Hayley was laughing politely at Cisco's lame joke when Barry slammed a tray of shots down. He finally figured it out, she thought gleefully.
"Guys, we have a problem."
"We all do when guys like him exist." Cisco muttered, watching Eddie.
"Yeah. He's so hot." Caitlin agreed dreamily. Hayley snorted. "I mean, genetically speaking, because I'm a geneticist." Hayley's shoulders shook. "Oh my god do I sound like Felicity?"
Hayley patted her shoulder. "Yes. Yes you do."
"I'm not talking about Eddie. I'm talking about this." He proceeded to down every shot on the tray. "I can't feel anything."
Cisco patted his shoulder. "Yeah that's what usually happens when you drink too much." Barry shook his head frantically. Hayley got up to go play darts with Eddie.
"I'm only 25, and my drinking days are over." Barry was saying when she returned.
"Finally!!" Hayley yelled. Barry's head whipped towards his partner.
"What do you mean?" Hayley smirked.
"Welcome to the world of speedsters and super soldiers." she said. "It's an elite club in which only four people are members. No one else is like us. Well, except the Russians." she reasoned. Barry's eyes flashed with realization when Eddie walked over.
"There's been a bombing." he said. "Sorry." He kissed Iris and left. Barry looked meaningfully at the three scientists in front of him.
"Go." Hayley sighs. "We'll cover for you." She watches him walk away.
"Shouldn't you be going too?" Caitlin asked her. Hayley stared blankly. "As the CSI?" Caitlin prompted.
"Ohhh. Yeah, I'm leaving, too. See you later!" Hayley cried, grabbing her coat and running out the door.
〰️〰️〰️
Hayley caught up to Eddie right as Iris was being dragged off.
"What happened?" she asked. Eddie rolled his eyes. "She came to see the Flash." Hayley frowned at his tone.
"I see." she muttered. "Where's Barry?"
"Inside."
〰️〰️〰️
Barry looked up at Hayley. "There's no oxidizing agent." he said quietly. Hayley muttered something. "What?"
"I said, none that you can identify." She flicked her wrist. An icy blue screen spread over the area.
"Ooh. That's new." Joe commented. Hayley grinned.
"I've learned a lot about what I can do since Loki attacked." she explained. "This particular one shows any Asgardian oxidizing agents, for instance, the Tesseract." Barry nodded. The screen shook slightly, then disappeared completely.
"There's no oxidizing agent." Hayley restated. Barry rolled his eyes at her.
"Come help me look for the file she took." he told her. Hayley groaned.
"Why do you even need me?" she asked. Barry didn't answer, quickly flipping through the files. He found the one that was empty and held it up triumphantly.
"For moral support." he said, grinning. It was Hayley's turn to roll her eyes.
"Let's go, Sonic. Everyone is already back at the precinct" she called over her shoulder.
〰️〰️〰️
At CCPD, Hayley came face to face with a soldier. Staring, she walked into Eddie.
"What's going on?" she asked him quietly.
"The Army is taking over the investigation," he explained. Hayley frowned. That wasn't normal. She walked back over to Barry. "This girl must be special." she whispered. The door to Singh's office opened, the Captain looking royally pissed. An Army general followed.
"Surrender all evidence to General Eiling, Allen, Parker," he grumbled.
Barry handed over the box, keeping the file. Hayley stiffened to attention and saluted as the general passed, earning a nod. Barry turned to Hayley. "Hop on. Barry's taxi service."
"Fastest taxi in Central City," she added, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"STAR Labs, then?" he asked.
"You know it, babe." Hayley joked. Barry tried to ignore the way his heart lurched.
〰️〰️〰️
"A VA number?" Cisco asked incredulously. "That's all you got?"
"CCPD's been ordered off the case." Barry explained. Caitlin frowned.
"Who can do that?" she asked. Barry shrugged.
"The Army?" he said. "Some general. Eiling, I think?" The sound of a motorized wheelchair heralded the entrance of Dr. Wells.
