07

Nothing Lasts Forever

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little?" Ryder looked up when Cadence glared at him. "I don't think Brady really hates you. If he did, you would be at each other's throats all the time."

"You didn't see the look on his face when he said it," Cadence replied. She finished the rest of her hot chocolate and set the empty mug aside. The moment her hands left the mug, the steam that curled from the top immediately disappeared. It paid to have the ability to keep her drinks from turning lukewarm. "I'm sure he meant it. Besides, he's never said he's hated you."

Ryder's eyebrows rose in disbelief. "Hasn't he?"

Cadence shrugged, dropping her hands into her lap. "Before you came to Central City I didn't talk about you much, only to answer a few questions that he had. But he never said he hated you." She lifted a finger. "Actually, if I remember correctly, he said he hated me then, too, when he found out who you were." Ryder grimaced then moved his hand to cover his mouth. "It's not funny."

"It's not funny at all," Ryder agreed. "I find it ironic." Cadence pouted. "Cadey, he's ten. He's bound to get mad at us about things we don't understand. Remember when we were teenagers? We were the exact same way."

"Um, except we were mad at our parents because they stressed out so much. I don't think you would've gotten that underage drinking charge if it weren't for that."

"That got expunged from my record!" Ryder cried, his eyes flashing from the injustice he clearly was still annoyed about. Cadence smiled sweetly in response. It had been one of the few things they and their friends had done and gotten caught for. So many other experiences they'd had they didn't know about. They all came rushing back, making Cadence seconds away from laughing hysterically. "And the only reason you didn't get caught is because you ran with everyone else and left me behind."

"Only because your parents wouldn't care," Cadence pointed out. "Mine would've locked me in my room if they had the chance."

A sad expression came to Ryder's face despite his smile staying frozen in place. "You're right," he agreed. He then shook his head and pushed aside the thought of their parents. Cadence couldn't help but mimic his sad smile. She hadn't thought of her father in so long and now…there he was again. She knew what he would've done, he would've stood behind her mother while she shook her head and wagged her finger and later would've told her how he had done the same thing when he was her age. And still ground her.

Things seemed to be so simple back then. Back when? Cadence thought. When you were still a metahuman, but your secret identity back then was a 'normal' girl with a boyfriend and friends who didn't really know her?

"But we're not like my mom and dad." Ryder's voice broke her from her thoughts. "And Brady's a smart kid, whatever's bothering him he'll figure it out soon."

"If you say so." Cadence rested her chin in her hand as she studied Ryder.

It was moments like that she remembered why she had liked him so much and why they lasted so long. Other than their relationship being the teenage cliché of what would be equivalent to high school sweethearts, he really did know her well enough to reassure her when things weren't going well. And did it with ease, almost as if he didn't have to try. It was second nature from the time they'd spent together and would always be second nature. A home away from home or sorts.

"But thanks for coming over when I called, Ry," Cadence said sincerely. "I really did need to talk."

"Of course," Ryder replied as if it were obvious.

"Are you ready to go to the doctor?"

Ryder nodded and set some money on the table for a tip before grabbing his crutches to help himself up. He waved off Cadence's arm to assist him and the two headed out of Jitters towards the doctor's office. Cadence sat in the waiting room, flipping through a magazine while Ryder was in the office. She frowned, noticing how long it took for people to be checked in. A new system for being checked in was being installed, was the excuse the receptionist was giving to those who asked. What new system was needed other than showing your medical card and then showing your ID?

It wasn't like they were going to input any facial recognition software. That wasn't too secure when there were so many metahumans that had the ability to shapeshift in some way. A sigh escaped Cadence's lips, her thought turning toward Incognito, one of the members of the Assassination Bureau. There were too many people she'd seen him impersonate—including Joe West—that she had no idea what he truly looked like. His power had come in hand on more than one occasion to get into high security places and other areas that weren't accessible to the public. There were too many risks to be taken.

As far as I know, this new piece of technology could be created by STAR Labs, Cadence thought with a wry smile. There was enough pieces of technology and new technological and engineering experiments that had been crated Cadence wouldn't have been surprised if every computer technology in the city was created by STAR Labs. Which also wouldn't be so helpful considering the computer Captain Cold and HeatWave stole and sold on the black market.

Finally, after forty minutes of waiting, Ryder walked out of the doctor's office sans cast and limping slightly. "You sure you're okay?" Cadence asked, standing to greet him.

