21

Taking Control

Barry leaned back in his seat, doing his best not to roll his eyes. Looking across the room, he found Captain Singh did the same, folding his arms over his chest as he stood behind Chief Paulson, who continued his presentation in front of the entirety of the CCPD. Resting his cheek on his upraised palm, Barry looked around at the others crammed into the conference room.

Joe sat slouched in his seat, clearly looking at his phone beneath the desk, something was making him smile every few seconds. Detective Patterson stood at the back of the room, leaning against the wall behind him, doing his best to keep his head up. Every few seconds his chin fell towards his chest before his head were shoot back up, his eyes growing wide each time. It'd only take a few seconds before he'd do it all again. Cadence sat across from him, writing something in a notebook that Barry couldn't quite read from upside down.

Julian was the only one who wasn't trying to hide he wasn't paying attention to Chief Paulson. No, he had his head bent over his own notebook, frantically scribbling away as if unable to focus on anything else. Then, just as long, he'd sit up and focus on Chief Paulson. Nevertheless, Barry couldn't help but feel a sense of tension coming from Julian since he arrived at work that morning. Barry tried to play the good guy, wanted to keep things calm between the two and said a quick, "Hey" when he arrived.

Julian didn't respond. He kept his eyes glued to the microscope on his desk, shifting every few seconds to mark something down in his notebook. He put his pen down and went straight back to looking through the notebook.

Clearing his throat, Barry stood by Julian's desk, suddenly wondering why he even bothered to be nice to him. But if they were going to be working together…and if he knew about Caitlin's identity, then he needed to play nice. And do everything he could to figure out how to talk Julian out of what he already knew. The CSI wasn't stupid, and Barry knew it'd take some time to figure out what it would be to get him to understand how dire it was that Caitlin's name be kept out of his mouth.

"I, uh, I stopped by Jitters on my way to work and got you a drink," Barry said. He continued to stand by Julian's desk, holding onto the two steaming cups of coffee. He could feel the heat starting to burn through the containers and into his palms. With Julian's attention on the microscope, Barry took the opportunity to rapidly vibrate his hands so that the drinks cooled down. "I didn't know what you actually liked so I thought I'd just get some tea."

"Is that some sort of a jab against my upbringing?" Julian murmured, still hunched forward.

Barry thought for a moment then his eyes widened. Of course he knew Julian hailed from England; the accent was a dead giveaway. But it was something else he'd thought about even further since Julian had explained his past with the Philosopher's Stone. It all linked together in some way. He just had to find out how.

"No, no," Barry said quickly. "Of course not. Th-that's not what I meant at all. I mean, I was just seeing, I mean, you looked like you could use something to drink. And Jitters is on my way to work—"

"—Jitters is not on your way to work," Julian murmured. "Considering where it is you've moved to as of late. Jitters is a bit out of your reach, to the point that it makes it peculiar how you managed to get here at your same amount of tardiness despite it being so far out of your way." He leaned back in his seat, rubbing his eyes as they disconnected from the microscope and looked Barry in the eye. "And I can't imagine that tea you brought me is of good will, mate."

Barry did his best not to grit his teeth. There were many important things to worry about; namely Alchemy, Savitar, and Caitlin being targeted by the CCPD. Julian's attitude was not one of them, no matter how badly Barry wanted it to stop.

"Look, man, I just wanted to clear the air between us a little—"

"Clear the air?" Julian snorted. For a moment, he turned his gaze away from Barry, almost as if he saw something Barry couldn't. Then he locked eyes on Barry once more, his eyes darkening. "That possibility sailed out the window the day you visited me in the hospital."

Finally, Barry dropped the drinks into the trash can. He no longer wanted The Flash, the drink he got every morning. The drink that at least let him know the city rallied behind him. Even if there were others that wanted nothing more than for him to reveal himself. Others still wanted metas condemned, though it'd been a while since he'd seen a 'Death to Metas' tag on the side of a building. "Look, man, I don't know what else you want me to say—"

"I want you to tell me the truth," Julian said. He continued to look at Barry so closely, he may as well have been looking right through him. Barry stayed rooted to the spot, looking back at him. "I want you to tell me that your mate, Caitlin Snow, is a metahuman."

Barry had started to shake his head as Julian started speaking. Continued to shake his head, realizing Julian wasn't going to let it go. He thought he'd knocked Julian off the trail when he visited him as The Flash, got the information he needed about the Philosopher's Stone. He should've known it'd take more time to get Julian to stop obsessing. Especially considering his name plate, Metahuman CSI Expert, was staring Barry in the face. Julian was never going to give it up unless he had some substantial proof of being correct or incorrect about Caitlin.

