Out of Time Part 2

I don't own The Flash!

Recap

"Joe," Dr. Wells rolled forward "We'll find Mardon. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried at all." And an obviously worried Joe left the Cortex.

Now

"Yeah, Who else doesn't believe him?" Bella asked and everyone raised their hands.

"Well, he's taking being targeted by a revenge-seeking meta-human rather well, I must say." Dr. Wells said with a hint of sarcasm clear in his tone "Don't worry, Barry, Bella. Joe will be fine, I promise."

"Yeah, no, I know." Barry waited until Caitlin and Cisco had left the room and tried not to seem nervous "Uh, I actually wanted to talk to you about something else."

"Mm-hmm?"

"Um...look, last night, on my way to the morgue," Barry took a deep breath "I saw something."

"What'd you see?" Asked Bella, curiously.

"I was running and I turned and I saw myself. Or I don't know, another Flash running beside me." Barry tried to explain.

"Interesting." Dr. Wells mused.

"Yes, very." Bella agreed.

"Yeah. What do you think it was?" Barry asked the two smartest people in his life.

"Could be an optical illusion..." Dr. Wells thought aloud.

"Or a mirroring effect," Bella joined him "Caused by wind sheer and light, a speed mirage, if you think about it."

"It didn't seem like that." Barry shook his head "It was...he seemed real."

"I tell you what." Dr. Wells rolled forward slightly "Let's focus on finding Mardon, and once he's safely contained in the pipeline, we'll investigate this." And he rolled away.

At the Police Station, Captain Singh was chatting with two of his detectives Joe and Eddie as well as Barry.

"Where are we with Mardon?" He asked.

"No one at the morgue saw or heard anything." Eddie told his boss.

"We're canvassing known associates, seeing if he reached out to anybody." Said Joe "Maybe we can get a lead on where he's holed up."

"All right," the Captain set down his papers "why don't we let Thawne do that?"

"Because nobody knows the Mardon brothers better than I do. I mean Chyre and I tracked them for years." Joe argued "I know how they think."

"Which is why you should coordinate the investigation from here." Signh ordered.

Joe stared for a moment then left the room, clearly angry. Barry and Eddie followed him.

Bella had been hanging out with Iris and was now walking into the CCPD with her best friend/sister. They saw Joe, Eddie, and Barry talking conspiratorially and headed over to them.

"Hey sweethearts." Joe hugged the two girls.

"Hey, Dad." Iris greeted.

"How're you doing?" Bella asked.

"Mm." Joe kissed Iris's forehead loudly.

"Hi." Iris turned to her boyfriend.

"Hey." Was his short reply before walking away.

Bella looked at her friend and conveyed a silent message to her, 'I'll make sure he's okay.'

Iris stared after him before asking "So, what are you guys working on? You got any good leads for an honest reporter?"

Bella hurried after Eddie, "Hey!" She called "Wait up!"

"What?"

"What's wrong? You're grumpy. Or...you're hiding something. What is it? Spill!"

"Okay, okay!" Eddie put up his hands "I'm just worried about Joe. What with Mardon being after him and all." He lied quickly.

Bella's eyes narrowed "Mm-hmm. That all?"

"Yeah, I mean, Joe wants us to keep it away from Iris and I'm not very good at lying to her." Eddie ran a hand through his hair worriedly.

"Seriously?" Bella rolled her eyes "I thought Joe would know better by now. Keeping stuff from Iris never ends well."

"I know! What am I supposed to do?"

"Just talk to Joe, explain that you are uncomfortable with keeping something this important from the woman you love and it wouldn't hurt to remind him that Iris is a grown woman who has a right to be involved and informed about this sorta thing." Bella told him "And if you need backup, you know where to find me."

"Thanks Bella." Eddie smiled and headed to his desk.

Bella rolled her eyes and turned back to Barry, Joe, and Iris.

"We were?" Barry asked Joe as Bella rejoined the group.

"Were what?" Bella asked, confused.

"Going to get lunch." Joe elbowed Barry hard in the ribs.

"Right, yeah, yeah. You wanna come Bella?" Barry nodded vigorously.

"Um...sure? If that's okay with you Iris?"

"Yeah, yeah that's totally fine." Iris nodded and pulled Bella into a hug "I'll see you later."

The trio walked out of the station as Iris went off to talk to Eddie. They headed to lunch at Big Belly Burger together.

They had picked up food and were in the car now.

"Mm," Joe mumbled from the drivers seat "I haven't had one of those in way too long."

"Felt appropriate." Barry agreed "So, you want to talk about what's been going on with you?"

"What do you think's been going on with me, Barry?"

"You just seem a bit cavalier," Barry defended "considering what we're up against."