"Yeah, just a little stiff since I haven't used it in so long," Ryder replied, gently rubbing his knee. "And some leftover pain. The doctor gave me some more pills for it. Other than that, everything's healed nicely."

Cadence folded her arms and lowered her voice. "I told you I could've healed it for you."

"It's fine." Ryder waved her off.

Cadence pouted. "Why does no one let me heal anything?"

"Because it'd look suspicious if I was perfectly and completely healed without having to go back for a checkup."

"True."

Ryder smiled and the two went down to the pharmacy to get the prescription filled out. "You know, you didn't have to wait for me," Ryder said as he leaned against the counter, being sure to keep his bad leg from taking on most of his weight. "I could've made it myself."

"I just wanted to make sure everything was okay," Cadence replied with a shrug. "And to treat you for coffee for coming over at short notice, though I know you would've done it anyway." Ryder nodded in agreement and got the prescription. They then left the doctor's office and got into Cadence's car to drive to his office. "Are you sure you want to go work? You can take the day off and just rest."

Ryder snorted. "With Flash and Flare around there's no such thing as a day off."

Cadence laughed.

Home away from home, indeed.

Caitlin shook her head as she watched the video in front of her. She exchanged a glance with Cisco, who looked as confused and startled as he did. How else was one supposed to react to what they were seeing? Edward Clariss standing in the middle of his cell shouting for Alchemy. Seconds later there was a bright flash of light that lifted him up off the ground and threw him back and forth amongst the cell. Creams tore at this throat as he was flung back and forth, arms flailing like a ragdoll before it suddenly and gruesomely cut short his lifeless boy falling to the ground. A streak of blood appeared on the glass front of his cell.

Caitlin gasped and looked away. No matter how many times she saw the video, it was hard to take. Watching a body get pulled around like that, like a movie stunt on wires gone wrong, it was inhuman. Horrifying. Watching someone die like that…it reminded her too much of what had happened to Jay. Or the Jay she thought she knew. Like the Harrison Wells she thought she knew, like Ronnie…there had been too much death and destruction following her recently. First Henry being murdered then Barry creating Flashpoint, Alchemy and now this?

It was a life she couldn't have ever imagined having. She thought she would be a world-renowned bioengineer who had nothing but the world at her feet, married, and with a small family of her own, taking time from her studies to take care of her baby. But the dream had immediately faded when the Particle Accelerator blew. With the life she had now, while it was nothing she imagined, it wasn't a life she'd give up. If only they could go a short while without some sort of a crisis or new mysterious pop up.

"When did this happen?" Caitlin asked, finally finding her voice. She lifted her gaze to Joe, Barry, and Cadence, who stood on the other side of the computer desk from where Team Flash watched the footage on the wall mounted monitor.

"A few days ago," Joe said.

"A few days ago!?" Caitlin and Cisco both yelped in unison.

Joe let out a long sigh, running his hand over his head then trailed his fingers down his beard. "Captain Singh brought it to my attention. I've already shown it to Julian,"—Barry rolled his eyes at the mention of his partner's name— "so you don't need to worry about him."

"Are you sure about that?" Barry deadpanned.

Joe ignored him and continued. "Captain Singh held off on showing me for a few days because he didn't want it to get out that there might be a security issues at Iron Heights."

"So, what is it?" Jesse asked. "What attacked him?"

"That's the thing," Joe said grudgingly. "We don't know. We've had some of our best IT experts on the force look into it, to see if it was doctored in some way. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to show that the footage had been doctored in any way. It's real."

"Well, you haven't had Team Flash on the case," Cisco said. He went so far as to extend his arms in front of him and crack the knuckles of his interlaced fingers. "Right?" He lifted his hand towards Caitlin and she smiled and high-fived him back. "No offense, Joe, but I don't think the CCPD has the sophisticated instruments that are needed to take whatever this is down."

Joe held up his hands. "No offense taken. It's why I came to you guys in the first place. I thought maybe you would see something I didn't."

"Other than that bright light?" Cadence asked. "Who could miss it?"

"But then the question is, what's causing it," Harrison remarked, rubbing his fingers over his chin. "And if it's a metahuman."

"It couldn't be a meta," Harry interjected, arms folded tightly across his chest. "The cell Clariss is in is created from the same technology our pods in the Pipeline are made from. Meta dampeners and all. It had to be something else?"