In response, Barry just shook his head and turned away. Not having a response seemed to have spurned Julian even further. As Barry went to his desk, the CSI Metahuman Expert said, "Have I struck a nerve? You seem to want to leave the conversation."

"Only because it's a conversation you don't want to leave alone," Barry said.

"Is it because she's a meta?"

"She's not a meta, Julian."

At that moment, Barry wasn't sure if Julian had suddenly developed powers of his own. Smoke practically blew from his nostrils, his entire body shaking. Barry shrank back in his seat when Julian clamped his hands down on the arms of his chair. Barry's eyebrows furrowed, watching the metal bend under his hands. He hadn't expected Julian to be that strong, that angry.

"Then explain to me what I saw?" He growled, voice suddenly taking on a low, raspy tone. "Explain to me how I saw her shooting ice from her hands."

Barry opened and closed his mouth. Then he sat up straight and cleared his throat. His voice was strong as he said, "You were hit really hard."

"Yes." Julian sneered. "The Flash decided to punch me across the face. How heroic of him." He rolled his eyes. "Please don't insult my intelligence, I had seen her long before The Flash decided to go rogue. She kidnapped me, remember. Decided to use me and my expertise to find…someone or something."

The Philosopher's Stone. Barry knew that now. The connection before had been something they weren't sure of. If Caitlin—or Killer Frost—had thought of it then, the memory must've been something she'd found out and had been buried in the back of Caitlin's mind when turning back to Caitlin.

"I had been awake long enough to see the powers she could exhibit." Julian held up his arm where a bandage was wrapped from his wrist to the middle of his forearm. "I wouldn't have wound up in the hospital, now would I?" Barry sucked in a deep breath through his nose but stayed silent. "You can try to talk me out of this as much as you want, but I know what I saw. I know what I heard. I know you're trying to protect your friend. I know The Flash is trying to protect her. What I don't know, what I don't understand, is how you're able to do so when also being able to continue representing the law."

Barry gritted his teeth even harder. Hard enough that a dull ache started to throb in the hinges of his jaw. It was one thing to say he was trying to save his friend, that part was true. But to take a jab at the way he did his job? That was where he drew the line. Barry took pride in his work at the CCPD, it'd become his life in many good and bad ways.

"I don't know what your problem is—" he started.

"Why don't you go ask your friend The Flash?" Julian interrupted. He stood up and moved in front of Barry, folding his arms. "You work alongside STAR Labs on some of your cases I'm sure you've seen the,"—Julian raised his hands to do air quotes—"'Scarlett Speedster' around there every now and then. I mean, if he hadn't been running too fast." Barry sucked in a deep breath through his nose, his chest rising as he did so. "Like I've said to him, it's his work that's made people here lazy. We can't do our jobs the way we're supposed to because of what he does, and everyone here has become complacent. But as for you, I know you know more than you're letting on and there's nothing more than I want than for you to tell the truth. About everything."

The two stared at each other. Silence stretched between them so long that Barry could hear bubbles popping in the boiling water of their hot plate on the other side of the expansive lab. Julian's lips pulled back in a smirk before he nodded. "Well, the silence just says it all, doesn't it?" He said. "I hope Captain Singh or even Chief Paulson finds it interesting of your connection to Caitlin Snow."

Fear stabbed at Barry's heart. "Julian—"

"—And that you came to my hospital room to try to talk me out of naming her," Julian continued, as if not hearing Barry in the first place. "And, of course, after that, the Flash came to try the same thing. How would he feel if he knew you were abusing your power at the police department to use the Flash for personal use?"

Barry's hands started to shake with fury. He could feel the power of the speed force gather through him and knew he was only seconds away from lightning flashing through his eyes. It was the worst thing he could do, but Julian made him so angry sometimes…

"Albert! Allen!" Captain Singh stormed into the lab, his forehead pinched with frustration. "What are you two still doing up here?" Barry took the opportunity to take a step back, forcing himself to calm down. "The mandatory meeting is starting in a few minutes." His eyes shifted to Barry. "I know you have a tendency to be late so I made sure to personally escort you there myself. Though it appears that Albert has had the same idea."

"Yes," Julian hissed, eyes still on Barry. He hadn't taken his eyes off him even when Captain Singh entered the lab. "I wanted to keep my eye on him."

