Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
At the bar, Barry quickly drank several shots of tequila, much to Caitlin's, Cisco's and Patty's surprise.
"Nothing at all?" Patty asked.
"I can't get drunk." Barry said.
"It's your hypermetabolism. I need a sample." Caitlin said, reaching into her purse.
"I'll get more shots." Cisco said as he got up.
"I swear I had a Vacutainer." Caitlin muttered.
"Wait, you carry a blood-collection kit in your purse?" Barry asked, him and Patty raising brows.
"You have your hobbies..." Caitlin shrugged.
Cisco returned with more shots of tequila as Barry, Cisco, Caitlin and Patty drank them.
"Still nothing?" Cisco asked.
"I can't get drunk." Barry grumbled. "I mean, I'm only 25, and my drinking days are already over."
"Come on, Allen, you're up." Eddie said before his and Patty's phones went off. "There was a bombing on 8th and Pass."
"And I think that's our cue to leave." Patty said.
"Sorry, guys." Eddie said as he and Patty left, while Caitlin faked a yawn.
"I'm beat." Caitlin said.
"I've got an early shift at Jitters. We'll catch up tomorrow. Great."
"It's getting late anyway, so I'm just gonna..." Barry quickly left.
Central City
Suited up, Barry sped to a building where was fire going on and a man was hanging from a window.
"Help! Somebody!"
"Guys, there's a window washer, and he's gonna fall." Barry said.
"Don't try and catch him. You don't have super strength." Cisco said.
"Is there a bed store near here? What if I get mattresses and stack them?" Barry suggested.
"Barry, this isn't a Road Runner cartoon." Caitlin protested.
"How fast would I need to go to run up a side of a building?" Barry asked.
"How far up do you need to go?" Cisco inquired.
"I don't know, 50 meters give or take." Barry said, measuring the distance with his eyes as Cisco picked his pen and a napkin, calculating. "Guys, hurry."
"Just run really fast and you'll be fine but you need to maintain velocity on the way down, or..." Caitlin paused.
"Or what?" Barry asked as Cisco and Caitlin stared at each other.
"Splat." Caitlin said.
"Great." Barry groaned. "All right, all right, all right. Here it goes." He ran up the side of the building as the line snapped and the window washer was falling before Barry caught him and got him on the ground safely but was shocked to face Iris, who stared at him in disbelief. Barry vibrated his face so that she would not recognize him as he sped off.
The next morning
"Barry, what have you got?" Joe asked as they were examining the crime scene, where the fire happened the previous night.
"Bombers typically have their own unique signatures. Crimped wires, fragmentation." Barry said. "The level of sophistication is telling once I've analyzed it. You show me a bomb, I can find a clue in it."
"Sounds like there's a 'but' coming." Joe said.
"No fragments of a bomb or an oxidizing agent." Patty said as she looked around. "Almost like if the floor blew up all by itself."
"Things don't just blow up." Joe protested.
"Security guard said our bomber was a woman, red hair." Eddie said as he entered. "Also cut the security cameras feed. There's no footage. But there might be something else." Barry, Joe and Patty followed Eddie as he accompanied them to the archive room with file cabinets. "Some kind of small charge blasted the doorknob off."
"Do we know what's missing?" Patty asked.
"My guess is one of these files." Eddie said. "It's gonna take days to figure out which one."
"Let's let Barry do his thing." Joe said as he and Eddie left.
"I'll help." Patty said, while Barry in superspeed went through all the file cabinets and looking into the folders before he pulled out one that piqued his interest. "What is it?" She asked.
Later, CCPD
"Maybe, if we find out why that bomber wanted the file, we can—"
Patty and Barry stopped, when they saw an army general and soldiers inside the precinct.
"Hey, what's going on?" Barry asked.
"General Eiling is relieving us from the bombing case." Joe explained. "Give these men everything that's relevant."
"OK…" Patty nodded hesitantly as Barry handed the soldiers his box of evidence but quickly snatched a plastic bag from it.
"You and a few civilians from S.T.A.R. Labs might wanna check into that." Joe said.
