been overwhelmed before, but not like that. Never so instantaneously." Laurel gripped her arms in a vise, shivering. "And the way she spoke about me, the sheer hate in her voice… God, it made me sick. I saw her file, I know she's lived a hard life, but still…"
"I know," Oliver said softly, thinking of the many vile people he had met (and often killed) over the years. He would never claim to be innocent, not with blood on his hands, but nothing he had ever done could compare to the crimes such people committed. And often times, they didn't have anywhere close to the amount of suffering he had to justify any of it. "Trauma and hardship don't always bring out the best in people, Laurel. Sometimes it brings out the worst. And once you're there, it's a hard road getting back."
Laurel peered up at him sympathetically. "Speaking from experience?"
Oliver smirked mirthlessly. "More than you can ever believe. She's got a Sword of Damocles hanging over her head too, after all."
"Zoom?" Laurel clarified. Oliver nodded, which caused Laurel to puff out one of her cheeks. "What do you think he's after?"
"I don't know," Oliver said after a moment, eyes equally speculative. "But the fact that a woman like Black Siren is scared of him could only bode ill for all of us. I don't like it, Laurel. I don't like it at all."
The following day, Iris visited S.T.A.R. Labs in the midst of chaos. The entire place was swamped with the numerous inventions that had been built in the facility over the years, including those after the Particle Accelerator Explosion. While Barry had done most of his research at a satellite facility when he first returned to Central City, he had no reason to continue that practice after the "death" of Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne. He had quickly transferred all of his work to S.T.A.R. Labs, appropriating one of the disused labs for his own personal use. And considering his liberal use of his super speed and an influx of free time even with his college courses and vigilante work, that meant Barry had increased the inventory of S.T.A.R. Labs. Exponentially.
He wasn't the only one, either. Cisco and Caitlin had a great amount of free time due to Barry rarely needing their help in vigilante activities, and Barry, after taking over S.T.A.R. Labs, had given them the carte blanche to pursue any avenue of research at their leisure. As had Ronnie, when he permanently moved back to Central, and Hartley, upon his recruitment. Even the good Professor, during his free time, had taken his research to S.T.A.R. Labs and enlisted the help of the younger, but no less brilliant minds that surrounded him.
While that had the benefit of consolidating everything and centralizing all their research, that also meant that Zoom and his men had access to everything they had. And that meant, for an inventory, they would have to catalog everything they had in order to figure out what he and his men had taken. Including documenting things at their satellite storage facilities. Deathstorm and Killer Frost, after all, had been impersonating their Earth-1 doppelgangers for several weeks. Who knows what they had gotten into during that time?
Iris certainly couldn't help but wonder. Barry had already tasked Gideon with tracking all the movements Killer Frost, Deathstorm, Reverb, and Black Siren made during each of their tenures of impersonating their more heroic counterparts. That was on top of collaborating with Hartley and Cisco over the 'Doppelsensor' as Cisco had called it, and Laurel's 'Canary Cry' (another Cisco-approved name). Combined with his training for the inevitable confrontation with Zoom… well, even for a speedster, one as brilliant as Barry no less, such multi-tasking was difficult.
"Barry?" Iris peered into the lab that her best friend designated as his own.
Said speedster popped up from behind one of the magnifying glasses he used for more precise work, lifting the goggles covering his eyes away to look at her directly. "Iris?"
"Hey," she breathed out, shifting the file she was carrying in her arms. "I pulled some strings. Picked up the file we had on Hunter Zolomon."
"Earth-1 Hunter Zolomon has an arrest record?" Barry said in wonder as he walked towards her, absentmindedly taking the file that she offered him.
After the hand-off was complete, Iris crossed her arms, pursing her lips. "Not necessarily. Just some domestic disturbances. Still, I thought any and all information was useful, so I thought I'd do some investigating of my own."
Barry nodded slowly, eyes narrowing as he carefully read through the papers. After he was done, he closed the file and swallowed slightly as he looked back at Iris. "I'm grateful, Iris. I truly am. But I need you to stop looking into Hunter Zolomon."
