48
Say It
Get out of my head! Get out of my head!
Cadence desperately repeated the mantra that previously lended her the ability to break free from the control Mindboggler and, by extension, Breathtaker had over her. It was a long shot, she knew by that point that Breathtaker would've increased her powers ten-fold, to make sure no one else broke free. He wasn't someone who gave up too easily and Mindboggler and Stratos had been his right-hand men from day one.
The ones that had dragged her into a world where she thought she was simply making money for a life for herself and her young son. How naïve to think she was simply getting addresses and working as a courier at the time. Truth be told, Cadence did have the slight thought that there was something nefarious about the whole situation.
Desperation made people do crazy things. Hence the mental pleading while Cadence's body moved on its own accord. She watched as Jesse threw every trick in the book, trying to take her down. Jesse threw lightning bolt after lightning bolt, working hard to strike Cadence with it each time.
Cadence simply held up her hand, conjuring fire to absorb the electricity, throwing it back at her. Jesse streaked away, moving as far back from the electrical blast as she could. Then she turned and ran around the practice room. Over and over, working up more speed to throw more electricity. Cadence watched her as she went, saw the look of horror in her eyes. Knew Jesse was working as hard to regain control of her body despite Mindboggler's power.
Mindboggler didn't need to be close to reach whomever she wanted to. An enhancement of the power, the one who was closest to Breathtaker. She received a recharge from him habitually, something Cadence had seen numerous times before. She knew if they were able to separate that link, it'd make it easier to take down Breathtaker. However, Mindboggler was always the defensive one, staying nearby Breathtaker to take on whomever came too close.
The other three were the ones who were the offensive, taking down and capturing everyone who got in their way. And, as far as Mindboggler could see, Jesse was in Cadence's way. Cadence resisted, pulling at her muscles when she felt them all sense at once, a sure sign she was about to launch herself forward. Cadence teleported across the room, using the wall as a spring board to project herself towards Jesse.
Jesse stopped on a dime and turned, swinging out her arm to throw another lightning bolt. Cadence teleported again, appearing behind Jesse, wrapping her arms around her neck. She teleported once more, flipping Jesse to the ground. Jesse grunted, falling against the practice mats, rolling across the ground. She got back to her feet and threw another punch, allowing Cadence to twist out of the way, flipping on her hands.
Upside down, Cadence continued to rotate on her hands, using her feet as projectiles towards Jesse. She kicked Jesse on the side of the face then flipped back to her feet, kicking her hard in the chest. Jesse crashed back into the wall behind her. Cadence grinned. "I thought you were supposed to be faster than that," she said. Mindboggler's voice. Not Cadence's. "How disappointing it must be to be a speedster and not be fast enough."
Jesse gritted her teeth. "We'll see who's fast enough," She declared, bringing up her fists to shield her face. She stared to run, but instead of conjuring lighting this time, she used it to rapid-fire punch Cadence across the face and chest, sending her back. Jesse would speed after her, using her enhanced speed to slow down Cadence's trajectory. Jesse stopped Cadence from teleporting when she saw smoke gathering, using it to determine where to hit Cadence next.
Cadence flew back and forth in slow motion as Jesse continued her onslaught against her. Finally, Jesse made a mistake. She got close enough to punch Cadence again, giving the fire metahuman the chance to wrap her arms around the speedster. Using her enhanced strength, she wrapped Jesse in a bear hug, holding her close to her chest.
Tighter.
Tighter.
Cr-ack.
Jesse groaned, everything sped up. The two twisted and crashed into the wall behind them. Cadence held a grasp on Jesse so tight that when they hit and crashed to the ground, she continued to hold onto her. Cadence then lifted Jesse overhead and threw her to the opposite wall of the gym. Cadence teleported after her, used fire to project herself forward and rammed her shoulder into Jesse's chest, driving her further into the wall she crashed into.