"I think we might." Barry nodded. He and Patty went out as she saw the look on his face.
"Is everything OK? Something you wanna tell me?" Patty asked.
Barry sighed. "Iris saw me last night."
"What?" Patty asked. "Saw you, as in…"
"…the Streak. Yeah." Barry nodded.
"Did she recognize you?" Patty asked and he shook his head. "What was she even doing there?"
"Chasing a lead on me." Barry explained as she groaned.
"Damn it. Barry, you know she can't get too close." Patty said.
"I know. I'll tell Joe." Barry said.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"A VA file number is all the info you have on the bomber?" Cisco asked.
"We've been ordered off the case this morning." Patty explained.
"Who has the power to do that?" Caitlin inquired.
"The U.S. Army visited us this morning." Patty said.
"Yeah, some general. His name was Eiling, I think." Barry said.
"General Wade Eiling." Wells said as he entered, his face grim.
"You know him?" Barry asked.
"Yeah, I know him." Wells said bitterly. "About ten years ago, General Wade Eiling contracted S.T.A.R. Labs to develop enhanced gene therapies for soldiers. I was interested in the medical benefits for civilians. General Eiling really wanted to develop mind-reading capabilities for interrogation purposes. I stopped the study when I saw his techniques up close, but our split was less than amicable.
"He took all the evidence I collected on the bombing." Barry said as he showed Wells the folder. "Everything but the folder."
"Well, lucky for us, the VA finally joined the new millennium and digitized their records." Cisco said, typing on the computer. "A lot of redacted info but our girl's name is Bette Sans Souci, an EOD specialist for the Army."
"EOD?" Caitlin asked.
"Bombs." Cisco explained.
"Do you have an address? Any lead would help." Patty asked.
"Hold on. Here we go." Cisco typed away. "One person in case of emergency: Cameron Scott, Anglewood."
Later, Central City
Bette was walking down the alley before Barry, in his suit, approached her. "Bette Sans Souci?" Bette turned around and ran away as Barry sighed before facing her again. "I need you to come with me."
"Don't touch me, please." Bette said, terrified. Barry grabbed her by her hand as she tried to push him away but then the emblem on Barry's suit glowed purple as Bette gasped. "Get whatever you're wearing off of you. Hurry!"
Barry sped away and took off his suit as it exploded, leaving him in his underwear.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"Barry, can you hear me? Barry?" Cisco called out.
"Something's wrong." Patty said, worried.
"There must be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why he's not answering." Caitlin said hopefully. "Barry!"
Barry sped back, quickly putting on S.T.A.R. Labs shirt and pants as Patty, Caitlin and Cisco stared.
"Uh..." Caitlin started.
"Don't ask." Barry grumbled.
"I'm gonna ask. Where's my suit?" Cisco asked slowly, glaring.
"It's… gone." Barry said, avoiding Cisco's eyes.
"What do you mean, 'It's gone'? What did you do with my suit?" Cisco demanded, running out of patience.
"It blew up, dude. I managed to get out of it before it went kaboom." Barry said as they all stared.
"My suit went kaboom?" Cisco asked slowly, hoping he had misheard Barry.
"Fun fact about Bette Sans Souci: She's not carrying bombs. She touched the emblem on the suit and turned it into a bomb. She's a metahuman." Barry deadpanned.
"With the ability to cause spontaneous combustion upon tactile contact." Wells explained as he entered.
"She blew up my suit." Cisco said, disbelieving.
"You have like three more." Caitlin noted.
"OK, I have two. And I loved that one." Cisco snapped.
"All right, what else do we know about her?" Barry inquired.
"Oh, I don't know, she's pure evil?" Cisco snapped as he neared the computer, typing away and glaring. "We're gonna find this girl and send her butt into the Pipeline. No one blows my tech to smithereens and gets away with it." He stopped, when he saw her face as he pulled up Beth's profile. "Unless she looks like that."
"I don't think she meant to hurt me." Barry said.
"Or her being a metahuman explains General Eiling's interest in her." Wells said.
"And why did he take away our case." Patty nodded.
"He didn't want anyone to know what she could do." Joe said as he entered.