Now through the meeting it appeared Julian still wanted to do the same. Barry did his best not to look over at Julian but could feel his eyes on him every time. Barry let out a frustrated breath, rubbing his forehead. Some of the people that made him the most nervous as of late, were in the room with him and there was nothing he could do about it. Chief Paulson wanted to get rid of metahumans and was his boss's boss, Captain Singh always had his eyes on him, and Julian wanted to do nothing more than ruin Barry's life. How could anyone keep calm with that?

"And with these new measures put in place, the city shall be safer," Chief Paulson said. He took in a deep breath, chest swelling. He clasped his hands behind his back. "It is against my judgement to work so closely with STAR Labs but considering what has been created to help us over the years, it's not anything we can ignore. The protective shields created to deter Captain Cold and Heat Wave have provided the CCPD with the means to deter any elemental attacks. The BOOT—as was named by a Cisco Ramon—also handles the deflection of a meta's powers to aid in the transportation to Iron Heights."

Barry felt a gentle kick to his leg and looked over to Cadence, who he shared a smile with. Cisco would've blown a gasket of happiness for the recognition he was getting for his work. Though it was a good thing he wasn't there, Barry realized. Julian would have a field day questioning him about Caitlin's whereabouts and what he knew about her powers.

"Next week we're to team up with The Flash and Flare to visit local school groups to teach them safety around metas, school lockdowns, and what to do when seeing a meta."

Barry's eyes widened with horror while Cadence sat up straight. "What?!" They cried in unison, unable to keep themselves quiet. Barry racked his brains, trying to remember when he'd agreed to anything like that. They must've said something at some point, there was so much going on he didn't remember.

Captain Singh let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. "Apparently you don't pay attention to the department wide meetings we have, Allen. Remember the last time we were here when we had that conference of what to do when The Flash moves you suddenly?"

Right. The one Barry had rolled his eyes through. He was The Flash, why did he have to listen to the CCPD tell him what to do when suddenly moved if he as the one that was moving them? He probably should've paid more attention.

Julian, of course, didn't miss the opportunity to make a snide remark to Barry. "Just goes to show you the amount of respect you give this job, Allen." As if to punctuate his remark, he closed his notebook with the palm of his hand, emitting a low thump as he did so.

Barry glared but didn't respond. But Cadence did for him. Her eyes flashed as she turned to face Julian herself. "Did you show any respect for my job or my case when you decided to out Frankie Kane?" She demanded. Julian glared back at her. "You ruined my case."

"She was a meta," Julian replied. He thumped the table with the tip of his finger. "And as the CSI Metahuman Expert, it is my duty to follow and finish cases where metas are present. And Frankie Kane turned out to be a meta, I was doing my job."

"Your job is to use the forensic information you can find to determine their role in a case—"

"—And was she not the reason her father ended up in the hospital, mate?"

"Her foster father!" Cadence practically snarled. "The same foster father who was beating her up as long as I could remember. I would've been able to get her to trust the CCPD and what I could do to help her."

"As a meta, she managed to not only destroy public property, but she nearly managed to put her father—"

"—foster father—"

"—on the brink of death. She put a street light through his bloody window! She attacked Officer Ramirez when he was arriving back at the station and may have died if The Flash hadn't been there to catch him from a car that was thrown. Not only that, but she managed to put the entire city in danger with the vortex of shrapnel she created. I don't think she's innocent, do you Miss. Nash."

Fire blazed through Cadence's eyes. She opened her mouth to respond but Captain Singh cut her off with a slap of his palm against the table. "Argue about this on your own time!" He snapped. "There are procedures and protocols we all follow and if you want, we can go through it later. Right now, we need to give all our attention to Chief Paulson and the…" he stood up straight, adjusting his tie. "Ideas he has to have our precinct continue to run smoothly."

"That's alright, Captain Singh," Chief Paulson said, holding up his hand. "It's good to see initiative within those that are trying to protect our city." He cleared his throat, narrowed eyes shifting over everyone in the room. "With metahumans' presence in Central City the way the police department operates must change and those changes will not be easy. Thank you for your time. If there are any worries, please bring them to me or Captain Singh."

That's exactly the opening Julian's been waiting for, Barry thought. All the muscles in his body tensed as he looked to the man who was making his work life miserable. Julian sat back in his seat, arms folded tightly across his chest, an expression like that of a bulldog on his face; lower jaw jutting out, And yet, his eyes sparkled as if he'd just been promised a promotion.

"And my office door is always open," Captain Singh agreed. He removed a hand from behind his back and looked at his watch. He lifted his chin and said, "You're dismissed." He addressed everyone with a nod, prompting everyone to get up from their seats. "Detective West, may I have word with you?"

Joe immediately put his phone away and nodded to his boss. With a grin, Barry looked over and said, "Oooh, looks like someone's in trouble."