"Yeah, Mardon's not a easy customer." Bella joined the conversation from the backseat.

Joe chuckled "We aren't up against anything."

"Joe, come on, I-!"

"Look, I'm fine." Joe tried to reassure the siblings "Can we just change the subject, please?"

"Sure." Bella grinned.

"Actually, you know, I could use some advice." Barry tried not to make an awkward conversation worse but failed miserably.

"About what?" Joe asked.

"Uh, you know, just relationship stuff."

"Ooh!" Bella teased "You mean, like, with Linda?"

"No, actually. With Iris." Barry sighed "Things between us have gotten a little complicated...again."

Joe and Bella laughed at his misfortune.

Still chuckling Joe managed "You're asking your adopted father for advice about being in love with his daughter who just so happens to be dating his partner?"

Bella burst into fresh giggles at that.

"I know, I know."

"Oh Bare, things have gone way past complicated." Bella smirked.

"As if your love life's any better." Barry joked "But seriously, sometimes, me and Iris have these moments, and when I'm looking into her eyes, it's hard not to think that she's feeling the same way I do."

"Barry, you already told Iris how you feel about her." Bella said "And she shot you down pretty quick."

"So unless she comes out and says she feels the same way," Joe continued "All you can do is hold onto those moments." He peered out the window "Man, it is coming down."

"Yeah." Barry agreed.

He then tried to find a radio station but, when he did, the announcer commented that there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"Mardon." Joe, Bella, and Barry shared a glance then stared out the back window.

Pulling up behind their now stopped car was Mardon. He closed his fist causing a lightning bolt to strike the car. Barry got Joe and Bella out just in time. The car exploded in flames.

Bella was sitting in a spinning chair at STAR Labs while Barry had just gotten back from coffee with Iris.

"I call it the Wizard's Wand." Cisco announced, lifting a long thin rod from the table next to Bella.

"Subtle." Caitlin commented "How does it work?"

"Just think of it like an active lightning rod." Cisco explained "You just point it at the sky and it'll suck up whatever energy'a floating around it."

"Like a sponge." Bella added.

"And it'll stop Mardon?"

"It'll certainly slow him down. If there's no atmospheric electrons available to him, there's no way for him to control the weather." Dr. Wells told the group at large "Good work, Cisco."

"As always." Bella teased.

"If you'll excuse me," Dr. Wells started to move his chair away "I'm gonna go stretch my legs." He joked.

Caitlin walked up to Barry who was obviously distracted and concerned.

"You okay?" She asked "You seem a little off."

Cisco pulled Bella up from where she was spinning in her chair and pulled her over to join the conversation.

"Yeah, yeah. Uh, somebody at..." Barry trailed off and looked over his shoulder "Somebody at Picture News got it into Iris's head that something suspicious is going on with Dr. Wells."

"Like what?" Caitlin looked at Cisco in confusion.

"That he knows what happened to Simon Stagg." Barry said quietly.

"Apparently, nobody's heard from him or seen him since the night Barry stopped Danton Black." Bella mentioned.

"What'd you tell her?" Cisco asked suspiciously.

"That she's wrong. And she is." Barry assured them.

Everyone nodded and Barry and Caitlin walked away to work on their own projects. Bella stayed with Cisco.

"What'd you think?" She asked.

Mardon had been seen at the police station by Cisco. He had been walking into the elevator when he saw the criminal. He quickly called Barry and Bella.

After a short conversation between Joe and Mardon the Weather Wizard shot a blast of air at Joe sending the cop back through the wooden doors.

"Joe!" Eddie shouted as he ran forward.

"No!" Joe tried to stop his partner.

"I'm not gonna be so easy to put down, Joe." Mardon said as he stalked forward.

"Take him down!" Eddie shouted and everyone drew their weapons.

"No, Run!" Joe tried again.

With a shout, Mardon broke all the glass in the windows and summoned a lightning bolt into the building. Which he directed at Joe.

"No!" Captain Singh shouted, diving in front of the lightning and shoving his detective out of the way.

At this moment Barry flashed into the station, grabbed the Wizard's Wand, and turned it on.

Bella flew through the window the lightning had shattered and sighed "Honestly, you'd think someone with so much experience would have more pizazz!"

The wand pulled the storm Mardon had created into itself leaving the meta human confused and running away. Eddie knelt down next to the motionless Capitan Singh. Joe joined him seconds later.

Barry and Joe made eye contact and Barry whisked his boss into his arms and sped him to the hospital. This left Bella awkwardly floating above them.

"Well," She said "That was entertaining." And she left the same way she came in.

Joe was sitting in a chair outside the Captain's room in the hospital. Barry handed him and Captain Singh's fiancé some coffee from the cafeteria.