"Detective." Wells nodded at him.
"Doctor." Joe nodded back. "So human bomb. Must be Tuesday in Central City." He said dryly.
"Yes. And General Eiling's not one to give up a potential asset without a fight." Wells sighed.
The next day, Central City
The following day, Barry and the team followed another lead as Bette visited Dr. Harold Hadley, the man, who had performed surgery on her several times.
She was about to near Hadley, when Barry sped in and then saw laser gunsights, as the windows shattered and she was shot in the shoulder as she fell down.
"You OK?" Barry asked, kneeling towards Bette, who nodded. "I can get you out of here. I can help you understand what happened to you."
"How?" Bette asked, confused.
"Because it happened to me too. Please." Barry pleaded.
Barry saw a flashbang grenade crash in through the window as he sped Bette away.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
Wells showed Bette the simulation of the particle accelerator explosion on the computer.
"As the detonation dispersed throughout Central City, a number of people were exposed to a wave of unquantifiable energy. One of those people was you." Wells explained as Caitlin handed Bette her gloves as Bette looked perplexed. "You were in Central City ten months ago."
"Uh, I had just returned from Afghanistan. I was there defusing roadside bombs and shrapnel ripped through me." Bette said as she was putting on her gloves. "I was flown back Stateside. Spent months at the base recuperating. And next thing I know... I became the thing that almost killed me. And Eiling's favorite new lab rat."
"The dark matter must have combined with the bomb particulate inside your body." Caitlin deduced.
"I thought Eiling did this to me." Bette said, confused.
"Eiling is not smart enough to create someone like you but clever enough to see your value." Wells said.
"Do you know of any others who were changed?" Bette asked as Barry, Patty, Cisco, Caitlin and Wells looked uncomfortable.
"There have been a few." Caitlin said hesitantly.
"But no one that looks like you." Cisco said as Barry wiped his face, Bette blushed and Caitlin and Patty looked at Cisco with raised brows as he realized what he had said. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate." He chuckled awkwardly. "Please, don't leave."
"I know how to perform a lobotomy." Caitlin whispered as Cisco paled.
Bette was in the infirmary as they were running tests on her.
"Cell structure's unlike anything I've seen." Wells said.
"Her nitrogen levels are off the charts." Caitlin said as she was entering the infirmary.
"Can we help her?" Patty asked.
"To answer that, we have to understand how she works. To understand that, we have to study her in action." Wells said.
"You want her to blow stuff up." Cisco said, enthusiastic. "Yes. Now we're talking."
"Cisco, this isn't a game." Patty snapped.
"Detective Spivot is right. Not in here. She's too unstable." Wells said.
"I know." Cisco muttered.
"I know you know." Wells said.
Caitlin pulled out a bullet from Bette's wound before they realized it was a tracker and saw Eiling and his men in the elevator in the footage.
"Lock down the pipeline. Get Bette out of here. I'll take care of Eiling." Wells ordered.
"Harrison Wells." Eiling said as Wells faced him at the elevator. "How the mighty have fallen."
"General." Wells said politely.
"S.T.A.R. Labs. This place used to be so important." Eiling said as he looked around. "Tell me, what does one do after such a spectacular public failure?"
"One adapts. One evolves. One becomes intent on reversing one's fortune." Wells said.
"Always the idealist." Eiling noted.
"What do you want, Wade?" Wells crossed his arms.
"Where's my asset?" Eiling demanded.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Wells denied.
"We tracked her here, Harrison. Turn her over before you see the rest of your precious palace crumble." Eiling warned.
"Wade, Wade, Wade." Wells whispered, taunting as Eiling's men started to search the facility.
"We could've changed the world, you and I." Eiling noted before passing by Wells.
Central City
Bette threw a frisbee in the air as it exploded, while Cisco was testing her powers.
"427 kPa's. Her Trauzl rating is around 45. That's the same as any plastique." Cisco said before realizing he got a new codename. "'Plastique'. Ha! First try."
"Didn't really think this one through, did you?" Caitlin noted dryly as Barry followed Bette.