Iris flared her nostrils but remained calm. "And your reason is…"
"It's too risky. Not just for your safety, but also because you might tip Zolomon off," Barry stated bluntly. "He's been on this earth for God knows how long and he clearly knew my secret identity for quite some time. That means he knows about you, and your job. While we've already cross-referenced the employee list at CCPD with the metahuman database we've got and identified possible spies, there's no guarantee that the database is in any way complete. It's possible he might've slipped someone in to watch you, if only to make you a hostage if he gets so much as a hint that we're on to him."
Iris stared at him. "You're very paranoid," she observed, though there was no judgment.
Barry shrugged, smirking sadly. "It's kept me alive all these years. I see no reason to stop."
"No," Iris breathed in, "you wouldn't."
Her friend's shoulders slumped as his smirk fell. "Please stop looking into Zolomon, Iris. A.R.G.U.S. will take care of it once we're done with the Doppelsensor—"
"Cisco?"
"Cisco. Anyway, just wait. We're going to finish this as soon as possible, make sure it works, and once A.R.G.U.S. has vetted its chosen investigation team, they'll look into Zolomon. If they have reason to believe the Zolomon on Earth-1 is actually his Earth-2 counterpart, then we'll devise a plan to take him in. Okay?"
Iris took in another deep breath. "Okay. Just… just warn me if something does happen, alright? Dad still doesn't know, so…"
"I will," Barry placed a hand on her shoulder, with a reassuring smile. "I promise."
"Hello, Miss Park," Amanda Waller sauntered into the lab with a pair of agents trailing behind her. Linda Park of Earth-2, aka Doctor Light, glared up from the chair she had been forcibly strapped to after being dragged out of her cell.
"What do you want?" The thief demanded, clearly in fear. "I already told the Flash everything I know!"
"Oh, this isn't about information Miss Park. We just needed a test subject, and you drew the short straw."
"What?" But before Linda could say more, a loud, vibrating sound, thrummed throughout her body, causing her severe discomfort. She released a cry of pain — until the sound inexplicably stopped.
Amanda hummed as one of the scientists surrounding her recorded their observations. "Does the device work?"
"Yes, though we suggest modifications for a more visible confirmation from the device itself. More tests will be necessary, perhaps on another test subject, so we can determine any similarities in their conditions after use."
"Very well then. Thankfully we have two more to test it on. Now then…" Amanda grinned. "Time for the other one."
Once confirmation was made that the device worked, along with recommended modifications, the S.T.A.R. Labs team got back to work ironing out the kinks. Eventually, they managed to work in a sensory function that detected the distortions in matter when its frequency was disrupted, and a blue light that glowed red when the target was confirmed to be someone from Earth-2. The next step was miniaturization, though Barry had the device copied and shipped to all the Justice League-affiliated bases first, including the Fortress of Solitude.
The 'Canary Cry' worked as well, and had been sent alongside the Doppelsensor to the Foundry for Laurel to try out on the streets of Starling. So far, her own reports indicated no issues, mostly due to the accompanying earplugs that have been gifted to her and Oliver. Of course, they couldn't use the earplugs every time they went on the streets, so eventually they would have to test if their hands made sufficient replacements instead.
The rest of 'Team Flash,' as Cisco had named them, was still cataloging everything. Already they were making trips to the other storage facilities to continue documentation and compare it to their virtual checklist. So far, nothing had actually been noted as missing, but thoroughness was always the best policy. The inventory would continue, as would the analysis on the movements of the Earth-2 doppelgangers. They still hadn't located Reverb (and probably wouldn't, considering his powers) nor Zoom, and nothing on their movements indicated anything unusual. The only place they seemed to linger were the docks where they had found them when they escaped from Earth-2.
Something's not right. Barry thought to himself as he crossed his arms, ignoring Cisco and Hartley's habitual bickering over their current project. We're missing something. So far, there's nothing to indicate Zoom's henchmen did anything to forward his plot besides running around as the team for a while. If he didn't instruct them to do anything, then why did he have them replace the others in the first place?