"Like a ghost?" Tess asked. She continued to stare at the frozen frame of Clariss's body lying on the ground. "No, the way his body moved back and forth, the way his arm sand legs moved, it had to be something or someone very strong and very fast. The force created on the body that managed to drag him around proved It. Not to mention the blood that suddenly came from his body." She pointed. "There's a stab wound to his chest and a pretty gruesome one, I might add. That wasn't faked."

"Well, you're lucky because you've got C and C on the case," Cisco continued to boast, motioning between himself and Caitlin. "There's nothing that we can't find out. Don't worry, we'll see what's going on with this guy." He leaned back in his seat. "And can I just say that I don't entirely like the idea that he goes by the name 'The Rival'? It sounds a little craggy."

"At this point any of the metas we go against may as well have some sort of a bragging name in their title," Cadence said with a snort. "Just so we'd take them seriously."

"Don't judge a meta by a name," Joe murmured. "Do you really think that if Caitlin hadn't named her, we would've taken a meta named Peek-A-Boo seriously at all?" He shook his head. "I'm going to head back to work, call me if you need me. I only left so that I could let you guys see the video footage." He pointed towards Barry and Cadence. "Make sure you're back before lunch break ends, I'm sure Captain Singh is going to be making sure you are where you're supposed to be. I'm really starting to get the feeling he knows who you two really are."

"You're not the only one," Barry agreed. He sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair before turning his attention back to the frozen footage on screen. The rest of Team Flash slowly moved away, with Harry and Jesse moving to go to the room set up in STAR Labs for them, Harrison and Tess going to their offices.

Caitlin watched Barry for a long moment, tilting her head to the side. "Barry, are you okay?" She asked his back.

As soon as the words left her lips, Caitlin wondered why she asked. How could anyone be okay when they were constantly putting themselves in danger by stepping out the door? And that was just as Barry Allen, with his line of work there was ample time for others to want to get revenge on him. Adding The Flash on top had to make things even more difficult. Having those powers in general was harder than Caitlin would ever imagine.

Not just because she feared her own abilities, but because she wondered if there was anyone who could tell just by looking at her. Knew she was different. Knew she had powers she was trying to hide. Knew there was something different about her that would be exploited later. How funny, that she was the one wondering how others would treat her when they knew she had powers when she treated those with it as criminals that needed to be rehabilitated.

"No," Barry said after a minute. "I don't think I'm going to be okay until all of this is finally over and done with." He shook his head, looking at her over his shoulder. "But I don't think that's ever going to happen as long as I have my powers."

Caitlin smiled back at him. "The day that happens, you're going to be so sad you took your powers for granted."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Barry turned to face her completely. He folded his arms and twisted his mouth to the side. "The day I have to stand in line at Jitters to get my coffee is going to be torture." He laughed as Cadence reached out and shoved him on the arm before looping her arm around his waist. Barry smiled and put his arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side.

Caitlin smiled at the two and turned to Cisco, who was typing quietly on his computer. For a moment, Caitlin wasn't sure if he was too busy with his work or not, but then his eyes shifted to the side and he smiled back at her, making her own smile widen. She turned to her own computer to get started on research of the video, and placed her hands on the keyboard keys.

As soon as she did so, she couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh, becoming very aware of her finger placements on the keyboard. Why she thought it was a good idea to get her nails styled like that, she'd never know. It was a strange impulse that had come over her when she was in the nail salon. She was getting her nails shaped as she did every few weeks—they could get very bad with the chemicals she used daily. The esthetician was rolling the light, crystal blue polish Caitlin had chosen between her palms when Caitlin sat up straight in her seat and said in a confident drawl, she would've preferred having longer, dark blue nails.

It wasn't her style at all and yet now she was stuck with them for the next month or so. Stuck with some very, very ugly nails. Cisco noticed her sigh and looked over at her hands, his eyebrows rising when he saw them. "You finally decided to do something new, huh?" He asked. At his remark, Barry and Cadence leaned closer to look as well. "It's not what I would've chosen for you, but it's cool."

"I hope you're really careful when you're trying to put your makeup on in the morning," Cadence added, reaching out to examine Caitlin's hand as well. "Otherwise, you'd poke your eye out."

"I don't know, Caitlin with an eyepatch could be a pretty interesting look," Barry teased. "Maybe I'd take her a bit more seriously when she threatens me. I mean, Caitlin can be a little scary, but a Killer Caitlin?"