Joe lifted an eyebrow and pointed directly into Barry's face. "Keep it up and we'll see who can still be ground even if you don't live with me anymore."

Barry's smile immediately faded. His eyes widened in horror. "For real?" He asked. If there was anything Joe West was good at, it was instilling fear in people when that fear needed to be made.

"For real," Joe agreed, raising his eyebrows. "Seems to me that Julian's already doing that for me. The grounding I mean." He snorted when Barry rolled his eyes. "I know you don't like each other, but it seems to be getting worse lately."

"Yeah, I guess my visiting him as The Flash didn't help too much," Barry agreed, lowering his voice so not to be overheard. He noticed Julian get up from his seat and practically shove his way through the crowd of officers trying to leave the room. He was close behind Captain Singh. "I don't like it, Joe. He's starting to get too close. He knows there's a link between me and Caitlin and the Flash."

Joe gave him a look. "Let's be honest, Barry, there's not much that's keeping you away from The Flash. STAR Labs has been helping us out ever since you woke up from your coma. And you're very close friends with Caitlin and Cisco."

As Barry watched, eyes shifting in confusion, the fire started to die down all on its own. When it was out nothing remained other than a scorch on some of the tougher logs and branches. Ashes littered the vegetation that couldn't withstand the heat. Turning around, Barry noticed a brunette standing behind him, fire flickering at her fingertips. Her eyes shifted down to the watch that rested on her left wrist. "It's about time you got here, I expected you long before it got this big."

"Barry, who's that with you?"

Pressing his lips together, Barry continued to stare at Cadence. His chest heaved up and down, heart beating rapidly. Faster than it had when he was in that coma. No. He was nervous. Someone had just found out his identity. How could he have let his guard down like that? Thinking there wouldn't be anyone around? The existence of the metahumans, the two he had already encountered not including himself, was enough he should've expected it.

Cadence smiled as she walked over, hugging her overcoat tighter to her body. "Then again, you can only run so fast, right?" Continuing to gawk, Barry licked his lips, taking a step back. Whatever it was—maybe fight or flight instinct increased tenfold—he wasn't going to take any chances. She smiled. "Hi, Barry."

The speedster's head tilted to the side, though it had have looked like a quick twitch as most of his movements were now rapid. "How…do you know my name?"

"Who doesn't know your name at this point?" Cadence inquired. Her eyebrows gently cocked upwards. "You were in a nine-month coma after being struck by lightning when the particle accelerator blew. Coming out of that coma…well, that's very remarkable. Almost a medical miracle." She looked him in the eye. "And after you woke up, there seemed to be a 'red blur' appearing everywhere." As if it were fanfare, Cadence waved her hands, her hazel eyes flashing. The fire slowly dissipated. "I think I'm the only person to have made that connection."

"How do you know so much about me?"

"Newspaper articles and just plain paying attention." She lifted a hand, lips curling up into a smile as a fireball appeared over her hand. Her face glowed against the flickering light. "And you did call me smart earlier so..."

Barry did his best not to grimace. There had been those who'd questioned the sudden appearance of The Flash in Central City. Other metahumans, like Clyde Mardon, had been using their powers long before he'd awakened. He could admit there had been a few months where he feared his identity being found out. He'd nearly had a nervous breakdown when CCPN had written an article about his remarkable awakening from his coma, and mentioned the Flash in the same article. So much had gone on since then that he hadn't needed to worry. But now…

"I can't stop being friends with them just because of Julian," Barry insisted. "Just like The Flash can't stop working with them, we're Team Flash for a reason."

"I'm not saying you have to," Joe agreed. "Just that you need to be a little more careful. At least until Julian manages to have his obsessive attention put on someone else." He clapped Barry on the shoulder and tilted his head towards the doorway. "Now, I have to talk to Captain Singh. I'm sure it has something to do with the task force."

Barry's eyebrows rose.

"You really don't pay attention to these meetings, do you?" Joe smiled in amusement. "It's nothing to worry about. But if something comes up, I'll let you know. Have a good day and stay out of trouble." He paused and added, "And that goes for Wally, too."

"Is that a threat?" Barry smiled, folding his arms.

"I did say I'd ground you even if you don't live with me anymore, didn't I? I can make it happen."

"Aye aye, Detective." Barry brought his hand up to his forehead and gave a salute to Joe. Then something occurred to him and he asked, "Wait a minute, you've never outright threatened me like that before? How did you know it was going to work?"