"Gah!" Jesse cried. She gasped for air before she was grabbed by the neck and heaved back to the ground. Cadence stood over her and kicked Jesse hard in the side.
Cr-ack!
This time, the sound of ribs breaking was unmistakable. Jesse screamed in pain, falling limp in Cadence's arms. Cadence lowered her to the ground, watching for Jesse to make another feeble attempt to attack. It happened sooner than she'd thought. Cadence took the punch that came her way and grabbed Jesse's wrist.
Tssss.
It took a second for the light that shone in Cadence's eyes to reflect on Jesse's face. Cadence watched Jesse's face first twist in confusion then abject pain. Jesse's screams filled the air as Cadence watched her. While her body moved casually, her mind screamed in fear. Stop. Let her go! Stop it!
Mindboggler never responded, but Cadence could tell she was gleefully taking part in the horror playing in front of them. Gleefully watching as Cadence burned Jesse's wrist; burned through a suit that was to resist the friction of running at top speed and withstand the temperatures of fires that firefighters ran through on a daily basis. Burned through the skin that the suit melted to.
Cadence stared into Jesse's eyes, watching as she screamed in pain. As the skin and muscles on her arm melted away to bone. The nearby skin blistering and crisping from the sheer vicinity of the heat. Cadence then conjured a fire whip with her free hand and wrapped it around Jesse's neck. Instead of burning her neck, the flames tempered to a gentle warmth. Releasing her wrist, Cadence used both hands to grab the whip, placed one foot against Jesse's chest, and leaned back, using her body weight and straightened arms to choke her.
She pulled and pulled, watching Jesse's eyes bulge behind her dominoes mask, watched her face turned a bright pink then dark red as the seconds passed. A low, guttural swallowing sound escaped Jesse as she struggled to breathe, whimpering and writhing from the pain of her wrist. Cadence continued to hold onto her until she felt her entire body relax.
Felt Mindboggler's hold on her release at the same time security alarms along STAR Labs started to blare. Cadence gasped and released her hands, the fire whip immediately falling away. "Jesse? Oh my God." She gathered Jesse in her arms, holding her close to her body. Tears came to her eyes. "I'm sorry, Jesse. I'm so sorry."
Jesse gasped, shaking her head. "It's not your fault," she whispered. "I know you wouldn't do it." She hissed when Cadence wrapped her hand around Jesse's burnt wrist, healing it. The alarms continued to blare. "Someone's in here," she said. "We have to see."
Cadence nodded and ducked her head under Jesse's arm, hauling her to her feet. Despite their powers working together to accelerate Jesse's healing, the internal and mental pain wasn't going to go away anytime soon. There were many times Cadence felt the 'phantom pain' of her fingers and hand being knocked clean off at multiple points in battle. The only difference being that she still had her limb, compared to others whose had been amputated.
Once she was sure Jesse was steady against her side, Cadence teleported to the Cortex. She raced to the computers and looked through the security system, all the while cursing Cisco under her breath. "You'd think with all the time he spends here he'd put up a working system."
"What about the others?" Jesse asked anxiously. "And Savitar?"
"You're not in any condition to go after Savitar right now," Cadence replied, looking at her sister over her shoulder. "Besides, it's not a coincidence Savitar attacked at the same time Mindboggler was taking control of us."
She continued to look through the security systems, watching with intense irritation when she saw White Hot teleport into the Cortex and lean over the very same computer the exact way Cadence was in that moment. Cadence felt her temper flare, watching her navigate to something and then stick a memory stick into the computer. Then the computer sparked the second the memory stick was removed. White Hot waved toward the security camera before teleporting.
Cadence cursed under her breath, navigating through the files on the computer, Jesse leaning close to her side. "Why go through all the trouble of that fight if they weren't going to at least have us kill each other?" Jesse asked, rubbing her wrist. The skin had healed back fast, it was still a bright pink, flakes of skin falling off as she rubbed at it.
Almost as if she'd simply gotten a mild unburn.