"Thank you, Barry." Their Captain's fiancé said.

"Yeah."

"This isn't how I thought I'd finally meet David's co-workers. He speaks very highly of you."

"Really?" Barry raised an eyebrow.

"David's all bark." He shrugged "A very loud bark."

Bella walked in "Hey, Joe. Hi, I'm Bella, Barry's sister." She shook hands with David's fiancé. "How is he?"

"We don't know yet." Joe whispered.

"He'll be alright," she patted him on the shoulder "He's a tough one."

The doctor walked out of Captain Singh's room and Joe stood up.

"How is he, doctor?"

"We're stabilizing him. He's experiencing some paralysis in his lower extremities."

"Oh, my God." His fiancé whispered.

"The hardest think to gauge right now is the extent of his neurocognotive deficits. So he may not be the same person you remember."

"Can I see him?"

"I'm sorry," the doctor seemed sincere "visitation's for family only."

Joe leapt to his defense "Being his fiancé makes him family, doctor."

The doctor agreed and let him in.

Before she could go back in Joe stopped her "Will he be able to return to he force?"

"I'm actually not sure he'll be able to walk again." And the doctor returned to her patient.

Joe turned back to Barry and Bella, both had tears in their eyes. Joe pivoted sharply and started to walk out.

"Joe, where are you going?" Bella hurried after him with Barry following close behind her.

"I need to end this."

"Not by yourself." Barry protested.

"Yes, by myself! I know him! I can find him. I don't want anybody else getting hurt, especially Iris or either of you."

"Iris is fi-" Bella tried to tell him.

"Mardon said he was going to avenge his brother. That goes beyond me. It goes all the way to you two and her. You stay with Iris, and you keep her safe. Do not leave her side."

"Yeah, alright." Barry agreed quietly.

"Fine, Barry can stay with Iris. I'm coming with you." Bella declared and before Joe could protest "You're gonna need some firepower."

After a long moment Joe nodded and beckoned for her to follow him out of the hospital. This left Barry standing in the hallway, very worried.

Joe And Bella sat in a undercover car in front of a dilapidated old building. This was where Mardon was hiding. Joe burst through the front doors, gun drawn. Bella, in her Phoenix getup, waited in case he needed backup.

Joe made his way down the hallway to a door and nudged it open with his foot. He let it close though when he saw there was no one there. Joe continued this pattern for several more doors until he rounded a corner and saw a figure standing right in front of him.

"Joe." Eddie said, stepping into the light.

Joe lowered his gun "Eddie. You shouldn't be here."

"And you shouldn't be chasing after Mardon alone, partner."

"I'm not alone." Joe pointed out the window.

Pheonix was floating right outside the glass "Hi, Eddie!" She called.

"Bella?" Eddie asked surprised "Should you be doing this so soon?"

"I'm fine, dude, seriously."

"Wait," Joe shook his head "You know she's Pheonix, and you didn't tell me?"

"I only found out a few days ago. She showed up at the house bleeding and hurt. Iris and I helped her." Eddie defended himself "Now, did you find anything?"

"Not yet, but this was an old Mardon brothers' hideout about six years ago, so it's a long shot." Joe turned back and started down the other hallway "But listen, Eddie-"

"Save it." His partner cut him off "I'm not leaving."

Joe and Eddie moved quickly down the long, dark hallway, guns drawn to room 123. They kicked open the door and rushed through.

Eddie put his hand over the stove and felt it was still warm "Somebody was here very recently."

The window was open as Joe picked up a newspaper "He left this here for me."

"Where to next?" Eddie asked.

All at once, a huge gust of wind blew through the window, so strong it knocked over the small table and plates. Then it pushed Joe out the window.

Eddie rushed forward "Joe!" As he looked out the window he realized that Bella was nowhere to be found "Crap." He muttered.

Bella awoke handcuffed to a post, Joe was beside her also handcuffed. Joe awoke, tried to move, and gave a shout of pain.

"Small miracle you only broke one leg, Joe." Mardon stood up from his seat nearby "The night I got sucked out of my plane, I broke almost every bone in my body." He stepped on Joe's broken leg, making the man grunt in agony "It was excruciating. At least you got a small taste of what that felt like. Still...Guess you'll never know what it really feels like to be God."

Joe snarled "That's what your brother said to me, right before I killed him."

Mardon's already ugly face twisted and he punched Joe square in the jaw "I don't need these powers to end your life."

"Then do it."

"No!" Bella shouted "Do not hurt him!" Her hands started heating up but Mardon sent a small wave to wash over her, dousing her flames.