Not it was Joe's turn to smile. "I know, but I've been on a roll lately. I had to lay down the law to Wally about being a speedster now, that he still had to follow the house rules we have set for him, even if he can get in and out in seconds. I just thought I'd give it a shot, it was bound to work sometime. The whole being a concerned and helpful parent thing has to go by the wayside sometimes. I'm surprised it's worked so far but you've always been like a teenage girl." He looked over his shoulder as Captain Singh called him once more. He waved his hand in a gesture of parting and walked to his boss and oldest friend.

"I'm not a teenage girl," Barry murmured to himself with a roll of his eyes. He left the conference room as well, looking for Julian as he went. Part of him wanted to continue working on Julian so that he could convince Julian that things around him were normal. Unfortunately, he didn't find Julian in the bullpen and could only assume he'd gone back to their lab. Deciding to speak to him later, Barry went to Cadence's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Cadence barked in response.

Barry opened the door to slip inside then immediately started coughing. A thin haze of smoke filled the air, making his eyes water and lungs slam together. He coughed and coughed on the acrid haze and peered through the smoke to find Cadence sitting on the edge of her desk, arms folded tightly across her chest, eyes closed to the cloud of smoke that literally poured from her ears.

"Cay!" Barry called, waving a hand in front of his face. "I think if you open your eyes you'll find new meaning to the phrase 'dragon breath'," he said. Cadence did as she was told and glanced around the office with an air of disinterest. In response, Barry stretched out his arms and neck before spinning his arms, sucking the smoke from the room. When the air was clear, Barry asked, "Does that always happen?"

"Only when I'm angry enough," Cadence replied. "Believe me, that was hard to explain the time Ryder and I had our first fight." She let out a heavy sigh, dropping her hands to her lap. "I don't hate Julian, but the fact that he can't see what he did to ruin my case…and almost ruined Frankie's life. I can't get over that. She could've ended up killing someone or herself when losing control of her powers. They were connected to her emotions, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Barry agreed. He went further into the office and rested his hands on her shoulders. "And I'm glad someone else besides me at least tried to put him in his place."

"Well, if you tried, Barry, it'd probably just make you look like someone who has a vendetta against him."

"Like he has against me?" Cadence tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in a 'I-think-we've-heard-about-this-already' way that made Barry's frustration surge slightly. He let out a deep breath. "It's bigger than him just hating me, Cade. He's told me to my face—"

"—you mean to the Flash's face—"

Barry ignored her. "That he doesn't like me because he can't trust me. And he doesn't trust me because I'm constantly running out and doing things as the Flash. But he doesn't trust the Flash because he says the Flash makes everyone at the CCPD lazy and incompetent. Oh, and because he doesn't like metahumans all together."

"So, what do you plan to do?"

"Sleep with an eye open and expect the metahuman task force to bust down our door while we're sleeping." At Cadence's skeptical glance Barry said. "I know. Joe wouldn't let that happen. But this is Julian we're talking about, he's hated me since we met. And he hates the Flash and Caitlin. It's not going to take long for him to make the connection about us. I'm just trying to limit the fallout."

"I'm assuming from the way you two sulked into the conference room that it has something to do with that. I mean…" Cadence pulled her hair back from her face. "I know looks that could kill and you guys nearly murdered everyone in the conference room. Though, that's not to say losing Chief Paulson wouldn't be so bad." She rolled her eyes. "Considering everything he's trying to do with metas. Rumor has it he's been speaking to Lex Luthor."

"And that's something else we have to worry about." Barry brought his hands up to rest on his head. Everyone knew Lex Luthor was not someone you'd want to cross in any way. He had too much money, too much power, and a family name that was synonymous with pure evil. He tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling. "I'm really starting to think Flashpoint wasn't about me changing things here, it's about the universe deciding to get back at me because I decided to do it."

"Barry." Cadence reached out and placed her hands on Barry's shoulders, gently shaking him. "You really need to give yourself a break. The rest of us already have. And you stewing in your own frustration is doing nothing more than stopping you from being the happy, plucky Barry Allen we all know and love." His lips curled into a smile and Barry let out a long breath, leaning forward to press his forehead against hers. "Sounds like you need that date more than I do."

"You have no idea," Barry agreed. "No metas, no fighting, no worries. Nothing."

"I think that's a bit of a tall order, Tholly. I mean, I'm good, but not that good." She flashed him an evil smile. "if I was, I'd very slowly drive him crazy with his work spontaneously combusting."

Barry laughed. "I'd love to see that." He lowered his head, nose brushing against Cadence's, and gave her a soft kiss. Cadence returned it and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tightly in a hug. It was the same thing his father would've done had he still been around, knowing just what to do to comfort his son.