"General Wade Eiling." he announced. The three friends turned.
"You know him?" Barry asked. Wells nodded.
"The Army contracted STAR Labs several years ago. He was interested in enhanced gene therapies, creating mind reading capabilities in soldiers, I was more interested in the medical benefits. Once I saw his technique, I called it off. Our split was less than amicable." Wells explained.
"That explains why he's going after Bette." Hayley piped, walking in to stand next to Barry. "We just have to get there first."
"Lucky for us, the VA finally joined the new millennium and digitized their records." Cisco replied, typing away. "There we go. Emergency contact, Cameron Scott, in Anglewood." A blur flew past before he finished speaking.
〰️〰️〰️
Hayley stood listening to Barry talk to Bette. The conversation didn't seem be going well.
"His vitals just died." Hayley whipped around at Caitlin's panicked voice.
"What?" she asked, her voice dangerously low. Cisco moved to the mike.
"Barry?"he yelled. "Barry! Barry can you hear me?"
"I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for why he's not answering." Caitlin tried. Hayley glared.
"There better-" A gust of wind cut her off. Her eyes widened when Barry walked in pulling on a shirt. Catching Cisco's smirk, she turned away.
"What?" Caitlin began. Barry shook his head.
"Don't ask." he warned.
"I'm going to ask." Cisco said slowly. "Where's my suit?"
"It's... Gone." Barry answered. Hayley raised an eyebrow. This was slightly amusing.
"What do you mean, it's gone?" Cisco demanded. Barry sighed.
"It blew up, dude." he said. "I managed to get out of it before it went... Kaboom." Hayley snorted. Cisco paled.
"My suit... Went kaboom?" he asked faintly. Hayley patted his shoulder comfortingly.
"Fun fact about Bette San Souci." Barry announced. "She's not carrying bombs; she is a bomb. She touched the emblem on the suit and turned it into a bomb. She's a meta human."
"With the ability to create spontaneous combustion-" Wells started.
"Upon tactile contact" Hayley finished. Everyone stared. "Honestly, you act like I don't know anything. I am a scientist."
"She blew up my suit." Cisco whined. Caitlin looked at him.
"You have like three more." she pointed out.
"Okay I have two and I loved that one." Cisco argued.
"Explains why the Army took over." Joe added, walking in. Wells smiled tightly.
"Detective West." Hayley made a note of the tension.
"So, human bomb?" Joe went on. "Must be Tuesday in Central City."
"So what do we do?" Caitlin asked.
"Throw her in the Pipeline. She's completely evil." Cisco declared. Caitlin and Hayley shared a look. "No one destroys my suit and gets away with it. Unless she looks like that." Hayley shook her head at him.
"You're ridiculous," she told him.
"I prefer the term awesome." he shot back. A ping went off, interrupting the argument.
"Found her!" Cisco cried. "In Anglewood, same neighborhood as a Dr. Harold Hadley."
"Off you go, Sonic." Hayley told Barry. He was gone before she finished speaking. Hayley turned to the team.
"I actually have to go too." she said. "I'm already up to my ears in paperwork and since Barry's always running off to do speedster stuff, I'm going to do his too."
"We'll keep you updated."
〰️〰️〰️
Hayley made it fifteen minutes at the precinct before Caitlin called her. Taking a chance of using her speed, she ran back to STAR Labs.
A redhead sat on a hospital bed with Caitlin while the others sat around talking about her.
"Excuse me if I'm wrong, but isn't talking about people behind their back considered rude?" Hayley asked. Cisco high fived her. Caitlin frowned at them from inside the room.
"Guys, there's a tracker in her arm." No sooner had the words left her mouth than the alarm went off.
"Lock down the Pipeline. Get Bette out of here." Wells ordered. "I'll take care of Eiling." As the others scrambled to obey, Hayley stood resolutely in front of the doctor.