"You mean, Killer Frost," Cisco teased then immediately sucked his lips into his mouth, keeping quiet. His eyes shifted over to Barry's and Cadence's how stayed quiet. Caitlin noticed the sudden drop in temperature in the room—pun intended—and leaned back in her seat to look at her friends. Her eyes shifted over each of their faces, immediately knowing there was something being hidden from her. "What?" She asked.

"Nothing," Cisco, Barry, and Cadence all said in unison.

"No," Caitlin insisted. "What? It's not like I don't know who Killer Frost is. I ran into her, remember? When we were trying to keep the city safe from the Metapocalypse when Jay—" Caitlin cut herself off, a thick lump appearing in her throat. She swallowed hard, willing it to go away before saying quietly, "When Zoom kidnapped me. We talked."

"Yeah, but…" Cadence let out a long breath and looked at Barry again.

"Okay, I get that you two can tell what each other is thinking when you look at each other, but words are important in conversation," Caitlin said firmly. She stood up and folded her arms. "What is it, Cadence?"

Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "Killer Frost is your doppelganger on Earth-2," he said.

"And living well up to her name," Cisco murmured.

Impatient, Caitlin waved a hand. "Yes, we've already established this. So?"

"So, Caitlin, all of our doppelgangers on that Earth, Barry not included, were evil doppelgangers," Cadence explained. "Burnout for me, Reverb for Cisco…" she kept her eyes leveled on Caitlin's. "Deathstorm for Ronnie." Caitlin's lips parted, and she sucked in a sharp breath but couldn't find the words to say anything. So Ronnie was alive on that Earth and…and he'd died? She assumed he did, or else they would've mentioned him a lot sooner or maybe it was him being evil that had kept them from wanting to say anything. No, Caitlin realized a second later. That's not it.

"But?" Caitlin pressed.

"But that's not the only thing," Cadence said. She leveled her gaze on Caitlin's, looking her best friend in the eye. "When Barry and I went over to Kara's Earth…there was another Killer Frost there as well."

"Oh."

That was the only thing Caitlin could get out of her mouth. The wheels of her brain turned, slowly understanding what it was that they were trying—or not—trying to say. "It wasn't Caitlin Snow, but it was Killer Frost. And she was evil as well."

"But we don't think you're turning into her or anything," Cisco quickly jumped in, shooting Cadence a look. "Or that you're evil. Well, you're evil when you're playing poker against me and won't let me win—"

"—Cisco," Barry said quietly.

"But…. you think that the charges on my credit card I don't remember and things like that mean I'm turning into Killer Frost?" Caitlin asked skeptically. Skeptically enough so that she could even convince herself. There had to be some other explanation but…she had been doing a lot of things she didn't remember. Why would she suddenly dye her hair blonde when it was something she had ever thought of before. Why would she suddenly decide to change her nail style to something she absolutely hated?

Then there were the leather boots, charges to the bank that had her removing multiple sums of money that were then funneled into online shopping sprees that continued to show up at her door, her continued and intense dislike of…

Caitlin shook her head.

No.

"You think I'm turning evil?" Caitlin asked. Her voice came out in a whisper, quieter than she'd hoped. Not as strong as she was trying to trick herself into being. "That I'm going to be as evil and ruthless as Killer Frost?"

"No, we're not saying that at all," Barry insisted. He removed his arm from Cadence's shoulder and held his hands up as he took a step closer to Caitlin. She took a step back. Was he holding his hands up defensively? Afraid she was going to attack him? "We don't even know why Killer Frost is evil on each of those Earths."

"But there has be a reason for it, Barry," Caitlin insisted. "A logical explanation." She lifted a finger. "I can even give it to you, it's because of these powers. Killer Frost said so herself. She woke up one day cold and sick and found out she had her powers; and since then she was nothing but evil."

Cadence snorted. "I don't think her powers made her evil."

"Let's think of this logically," Caitlin said, a sarcastic tone to her voice. "Killer Frost has ice powers. Just like I do. Every faction of Killer Frost that you've come across is evil and has the same powers. Her powers probably affect her physiologically, as it does with every metahuman, and mentally. It changed the configuration of her brain to make her evil as her ice powers made her cold."

Cisco tilted his head, eyebrows lowering in confusion. "Was that on purpose? Because I have to admit it was a pretty good pun." Barry and Cadence both glared at him. He held up his hands defensively. "I'm just saying."