"Downrange insurgents started booby-trapping cars." Bette said, telling her story. "For 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." She stopped, crossing her arms, turning to Barry. "Have they tried to help you?"
"Uh... they've helped me learn how to use my powers, not reverse them." Barry said.
"If they could reverse it so you weren't a metahuman, would you?" Bette asked.
Barry hesitated before answering. "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." He admitted. Now I can." His phone buzzed as he picked it up. "I'm sorry."
Barry answered the call but sighed in frustration after finding out that Iris had posted another story about the Streak on her blog, this time with her name written on it, despite Barry's warnings.
Later, Jitters
"Sorry, we're closed." Iris said as she heard the bell ring before facing Barry, in his suit as she gasped. "Oh, my God. It's you."
"Iris West, I hear you've been writing about me." Barry said, vibrating his voice so that she would not recognize him.
"You are real. I should, um… let me just clean up..."
Barry quickly cleaned up the café before facing her again. "Meet me on the roof. I'll give you a head start." Iris went up on the roof as Barry was on the upper building. "I need you to stop writing about me." He ordered.
"There are a lot of people who need someone like you right now, to know that you're out there." Iris said. "I have so many questions. Where are you from?"
"I can't say." Barry said, speeding around her.
"Who are you?"
"I can't tell you that either."
"How can you do what you do?" Iris then noticed that he was on the upper rooftop as she sighed and stretched her arms. "You're a terrible interview."
"There's more to this than you can understand." Barry said, facing her. "Just trust me, please. I need you to stop."
"Can you stop? Running into buildings and rescuing people without them even knowing you're there?" Iris inquired.
"I don't do this for the glory." Barry said.
"So why do you?" Iris wondered before sighing. "Look, I have this friend and he had something terrible happen to him when he was a kid. And his whole life, he's been telling stories about this impossible thing. And people laughed at him, and shrinks analyzed him. And he's been searching for an explanation ever since. But now suddenly it's like he's lost his faith." She said sadly as Barry felt sad too. "But you, you are proof that he wasn't crazy." She turned around as Barry vibrated his face, so that she would not recognize him upon taking a closer look. "Help me save my friend."
"He's a lucky guy." Barry noted before he sped off.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
Barry and Patty entered as they saw the looks on Wells', Caitlin's, Cisco's and Bette's faces.
"Hey, what's wrong? Did Eiling find out you're here?" Barry asked.
"No." Bette shook her head. "Caitlin was about to give me the not-so-good news."
"The shrapnel in your body has merged with you on a cellular level." Caitlin explained.
"The technology required to unsplice your DNA, it hasn't been invented yet." Wells said as Bette's eyes got wet.
"Bette..." Barry tried.
"It's OK." Bette breathed out. "Roger that. I... I just need a minute. Don't worry. I'm pretty sure I can cry without blowing stuff up." She said as she left, her voice on verge of breaking.
"What now?" Cisco wondered.
"She joins us. Becomes a part of the team." Barry suggested.
"Barry, you have an amazing ability to help people. She… makes things explode." Caitlin pointed out.
"She's the first metahuman not hell-bent on destroying the city." Barry protested.
"It's too dangerous." Wells said.
"Well, then what should we do? Lock her up in your Pipeline like an animal?" Patty sneered.
"I'm not suggesting she go in. But were she to remain at S.T.A.R. Labs, it would put all of us at risk." Wells said.
"From who, Eiling?" Barry asked.
"Eiling is a dangerous man, we do not want him as an enemy." Wells explained.
"After the lightning 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, looking at all of them.
"And I wanna save her just as bad as you do, Barry. We all do." Caitlin said.
"But there is no way?" Patty asked as they shook their heads before Barry and Patty sighed in defeat.
"She's writing about the Streak for you?" Joe asked as he was with Barry and Patty in another part of S.T.A.R. Labs.
"To prove that the impossible exists." Barry said.
"And you didn't… tell her that you're… you?" Patty asked.
"It would just put her at risk. I didn't want to do that to her." Barry said.
"I guess we're not the only ones trying to help you find some faith." Patty noted as they and Joe chuckled.