"I'm staying with you." she said. Wells just looked at her. "My status as an Avenger and an agent of SHIELD could help, could protect you." Mentally, Wells rolled his eyes, hating the Avenger. Outwardly, he sighed.
"Bette needs your protection more than I. Go." Wells held his breath as the assassin considered him. Finally she nodded and left.
〰️〰️〰️
"427 kPa's." Hayley called to the others as the frisbee blew up midair.
"Her Trauzl rating is around 45." Cisco added. "That's the same as any plastique. Plastique. Ha... first try!" Hayley nodded.
"That's a good one." she complimented. Caitlin held up a boomerang.
"Didn't really think this one through, did you?" she asked.
Barry followed Bette away from the rest of the team.
"Downrange, insurgents started booby trapping cars. The rest of my tour, I was terrified to touch another vehicle. Now, I'm gonna spend the rest of my life terrified to touch another human being." Bette told him. "Have they tried to help you?" Barry cleared his throat.
"Yeah, they've helped me learn how to use my powers. Not reverse them." he said.
"If they could reverse it so you weren't a meta-human, would you?" she asked him. Barry thought a moment.
"A friend told me I was given my speed for a reason. That I was chosen. I don't know if I believe that, but I always wanted to help people. Now I can." His cell started to buzz. "Sorry." he said before answering. "Hey, Joe."
"I see your little conversation with Iris was a rousing success. She just posted another story about the Streak." Joe stated. Barry ran a hand over his face.
"Joe, I tried. I really tried." Joe's next words made Barry's blood run cold.
"She's got her name on it now, Barry."
"What? Joe..." He got cut off.
"It's my fault, I shouldn't have asked you to say anything. I just wanted you to know. Okay? Bye." Joe hung up.
"What was that about?" Cisco asked.
"Iris posted about the streak again. She signed her name to it." Barry said.
"Oh, that's not good." Hayley pointed out the obvious. Barry shook his head.
"If one those meta humans figure she knows something..." Cisco trailed off.
"They might target her. I know."
"I could talk to her." Hayley offered. Barry looked at her hopefully.
"Would you?"
"Yeah sure. I want to keep her safe."
〰️〰️〰️
Hayley sat across from Iris staring into her coffee. Iris was talking, but Hayley was just waiting for her to take a breath.
"So Barry told me that you started a blog about the Streak." Hayley interrupted. Iris blinked.
"Yeah." she collected herself. "Have you been sent to stop me?"
"Well... Yes." Hayley admitted.
"Don't waste your time. I'm not stopping."
"Iris, think about how they feel," Hayley pleaded. "You're writing about this Streak, and you've signed your name to it."
"I only did that because Barry said that it wasn't important if it was anonymous." Iris interrupted. Hayley waved it off
"My point is, if one of the people that the Streak fights thinks that you know something, they will target you." Hayley explained. "No one wants you to get hurt."
"I can take care of myself." Iris said.
"That's the thing, Iris. You can't."
"You know, I thought friends were supposed to believe in you. I guess I was wrong." Iris stood up and left.
Hayley winced. That didn't go very well.
〰️〰️〰️
Hayley bit her thumb. Barry had gone to talk to Iris as the Streak (which Hayley thought was a terrible idea, but hey, what does she know?) and they were waiting for him to tell Bette the bad news. He walked in looking as gloomy as they all felt.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Barry asked. "Did Eiling find out you're here?" "No." answered Bette. "Caitlin was about to give me the not-so-good news."
Caitlin took a breath. "The shrapnel in your body has merged with you on a cellular level."
"And the technology required to unsplice your DNA..." started Wells. "It hasn't been invented yet."
"Bette." Barry said softly. She sniffed.
"It's okay. Roger that. I just need a minute. Don't worry. Pretty sure I can cry without blowing stuff up." She walked off. Barry turned to the team.
"What now?" Hayley asked.
"She joins us. Becomes a part of the team."
"Barry..." Caitlin sighed. "You have an amazing ability to help people. She...makes things explode."