And at that moment in time, a hug was definitely what he needed.

Caitlin ducked her head as she passed the bullpen. The last thing she needed was for Joe, Barry, or Cadence to see her and talk her out of her plan. She just couldn't take it anymore and if there was going to be any change, it would only happen if she talked to Julian herself. She was the one he was targeting and using Barry—and by extension, the Flash—to do it. If she could protect Barry, then she'd do that, especially if she could protect herself as well.

Once she made it past the bullpen and to the stairs that led from the lobby, she lifted the baseball cap tucked lose over her forehead and shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans. Even if anyone recognized her, no one would question her appearance there. She was always visiting Barry and Cadence for one reason or another; Caitlin under the cover of being Barry's personal physician and going out to lunch with Cadence. She just didn't need any of them to see and stop her. It was risky, she knew that, but having answers was better than being left in the dark.

It was why she couldn't fault Brady for having gone to see Black Blade with Leah. She, Cisco, Barry, and Cadence had all been worried and angrily concerned when he explained where he'd been and what he'd learned. Mostly due to having gone behind their backs to do so, but Caitlin also understood why he'd done it. Not having answers with mounting questions was making it harder to move forward. What was the point of having the best minds in the world work together when they couldn't work together to figure out how to move forward? HR was the one who quickly jumped forward and said it was smart and proactive of 'young Bradley' to do what the others were afraid to do.

"HR, stop helping," Cisco said through gritted teeth. "It's just making things worse."

"Sorry, I call it like I see it," HR said, holding his hands up to protect himself. "Everyone has their place here, everyone has something their good at, something they bring to the team. And I,"—he tapped himself on his chest with his drumstick—"I see the potential in people and I exploit it. Harness it and make the best of every situation."

Caitlin had merely shaken her head and exchanged a skeptical glance with Cisco. It sounded weird at the time, an excuse to keep himself involved with the workings of the team. But it had been stuck in her head ever since. There was plenty of potential to have her powers revealed, to have Julian on her tail for the rest of her life, for him to exploit it. She was going to get to it first. Caitlin was tired of hiding. Tired of having Barry and Cadence constantly saving her whenever she was in some sort of trouble. She had her own powers, she was stronger now, she could save herself. She'd only told Cisco what she planned to do and he'd begged to go along with her. Not only to see the look on Julian's face when she proved how strong she was, but to protect her as well. Caitlin thought it was sweet, and greatly appreciated his offer, but still had to say 'no'. It was her life, her problem, she could handle it.

Taking in a deep breath, Caitlin walked up the few flights of stairs that led to Julian's and Barry's office. She stood in the doorway for a few moments, watching as Julian sat at his desk, doing something she couldn't see. He constantly leaned back and forth from a notebook, or was it a textbook, to a set of beakers set up next to him. Some of the liquid inside bubbled, the others spewing out a white vapor.

Caitlin briefly closed her eyes to steel herself, then reached out to knock on the doorframe of the lab. Her hand missed, she knocked on air. Embarrassed, she clasped her hands together, twisted her fingers, chewed her lower lip. She took a few tentative steps into the lab, subconsciously trying to keep her footsteps as light as possible. She made it halfway in before Julian noticed her.

She could see her reflection in a mirror that sat atop a nearby filing cabinet. Julian's gaze shifted and, in the mirror, locked on with hers. For a moment, Caitlin noticed his hands still, before his gaze dropped. Julian turned away from his microscope, using his feet to propel himself around to face her.

He dropped his hands to his lap and twisted his mouth to the side. He cast a sweeping glance over her, looking her up and down. Caitlin blushed, suddenly feeling utterly exposed under his gaze despite being dressed in her uniform of sorts—a pencil skirt, heels, and smart blouse. Caitlin took a step back, but didn't move away from the lab. Stand your ground, Caitlin. You're doing this as much for Barry and Cade as you are for yourself.

Finally, Julian spoke. "Hello, you," he said to her in an eerily conversational tone. Even his eyes were clear with a friendly glint to them.

It was then Caitlin's turn to eye him closely. She watched for a moment as he blinked back at her. A warning was going off in her head, but she couldn't quite tell what it was. "Hi," Caitlin replied.

"Am I in for another kidnapping?" A smirk pulled at Julian's lips. Despite that, his words were humorless. Caitlin watched as his eyes turned flat, almost flinty as he did so. Right. He was still angry about what happened in the warehouse, when she'd kidnapped him. Where Killer Frost had kidnapped him. She still wasn't sure why she'd gone after Julian specifically.