"That's what you came her for, isn't it?" Joe asked, ignoring Bella "An eye for an eye?"

"Oh, Joe." Mardon paused dramatically "I want so much more than an eye." He pulled out a roll of duck tape threateningly.

Back at the station, Eddie was giving a pep talk to all the cops.

"We've seen what Mardon can do, but do not forget, he is not invincible." His voice faded away as Iris and Barry stood next to each other.

"I can't believe this is happening." Iris muttered "Where's Bella? Shouldn't she be here?"

Barry looked at her, Eddie had told him how Bella had vanished right before Joe had been blown out the window. But Iris couldn't know that Bella was Pheonix or that he was the Flash, it would be too dangerous.

"We'll find him." He tried to assure his best friend "And I'm sure Bella's fine, she can look after herself."

Iris remembered that Bella was powerful and a good fighter, Barry was right she was probably fine. She had no idea how wrong she was.

"Hey, look at me, all right?" Barry turned her face towards himself and gently cupped her cheeks "I promise I will bring him back to you."

"Okay." Iris whispered trustingly.

As Eddie finished talking Iris's phone buzzed.

"Hello?" She answered.

Mark Mardon's voice came through "I have your father and his little fireball. They're a little broken, but still alive." He taunted "If you want him to stay that way, come to the waterfront, South side. Oh, and Iris, you tell the police, your father's dead."

Mardon hung up the phone and chucked it as far into the water as he could.

"She's on her way." He smirked at Joe and Pheonix, both bound and gagged with duck tape.

Still at the station, Iris turned to Barry, tears in her eyes "He has my dad. He says if I tell anyone he'll kill him. He wants me to meet him at the waterfront."

"All right, I'm coming with you." Barry grabbed his coat and the two rushed towards the elevator.

Linda walked out of the elevator just as they reached it "Barry, can I talk to you for a second?" She asked.

"No, Linda, I'm sorry, I really can't right now." Barry said still hurrying into the elevator.

"No, of course not." Linda said, noticing Iris.

"Look, it's not like that. It's an emergency. I have to go right now." Barry jumped into the elevator.

Mardon was looking through binoculars when he spotted Barry and Iris "Congratulations, Joe. You're my plus-one today. Front row seats to watch everyone and everything you ever loved destroyed." He tossed the binoculars to Joe "Pretty girl too. Such a shame." He ripped the tape off Joe's mouth.

"Please, she's my daughter." Joe cried.

"Clyde was my brother."

"He's a thief and a murderer." Bella shouted through her gag "She's an innocent girl."

"She'll pay for the sins of her father then. They'll all pay." Mark stood up, pressing the tape back over Joe's mouth.

He raised his hands and thunder rumbled and the sky above began to swirl ominously.

Iris and Barry were running along the path that led to the South side of the waterfront when they noticed the dangerous skies.

"Iris, you need to get out of here, okay?" Barry told her "You need to get as far away from here as possible."

"I am not leaving you." Iris protested.

"Iris, please!" Pleaded Barry.

"Listen to me, ever since the night that you told me how you felt, I have not been able to stop thinking about you. At first, I was really mad, and then I realized that the reason that I couldn't stop thinking about you was because I didn't want to."

Barry grinned "I've never stopped thinking about you." And the two leaned together and kissed gently.

Then thunder rumbled again and lightning flashed, Mardon screamed with the force of creating a deadly tidal wave, heading straight for Central City.

"Stop!" Bella shrieked "Please, you don't have to do this!"

Mardon sent another wave over the burning girl with a flick of his finger "Oh, don't worry little girl. I'll kill you next."

Suddenly, Bella's eyes turned a bright scorching orange and the handcuffs she was wearing melted. She stood up and floated into the air, her face deadly.

"I am not a little girl. I. Am. Pheonix." She roared and sent a blast of fire at Mardon who had just enough time to force up a wall of water in front of himself.

He pushed forward and sent a gust of wind in her direction but she sent a spiral of pure white flames directly towards his heart. Unfortunately he dodged and sent a wave of water at her. Pheonix put up a fiery shield and the water evaporated.

Mardon somehow was still pushing the tsunami towards the coastline. Barry was running back and forth along the sand trying to create a wall of wind to stop it. Pheonix noticed this and screamed, she pulled together all her strength and a wall of fire appeared in front of the wave. But the water simply roared over it, sending mist into the air.

Barry was running so fast he didn't even notice the fiery superhero's attempt to help. He screamed as he ran, ran faster than he ever had before. And suddenly, he was on a street, looking around in confusion.

"Oh, boy."

Word count: 3513 words

I'm back! And so is my Netflix! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update but I finally have. Please don't forget to comment, vote, and add to your reading lists!

Love,

The Author