"It made her cold to everything; morals, ethics, emotions, she killed because she could and didn't care." Caitlin started to pace, her words coming out rapidly as she spoke.

"Okay, say that you're right," Barry said. "But your powers are similar to Cadence's, the same abilities but a different element. Why isn't it affecting her?"

Caitlin mulled it over for a moment. It caught her off-guard. She thought back to everything they knew about Earth-2, Burnout, and Killer Frost. Then she thought about what she knew about Reverb. The idea, the solution came to her quickly. "For the same reason it hasn't affected Cisco. Reverb was only evil because he struck a deal with Zoom. He made that choice. Burnout was evil because of choices she'd made earlier in life, giving up Brady had put her into a sense of despair that made her susceptible to the Assassination Bureau's whims."

"So, my choices kept me from being Burnout here?" Cadence pointed to the ground, indicating their Earth.

"And your powers," Caitlin explained. "Synonyms of fire; passion, impulsion, liveliness. All those traits are exhibited within your powers, seen as positive traits. But ice; cool, frigid, reservation, an aloof coldness, all seen as negative. Thus, making a killer. Killer Frost."

"Caitlin, you're not a killer," Barry said. He grasped her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "You're nothing like Killer Frost. You're not cold and calculating. You're warm, and passionate, and caring about everything and everyone around you."

"You don't—"

"Caitlin, you're not going to turn into Killer Frost," Cadence insisted, stepping up to her best friend and took her hand in hers. Caitlin couldn't help but notice how warm Cadence's hand was in comparison to hers. Is that from our powers or has it always been that way? She thought. "You're never going to turn into Killer Frost. Not with help. All you have to do is stop being afraid of your powers, and learn how to use them the way you want them to. They're not going away. You just need to train with them. I can help."

"Me too," Cisco agreed. "I mean, I've managed to get control of my powers, pretty fast. I think I can show you a thing or two."

"We're not saying you have to go out into battle, but getting control of your powers will definitely help," Barry said. "And we're behind you the entire way."

Caitlin smiled and nodded. But it didn't reach her heart.

Brady brought back his right foot and smashed it into the soccer ball in front of him. He grinned and pulled the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt down over his hands and drew his arm across his nose. It was a good goal, even the goalie had to leap to the side to get it and missed only by seconds, the ball bending past his fingers. A cloud of air compressed in front of Brady's face as he turned to run back to the end of the line the rest of his team formed.

"Good job," Conner said one Brady stopped behind him. He held his hands in his arm pits, bouncing up and down as he worked to stay warm. "I thought you were going to miss."

"So did I," Brady agreed. He sniffed loudly and started to mimic Conner's movements, trying to stay warm as well. If he wasn't so angry at his mother at the moment, he would've curled up into her side to take on her body heat. "Anyway, I thought you were going to skip practice today."

"I thought so, too," Conner agreed. "But my mom said she had a lot of stuff she needed to do today and let me come." He turned his gaze to his feet, taking small steps forward along with the team as they moved forward in line. "I don't know, I guess she feels guilty or whatever."

"What does have anything to feel guilty about?" Brady couldn't help the disgust that came to his voice.

Conner looked back at him. "You're still mad at your mom?" He asked. Brady shrugged and nodded. "Don't be mad at her, it's not like she had anything to do with it."

"She could've done something, she always does for everyone else. But not for me."

"That's not true." Conner took his spot on the line and took a few steps back. The coach rolled the ball towards him and Conner took a few small steps forward and drove his right foot into the ball, dragging his left one across the ground so that it drove a divet in the grass. He stood up and shuffled to the side so that Brady could get his turn once more. "I take it back, the angrier you are, the better you play."

"Then I should be David Beckham by my next birthday," Brady deadpanned.

Conner sighed and folded his arms. He looked over his shoulder to be sure no one was listening before saying, "I've left some of the lists we've made in my locker and I think that—"

"—I don't want to talk about it," Brady interrupted.

Conner bristled, suddenly showing a side of himself that Brady had never seen before. "I get you're mad, but we can't do anything about it now. Everything's been worked out. But I'm as mad as you are. This isn't just about you! It's about me! And my mom! And you're acting really selfish!" With that, he turned on his heel and walked away from Brady as their coach blew a long blast of the whistle, signaling the end of practice.

Brady pouted, running a hand through his hair before turning on his heel to gather his things. His eyebrows rose when he saw Barry standing off to the side of the field, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket. When he spotted Brady, Barry waved, and Brady waved back, stopping long enough to grab his gym bag and hoist it over his shoulder before walking to Barry.