"Okay, I deserved that," Caitlin said slowly. She watched as Julian reacted with surprise. As she'd expected him to. She twisted her fingers together, felt the blood starting to pulse at her fingertips. "I think."

"If you don't believe so, what are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you," Caitlin said. She flipped her hair back from her face with a quick shake of her shoulders. Rolled her shoulders back to steel herself. "I'm a doctor—"

"—You're a bioengineer," Julian interrupted, all but rolling his eyes. His voice took on a smug tone. "You're as much of a doctor as I am." He thought for a minute the recited, "Bioengineering; the use of artificial tissues, organs, or organ components to replace damaged or absent parts of the body, such as artificial limbs and heart pacemakers." Sounding as if he were reading from a book, or a page held in front of his face. His voice was flat.

"Do you make it a habit to know the basis of everyone's jobs?"

"No. That's merely a side effect of having a PHD and make it your life's work to do research," Julian said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And as it is, my research has told me that being a bioengineer means you're the one who creates the technology that can increase the value of life but not actually perform any of the surgeries. Ergo, you're not a doctor."

"Be that as it may, I've done a lot of studies myself," Caitlin agreed.

"Yes, you have three doctorates if I'm not mistaken," Julian remarked. At the rise of Caitlin's eyebrows he explained, "I like to make it a habit to know everything about the people I associate myself with. Or, rather, the people my colleague associates himself with." His eyes roved over Caitlin once more. "And Allen seems to be very fond of you, though with your frosty demeanor, I can't say I see why."

"Barry is a good friend," Caitlin said. "I've been taking care of him since he was struck by lightning."

"Yes, struck by lightning from the Particle Accelerator you and your colleagues turned on." Julian tapped his finger against the side of his jaw. "And then STAR Labs has been watching him ever since. I must say it's peculiar considering how little Barry speaks about STAR labs."

"Well, we try to keep our work lives as separate as possible," Caitlin explained, trying to keep her composure. "I've been appointed to look after Barry since his coma due to the lightning psychosis he's shown since then."

"Lightning psychosis?"

"Yes. Lightning psychosis. When he was stuck by lightning, there've been a lot of side-effects we've seen exhibited from him. Memory issues, spastic muscles, time management issues—"

"—Time management? Allen? This is the man who continuously forgets to turn off his stove to leave the apartment every day. You're telling me it's all from Lightning Psychosis?" Julian shook his head. "There're a lot of things I can believe, but that…? Not so much." Julian blinked and tilted his head. "I don't believe you visited to talk about Allen. What was the meaning of your visit?"

"I came to see how you were doing," Caitlin said. She did her best not to grit her teeth in annoyance. She was starting to understand why Barry hated Julian so much. "Since returning from the hospital, I mean." Her gaze moved to his forearm, trying to see if there was any mark from her freezing him.

"Well, that's very sweet of you." Julian held a frozen smile on his face, snapping off his gloves. "I'm doing well, thank you." He waved a hand towards her. "And you can go away now."

Caitlin pursed her lips. She let out a breath and looked away from Julian. Her eyes landed on the pill bottle hidden on a shelf nearby. She'd noticed it since she'd arrived at the lab. It wasn't her business, she knew that, but it was a tactic she knew would prove to work. It worked on Cisco all the time when she wanted to confront him about whether he'd eaten her food. Comin to the conversation from a different angle. "Is that why you've been taking Zolpdem?" She asked. "You've been having any trouble sleeping?"

Julian's eyes narrowed into a glare. He got up from his chair and stalked across the room in a few angry strides. Standing in front of Caitlin, he snapped the bottle of pills off the shelf and shoved them into the pocket of his slacks. He sucked in a deep breath and folded his arms. He took another step towards Caitlin, but she held her ground. "Let's stop playing games, Dr. Snow and you tell me why you came here," he growled, warm breath floating over her face. He was that close. "Rather than accuse me of having insomnia."

Caitlin sucked in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and admitted, "I need your help."

"And how can I help you? You're the one with powers."

This time Caitlin took a shuddery breath. Her heart hammered against her ribcage. She did her best to stay calm, knowing the big risk she was taking. "You're the world's foremost specialist on metahumans," she murmured.

"Yes, this much is true," Julian said.

"And…" Do it, Caitlin. You have to. "I need you to help me get rid of my powers." She hurried to keep going before Julian could recover from her admission. "I've tried everything. I've run every test; blood, DNA…and I can't reverse this. I need to get rid of my powers before—"

"—Before what?" Julian demanded. "Before you hurt someone else?"