"She's the first meta-human not hell-bent on destroying this city." he argued.
"It's too dangerous." Wells pointed out.
"Well, she's not going in the pipeline."
"I'm not suggesting she go in the pipeline, but were she to remain at S.T.A.R. Labs, it would put all of us at risk."
"From who? Eiling?"
"Eiling is a dangerous man, Barry. We do not want him as an enemy." warned Wells.
"After the lighting bolt, what if you hadn't found me? It could've been me. Hunted, on the run, cut off from everyone I know and care about. You guys saved me." Barry said angrily.
"And I want to save her just as bad as you do, Barry" Caitlin tried to sooth. "We all do."
〰️〰️〰️
Barry walked into his lab, completely defeated.
"Joe. What are you doing here?" he asked the man in front of him. "Going over the materials in your mom's case. How's it going with you?"
"Stellar..." Barry said sarcastically. "I made friends with a human bomb who I promised I could help, and then, I couldn't. And I finally diagnosed why Iris is writing about the streak. She's doing it for me." Barry forced a laugh. "To prove the impossible is possible."
"How do you know that?" Joe asked warily.
"The...streak...may have talked to her."
Joe stared. "Barry, don't you think Iris would recognize your voice?" "No, I can do this cool thing with my vocal cords, where I vibrate them so I sound like this. I know. It's cool, it's cool." Barry smiled. "Whoa. Well, you put that out there now, so. I want to keep her safe." Joe stated.
"You know the only real way to get her to stop is to tell her the truth." Barry told him.
"Man, you really want to tell her."
"I tell her everything." Barry tried.
"Mm... Not everything."
Barry looked down. "Was it that obvious?"
"Not to her." Joe answered.
"But how long have you known for?"
"I watched you be in love with Iris since you were old enough to know what love is. And I waited years for you to tell her. But you didn't."
"Guess I was too slow. Now, she's happy and with someone else, so..." Barry said. "And anyway, I think I might like someone else. I just don't know if she feels the same."
"When the universe wants to make something happen, whether it be giving a young man lighting speed or putting two people together, it has a way of figuring those things out." Joe told him. "And I got to get home."
〰️〰️〰️
Hayley and Barry walked into the Cortex the next morning to a gloomy Cisco and a sympathetic Caitlin.
"Where's Bette?" Barry asked. Cisco's face fell.
"She left." Cait answered.
"What do you mean?" Hayley asked. "Where did she go?"
"She didn't say." Dr. Wells said. "Well, where the hell could she be?" Barry wondered.
〰️〰️〰️
"Go, go! Go, go!" Eiling directed his soldiers. "On me."
He took a step toward the redhead facing the bay.
"I'm ready to give myself up." she told him.
"Oh, I highly doubt that." Eiling scoffed. "You think you can pull one over on me? You can't. Stand down, soldier."
〰️〰️〰️
"I got back on the military feed." Cisco announced. "Looks like they've gone to the waterfront to rendezvous with Bette. She's turning herself in." Barry shook his head.
"She's not turning herself in." He zoomed off.
"Please, let him get to her in time." Cisco prayed.
〰️〰️〰️
"All over the world, people are plotting to destroy our country. To end our lives." Eiling said to Bette. "Brave American soldiers are gonna die in that fight, but they don't have to. Because of you, we could have victory."
Bette shifted her stance. "All I've ever wanted was to make the world a safer place. And it will be, when you're not in it!" She tossed several round bombs at the soldiers.
"Take cover!" Eiling screamed. Bette moved towards her target, ready to end him, when a blur of red and yellow cut her off.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded of the Streak.
"Being a soldier doesn't mean you're a murderer. Don't become one now." Barry said. Bette opened her mouth to answer, but a gunshot cut her answer short. Barry watched helplessly as Bette fell to the ground, the bullet having met its mark. Eiling fell back, letting the gun drop.
"I'm sorry. I didn't see him." Barry apologised.