"What are you doing here?" Brady asked when he was in ear-shot. "I thought Dad was going to pick me up today."

"He got stuck at his office," Barry explained. "And I offered to take you back."

"Okay." Brady paused, his eyes shifting when he noticed that Barry hadn't grabbed him and ran them to Ryder's office or even to the CCPD to wait for his mother to be finished with her shift. "So, are we going or…?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something first," Barry said.

Brady's heart sank. He had an idea of what it was. He liked Barry. He really did. But Barry also had the incessant need to fix things and people. If any of them fought, he tried his hardest to trick them into talking to each other again. Almost as if his heroics couldn't be contained to the field. Then again, Brady thought, he did dedicate his life to proving his dad innocent of his mom's murder. There weren't many other people that would do that. They'd either sit down and take what life gave them or complained rather than do something about it. When Iris was mad at Barry for not telling her he was the Flash, he wheedled her down until she spoke to him again. When his mother was mad at Barry, when Caitlin was mad at them…Barry always had something to say or do to bring people back together.

And it wasn't like Brad never wanted to speak to his mom again. But…ugh, it was so frustrating. Knowing that there was something serious going on in his life and she seemed not to notice it. But when metahuman or other children were involved she dropped everything for them.

Rather than jumping right to the bait, Brad asked, "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Let's go to Jitters and I'll tell you," Barry said instead. "It's probably something you should be sitting down for."

The idea of getting a free chocolate muffing for a meal other than breakfast was the main factor in Brady willingly going along with Barry. Nevertheless, the two walked to Jitters—which shocked Brady as much as anything else—and tucked themselves into a corner booth to talk. Barry tapped his fingers atop the table while Brady worked his way through his muffin. He brushed chocolate crumbs off his cheeks and looked up at Barry to mumble, "I thought you wanted to talk about something."

May as well get it over with.

"I do," Barry agreed, then cringed. "I just…I guess I don't really know how to start."

Brady heaved an exasperated sigh. "Just say it," he said wearily. He was already tired of trying to pretend that nothing was going on. Every morning since their argument, things had been quiet in their apartment. Maybe Cadence had told Barry not to stay over for a while, Brady wasn't sure, but the speedster wasn't around to buffer the tension between them. They only said a few words to each other, "Good morning. "Morning." "Toast or Cereal?" "Cereal." "Here's you lunch." "Thanks. Bye." "Bye."

No 'did you do your homework?'. No 'how was your day?'. No 'did anything interesting happen at school?'. Honestly, the questions got annoying sometimes. But…he didn't realize it'd be so annoying to not hear it. They'd been mad at each other before but…

Brady shook his head. "What is it?" He demanded, watching Barry carefully. He hadn't known the speedster to be so twitchy before, but now he continued to tap his fingers on the table top, knees bouncing so hard it nearly rattled his coffee cup off the table. It would've been funny if it weren't so jarring, Barry's movements continued to increase in speed until his fingers and knees blurred. "Barry, are you okay?"

Barry nodded. Finally, he stopped twitching and sat up straight. "You know that feeling you get when you're so excited for something you can't focus on anything else?" He blurted, startling Brady so badly that he choked on a bite of his muffin and started coughing. He grabbed the glass of juice that sat to his side and gulped the rest down. "That's me right now, focusing on…well, what I always think about," Barry said.

Brady gave a half smile. "My mom?"

Barry smiled back. "And you know that other feeling you get when that thing you were excited about seemed to take forever to arrive? Imagine being a speedster, days seem like weeks, hours seem like days, and seconds seem like…"

"I get the point," Brady broke in. "So what does that have to do with me? Or what you wanted to tell me?"

"Well, because of all of the time I have on my hands, no pun intended, it's given me the chance to really think about what I want of my life," Barry explained. "And of my future and everything like that. There were a lot of things I thought I wanted and when I got them it wasn't the same."

"Your life in Flashpoint?" Brady asked.

Barry nodded. "I thought I wanted my mom and dad back, and I still do want that but…knowing it happened and my family, the family I've made wasn't the same…I couldn't do it. Things weren't the same in the life I few to love. And I thought about that a lot."

"Barry, you're rambling. I don't even know what you wanted to tell me." That he thinks I'm being a jerk. That he thinks I should stop being so mean. That he thinks—

Barry too a deep breath and sat up straight in his seat. He looked Brady in the eye and said, "I've been thinking about asking your mom to marry me."