Caitlin nodded. She continued to keep her gaze lowered, away from Julian's eyes. "The way I hurt you," she agreed. Finally, she lifted her gaze and looked him in the eye, silently pleading for him to help her. She just admitted it, admitted everything he needed to know. Everything he suspected. She'd attacked him, she'd been the one to attack him. She had powers and was the one who could really hurt other people if she didn't get any help.

"And what makes you think I can help you?" Julian asked.

Caitlin chewed her lower lip. She'd expected that response, expected he'd be hesitant. "There…there's a reason I tried to find you. That I—"

"—kidnapped me." Julian took a few steps away from her.

"Yes. Something had to have drawn me to you," Caitlin explained. "Something I thought you could help me with. Now, I know, it must be because you knew about the Philosopher's Stone. Alchemy is using it to give people their powers, maybe he can help me take them away. Maybe you can help me. Julian…I don't want my powers. I don't want to hurt anyone else. I want my powers gone!" Her voice broke on the last word, betraying the emotion she showed.

Julian looked at her, much closer that time, hearing the emotional strain in her voice. Caitlin chewed her lip as she watched him back. He walked closer to her, reached out a hand to grasp her hair in his hand, pushed it back behind her ear. For a moment, Caitlin felt his hand on her cheek, his face still close to hers. Then he stepped back and glared at her.

"I don't cure metahumans," Julian said. "I put them in prison." He dropped his hand from her cheek. "You're on your own, my friend." He turned and walked back to his desk, sitting down without a backwards glance. "Please close the door on your way out."

Caitlin's jaw dropped. Then she closed her mouth, nodded, and turned on her heel. She left the lab quicker than she came, mentally kicking herself as she did so. What was she thinking? Why in the world did she think Julian would've helped her when he disliked metas so much? Caitlin made it halfway back down to the lobby when she spotted Barry across the bullpen. He listened to something Joe said then the two turned and started towards Joe's desk. Barry held onto a thick folder of papers in his hand as he went, he glanced over them for a few seconds then lifted his gaze, as if hearing someone call his name.

His gaze locked with Caitlin's and from where Caitlin stood, she could see his eyebrows furrow in concern. Then his lips moved. What are you doing here? Caitlin lowered her eyes. Messing things up, she thought.

Caitlin gasped as there was a sudden, strong gust of wind. Much stronger than what Barry could create when he ran. A cyclone shot through CCPD, wreaking havoc as it went. Computers crashed to the ground, papers strew about, and officers were knocked off their feet. Some were flung into the ceiling, others were knocked aside, and the rest were slammed to the ground. In seconds, Caitlin saw Cadence teleport into the bullpen, dressed in her suit. Her head whipped around as she tried to follow the source of the light.

"What's going on?" Caitlin looked aside and saw Julian had joined at her side, watching the chaos unfold with wide eyes. Then he turned a narrowed gaze to her. "Do you have something to do with this?"

"What? No!" Caitlin looked down into the bullpen once more. She saw Barry's eyes flicker with lightning as he looked around, his moving as fast as Cadence's, following the light quicker than Cadence could.

All at once there was a flash of light, a swoop of a shadow, and Barry was dragged out of the CCPD.

"BARRY!" Joe shouted after him, voice echoing amongst the stunned silence of the precinct, loose papers fluttering to the ground.

A/N: Wow, Caitlin went ahead and told Julian about her powers. That can't be good. And now Savitar has Barry. And Julian knows about Savitar's identity. I can't even begin to imagine how badly that would go. At least she was working to take control of what's been happening to her. She's on her way to becoming a hero. I hope you guys liked it!

Oh, and whomever gets review 150 will get a sneak peek at the next corresponding chapter when that review comes in.

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. I update my story every Wednesday, if there's a time that I won't it will be posted on our twitter: DarkElements10.

Cheers,

-Riley

Review Replies

Ethan: Apparently Star City is only 600 miles away from Central City. But even that number has to be a bit off considering how easily they could travel to see each other let alone issues of continuity. Though I do have a reason as to why Oliver, Felicity, Thea, etc. aren't there.

DarkHelm145: The rest of Black Blade's scenes are going to be more than introduction stuff, but I do need to get more into Brady's plot points as he's moved to being more of a key player in everything rather than the young hero who's begging to be brought into things.

PowerHero432: And now things are going back to a bit of a faster pace. Especially with the way some of the plots have been changed.

babyj: Hope it was enough for you here. But now that Caitlin's revealed her powers to Julian, it means the dynamic has changed a bit, making it more difficult for Team Flash to keep moving forward the way they have.