"Don't be. It's not your fault. I'm glad you stopped me." Bette reassured him.
"I'm gonna get you back to S.T.A.R. Labs." Her hand stopped any further words.
"Barry, Dr. Wells. He... he..."
She was gone.
〰️〰️〰️
"Guys, we have a problem." The comms flaring to life startled the whole team.
"Is Bette okay?" Cisco asked anxiously.
"No. Eiling killed her." Hayley and Caitlin's hands flew to their mouths in sync. "She's glowing. She's gonna detonate."
"Oh, my God," Caitlin gasped. "A mass that size, the explosion, it would be..."
"Devastating." Hayley finished. "Barry, you have to get her away from the city."
"But there's no time." Caitlin argued. There was a pause.
"Can I run on water?" Barry wondered. "I built up enough speed to run up a building. How fast do I need to go to run on water?" Cisco flew into action.
"Assuming your weight... 450 pounds of force per step for vertical suspension. Accounting for fluid drag." he thought verbally. "Approximately 650 miles an hour."
"You have to outrun the blast or you'll die too." Caitlin reminded.
Barry picked up Bette's lifeless body, lightning flashing in his eyes.
And he ran.
〰️〰️〰️
"Nothing out of the ordinary occurred." Eiling was saying. "The military was simply conducting an underwater weapons test. There is no need for panic or alarm. Central City is safe. I guarantee you." Hayley shut off the screen.
"He murdered Bette right in front of me." Barry said angrily. "And there's nothing we can do to him." Wells sighed.
"Powerful men have a way of avoiding consequences."
"You gonna be okay?" Hayley asked her partner.
"Yeah." he answered unconvincingly.
"You can walk on water." Caitlin pointed out. "Puts you in pretty interesting company."
〰️〰️〰️
Barry walked through the door of Joe's place.
"If you came to do laundry, I already have a load in." Iris told him.
"Uh, no. I-I came to talk." Barry sat down next to her. "I was working a case. Someone I really thought I could help befriend. But they died." Iris gasped almost inaudibly.
"Barry, I'm really sorry."
"I didn't know her that well. But it still hurts." Barry took a deep breath. "And as bad as I feel right now, I know how much worse it is to lose someone who's family. Iris... Writing about this stuff, putting your name out there, it's dangerous. So I'm asking you one last time, please, stop."
"And I am asking you one last time to tell me what is really going on with you. Why am I the only one of us who's interested in this?" Iris asked. Barry sighed. This was harder than he thought.
"I guess, just, all this stuff with my family, I finally just put it behind me. I'm asking you to also."
"That may have been how this started, but it's about something more than that for me now." Iris explained. "Whoever this streak is, wherever he comes from, I am not stopping until the rest of the world believes in him." Barry stood. "Maybe we shouldn't see each other for a while." His heart dropped.
"Yeah."
〰️〰️〰️
Barry sat sullenly at a bar. "Can I get another club soda, please?"
"Hey." He looked up at his friends.
"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Hayley climbed onto the stool next to him.
"We thought we should have a toast."
"Doesn't work on me, remember?" he reminded.
"Barry Allen, you of all people should know that nothing is impossible." Caitlin said, opening her purse and pulling out a small vial. "I distilled a highly fermented, potent suspension. It's basically 500 proof. I figured if anybody could use a drink tonight, it was you." Barry took the vial.
"So here's to Bette." he raised his glass.
"Bette." the rest of them chorused. "Whoa, oh." Barry shook his head. "That hit too quick."
"Are you buzzed?" Caitlin asked hopefully.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm buzzed for sure." He shook his head again. "Whoa. Whoa, that is good stuff." His face fell. "And it's gone."
"Work in progress." Caitlin said sheepishly. Hayley patted his shoulder.
"Next time we'll get you some Asgardian mead."
〰️〰️〰️
I don't know why some people come into our lives, Journal. Or why some stay and others leave. I don't need to. I know that the friends we've got now are forever. That's all we need.
-Hayley