"Huh?" The word escaped Brady's lips before he could stop himself. Had he heard right? Sticking a finger in his ear, Brady wiggled it around then asked, "What did you say?"

"I said I was thinking of asking your mom to marry me," Barry repeated. "But I wanted to get your thoughts on it first. Because it's a big change," he said quickly, his words starting to blur together as he spoke quickly. "I get it. And I don't want you to think that I'm trying to take Ryder's place or anything or that I'm trying to, I don't know, control you or anything. I just…wanted to know what you thought. That's not weird is it? That I want your opinion? Because, like I said, it's just as important that you're a part of it because you'd be my family, too. And me part of your family, too. Right? Is that okay?"

Brady blinked in surprise. Not surprise of what Barry had just told him, but surprise at how easily excited he felt about it. How it seemed like something that should've happened a long time ago. He remembered how Henry had made a joking comment about it, "So tell me, when's the wedding?" and wondered how much longer it would be until it was official. If they could joke about it…

"So, what do you think?" Barry asked, this time much calmer.

"Mmm." Brady twisted his mouth to the side as he thought about it. "Don't you think it's a little fast?" He asked. Barry gave a wry smile, making Brady roll his eyes. "You've only been dating a year." His eyes furrowed. "I think." Maybe it was a little more than that? He didn't know, it wasn't really his business anyway.

"I seem to remember someone who practically blew up from excitement whenever I came around," Barry teased.

"That was before I got to know you," Brady teased back. "And realized how much of a freak you are." He laughed a little. "Umm, would you be my dad?"

"I'd be your stepfather. Ryder'd still be your dad, he wouldn't be going anywhere. He'd still be part of your life." Barry wrung his hands together. "You allowed him to be there just like I'd hope you'd do the same for me."

Now Brady tilted his head to the side, confused. "Aren't you already?"

"Does that mean you're fine with it?"

Brady smiled softly. He wasn't sure what to say, honestly, or where to start. But at least hoped his smile would show a little bit of how he was feeling. Barry smiled back, and his shoulders slumped in relief. Then Brady frowned, thinking about what Conner had said earlier. A huge sigh escaped Brady's lips and he slumped in his seat, chin nearly coming to rest atop the table.

"Conner's moving away," he finally mumbled. "And it's my fault."

Breathtaker eyes glowed from beneath the hood of his cloak as he hovered above Central City. The very same place he'd been two years before when working to take down the city the first time. This time, however, he knew it was the right time.

The very first metahuman created thousands of years before any of them had any idea of what life was…he had risen again.

There were missteps the first time he tried to create the life metahumans deserved. But no more. It was going to work out this time. Now that he knew what had to be done. He was a God and would be treated as such. Working to live on as the times passed, acquiring multiple powers to ensure he'd be able to create his vision of the world on those that lived below.

They needed to see what had to be done for them all to live peacefully. Together. Not separated and hiding in plain sight. There was a reason for those that had been created as metahumans and it needed to be celebrated

Everything they built would fall and he'd be there to rebuild it.

Breathtaker smiled.

A/N: So, a couple of things; on my tumblr and twitter I have age progression pics up of Brady from seasons 1-3 so you can see how he's aged over the course of the series. The second is…Cadence has been nominated as Best Flash OC in a OC competition. And you can help her win by voting. You need to go to the tumblr 'toalltheocsivelovedbefore' and then click on the three bars in the top left corner. Click 'ask me anything' and then write 'Best Flash OC: Cadence Nash' and submit. You DO need a tumblr account to do this and you can only vote once. So please, vote for me!

Please remember to review; any feedback helps me become a better writer and motivates me to write more. I respond to every review, even anonymous ones.

Cheers,

-Riley

Review Replies

Ethan: It was a memory she was re-living in her dream. It was a fight she and Stratos had when Barry was in Flashpoint.

DarkHelm145: I always have to, it's a part of my writing process now! Lol. Hope your exams are going well.

Babyj: Yes, there is going to be more backstory for Brady and Black Blade along with Brady's abilities. As with a lot of other plots, I do have some changes with Alchemy, Savitar, and Frankie that call come into play.

Highlander348: I responded to your review already, but thank you again for your thoughts and continued enjoyment of the series.

Yummers: Hope this worked out as well for you! :)