Barry and Patty returned to the Cortex as they looked around.
"Where's Bette?" Barry asked.
"She left." Cisco said.
"What do you mean? Where'd she go?" Barry asked.
"She didn't say." Wells said.
"Where can she be?" Patty wondered.
"Looks like they've gone to the waterfront to rendezvous with Bette. She's turning herself in." Cisco said as the were watching the feed of Bette facing Eiling and his men at the waterfront.
"She's not turning herself in." Barry realized.
"Oh, my God…" Patty whispered as it hit them and Barry sped off.
Central City
Eiling was pacing as he was facing Bette at the waterfront with his men.
"All over the world, people are plotting to destroy our country. To end our lives. Brave American soldiers are gonna die in that fight. But they don't have to. Because of you..." Eiling pointed at Bette. "…we could have victory.
"All I've ever wanted was to make the world a safer place. And it will be... when you're not in it." Bette threw at Eiling's men some marbles she had charged as Eiling and his men ran off.
"Take cover!" Eiling ordered as the marbles exploded, knocking the soldiers down before Barry sped over to face Bette.
"What are you doing here?" Bette demanded.
"Being a soldier doesn't mean you're a murderer. Don't become one now." Barry pleaded before Eiling shot Bette as she fell down and Barry knelt to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't see him."
"Don't be. It's not your fault. I'm glad you stopped me." Bette breathed out.
"I'm gonna get you back to S.T.A.R. Labs." Barry said, about to pick her up.
"Barry. Dr. Wells, he... he..." Bette didn't get to finish as she drew her last breath and tilted her head and Barry looked saddened before Bette started to glow purple.
"We have a problem." Barry said.
"Is Bette OK?" Cisco asked.
"No. Eiling killed her." Barry said, much to Cisco's and Caitlin's shock. "She's glowing. She's gonna detonate."
"Oh, my God." Caitlin gasped. "A mass that size, the explosion would be..."
"…devastating." Wells finished.
"Barry, you have to get her away from the city."
"But there's no time." Barry protested before turning to the waterfront as an idea hit him. "Can I run on water? I built up enough speed to run up a building. How fast do I need to go to run on water?"
"Assuming your weight... 450 pounds of force per step for vertical suspension." Cisco said, picking up his pen and notepad, calculating. "Accounting for fluid drag..."
"Approximately 650 miles an hour." Wells said.
"You have to outrun the blast, or you'll die too." Cisco said.
Barry picked up Bette's corpse as he ran on water, getting Bette as far from Central City as possible as he dropped her body and was running back as he was getting ahead of the blast and was at the shore, while staring at the geyser, where Bette exploded, sadly.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"Nothing out of the ordinary occurred. The military was simply conducting an underwater weapons test. There is no need for panic or alarm. Central City is safe, I guarantee you." Eiling said on the news.
"That guy is so full of crap." Patty sneered, glaring.
"He murdered Bette right in front of me, and there's nothing we can do to him?" Barry demanded as he turned to Wells.
"Powerful men have a way of avoiding consequences." Wells said.
"You gonna be OK?" Caitlin asked, worried.
"Yeah." Barry nodded.
"Barry… you walked on water." Patty noted.
"Puts you in pretty interesting company." Caitlin nodded.
Later, Central City
"Barry, what happened to Bette, isn't your fault." Patty said as they were at the bar.
"I didn't say it was." Barry said.
"You tried. That alone counts for something." Patty said, holding his hand.
"Is it going to always be like this?" Barry wondered. "The metas we face… they're either gonna end up in a morgue or locked in a cage under S.T.A.R. Labs."
"I don't know." Patty said. "But I refuse to believe these are our only options. We just need to keep looking for another way."
"When I got my speed, I started hoping I would find the man that killed my mom." Barry said. "But what happened with Bette made me wonder—"
"Don't." Patty interrupted him as she held his hand as he stopped, turning to her. "Doubting yourself, that's never going to help. I don't know where are we gonna end up, but what I do know is that you're not alone. Not anymore. We're here for you." She held his hand as Barry turned to her, smiling. They stared for a moment before kissing.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.