Barry continued to ponder over this even as he absentmindedly separated Cisco and Hartley for the umpteenth time. What was it? What could be Zoom's motive for having those replacements?
"Barry!" Barry blinked as Cisco's voice pierced through his thoughts. "Your phone is ringing," his friend said, handing over said phone for good measure.
Clicking his teeth, Barry swiped it from Cisco's hand and accepted the call.
"Are you certain?" Barry demanded the moment he arrived to the edge of the woodlands. There, a small group of A.R.G.U.S. agents, disguised as hikers, were waiting for him.
"According to our investigation, Zolomon visited here several months ago for a retreat. We didn't think anything of it, except our investigation reveals he visited it again right after the retreat was over. It was enough for us to flag," the lead agent explained as he led Barry to a specific spot that had been cordoned off.
"We continued our investigation into the area, and we discovered this," he pointed down at the spot, revealing a dead, decomposing body that had been dug up.
Barry narrowed his eyes. "Stats?"
"Male. 6'4. Caucasian. Early to mid-thirties."
The former assassin crossed his arms. "Those are a near-match for Hunter Zolomon."
"That's because it is Hunter Zolomon."
Barry whipped his head around to see another agent, carrying one of the portable DNA scanners. "We've already done a scan. It's him, Mr. Allen."
"Except, this body has been here for months…" Barry said slowly, "And I just saw Hunter Zolomon around two weeks ago."
A grim silence fell over the entire group. Barry mirrored all their expressions, a fierce seriousness enveloping him.
"I think the question is no longer if this is Hunter Zolomon. But rather… which Hunter Zolomon?"
"Do you think we can modify the Doppelsensor to analyze dead matter and see if it originates from Earth-2?" was the first question out of Barry's mouth the moment he re-entered S.T.A.R. Labs.
Cisco and Hartley, having wisely separated to different areas of the lab the moment Barry left, exchanged looks. For all their issues with each other, the two surprisingly found themselves on the same page often enough, which was probably why Barry always insisted they work together for the bigger projects. Well, that and because they were the smartest people in S.T.A.R. Labs after himself.
"We should," Hartley started slowly, thoughtfully. "We would have to modify the sensors to accommodate for the decomposition and do some testing, but it should work. Why?"
"A.R.G.U.S. just located a body in the woods that's been deceased for several months. Preliminary DNA testing indicates that the victim was Hunter Zolomon."
Both men froze.
"You don't think…" Cisco glanced at Hartley, swallowing.
"Considering that I just saw Hunter Zolomon at that fundraiser Iris bribed me to go to, yes Cisco, I think it might be Earth-1 Hunter Zolomon. And if it is…" Barry crossed his arms and sighed. "It's all the evidence we need. The Hunter Zolomon I've been interacting with for the last several months, probably since I started college, is the Earth-2 version." He bit the corner of his lip. "Zoom."
The lab instantly became quiet as everyone processed that revelation.
"Get started on modifying the Doppelsensor," Barry ordered, "We need to know if it's him. If it's Earth-1 Hunter Zolomon."
Hartley crossed his arms. "I guess you're going to be breaking out the anti-speedster tech we've been developing?"
Barry glanced at him and smirked. "Why else did you think I had it all shuttled off to separate location after we learned about Earth-2?"
Sorry about the wait, everyone. Had to rewrite my notes again because they weren't detailed enough. This Act is going to be so long, I won't be surprised if it turns out to have more chapters than the previous two put together. I love Season 2 of The Flash but there was so much potential about the multiverse, especially Earth-2, that was limited by the constraints of a budgeted TV show. I have no such constraints in writing, and I plan on going full force with it.
On another note, I am sure you have heard of the Hartley Sawyer situation. Everyone who still follows the Arrowverse has, no doubt. As a consequence, I have posted my opinion on the matter and on the future of the character Ralph Dibny in this story on the story's official Tumblr blog. Go read it if you wish, and discuss it there. The story, on both AO3 and FFN, is not to place to do so. This is not a forum.
Please comment or review, flames will be ignored, constructive criticism welcome, and don't forget to update the TV Tropes page!