"Cause they didn't need us," Cadence pointed out. "If they did, they would've had us kill each other within seconds. Mindboggler was just having some fun, showing us what she could do. They needed something else."
"What?"
"The only thing Breathtaker would find useable," Cadence explained. She pulled up the metahuman encyclopedia Caitlin had been working on. Tried to. The computer put up an error code the second she tried. Cadence backed out of it and tried a different way to go inside, receiving the same error code once more. She ran a hand through her hair, letting out a low breath. "Breathtaker wants to take on as many metas as he can into his fold and the only way he can do that is if he can see what their abilities are."
"He wants to make an army?" Jesse asked.
"Not in the way you're thinking. Too many people he can't handle. He doesn't need to handle those that are just going to be fighting to the death. Most of these are the same ones that we knew Alchemy had turned into metas in Flashpoint."
"What happens if he gets them?"
"They'll just be obstacles for us to go through," Cadence said. "If he doesn't sell them to Amunet, anyway. Though I can't believe what she'd pay him with. For those he decides to keep…he can take their abilities and do whatever he wants with them."
"And that's why he had you?" Jesse asked. Cadence looked at her sister out the corner of her eye. "Did he take your powers?"
"No," Cadence admitted. She lowered her head. "He enhanced them. Just as he did with Breathtaker's and Stratos's." A wry smile came to her lips. "There was only so much I could do to learn my powers on my own. Especially when I was eight years old who had to squeeze it in between school, cheerleading, soccer, piano, horseback riding and whatever other events my parents dragged me to. It's a wonder I didn't cause more damage."
"So that fire back in Smallville? The one that took out all those crops, burned those farms?"
"That was me," Cadence admitted. Finally spoke the truth about a part of her past she'd kept hidden. Amongst other things, that she'd managed to throw even Oliver and Felicity off her trail once they'd confronted her about it years before. "It was easy to get there; teleportation was one of the first parts of my power I learned. It made it easier to get to my practices and activities on time. As for the fire…well…there was already so much going on in Smallville with the 'meteor rocks' that I didn't have to worry too much when it came to being caught. There's one thing I can say about my parents, though, they were smart enough to put it all together. Faster than any of the police were able to do."
"What'd they do?"
"The same thing they always did; worked hard to hide it, acted like it didn't exist. Let's just say that when they kicked me out because of Brady, it wasn't the first time I'd been sent away." Cadence frowned and rubbed her forehead, pinched at the bridge of her nose. "They do a really good job of making things go away when they needed to."
"So, he amplified your powers," Jesse said slowly. Working to figure things out.
"He does the same with anyone that comes to work under him. We're the four that would protect him; me, Stratos, Mindboggler, and Incognito. Once I left, he replaced me with White Hot. Incognito Sacrificed himself and now wants Brady."
"Because of a similar power set," Jesse realized.
Cadence nodded. She couldn't believe it had taken her so long to realize that was the danger Brady was in the moment he'd received his powers. Didn't think that Breathtaker would make sure to know that someone who was invincible to everything started to come into their own. Should've known considering how hard he worked to keep her around, from how much he promised that once she finished her duties he'd leave them alone.
"So what did he want with the encyclopedia?"
"He wanted information on all of the metas we've found and know about," Cadence said. She closed her eyes, slowly figuring it out. "So, he can recruit more people on his side once things go sour. He wants as many people between him and us stopping him as he can."
Silence stretched between them for a few moments. Jesse watched Cadence who watched the computer screen, working to keep back her guilt. Too many memories came to mind. Too many lives affected.
Too many lives lost.
"Can we stop him? He has just about every power known to man, has four people protecting him all the time. If I couldn't even stop you—"
"—You had no chance of stopping me," Cadence interrupted, unable to keep a smug smile from her face.
"—Then how are all of us going to stop him?"
"We've done it before," Cadence reminded her. Then paused. Jesse hadn't been there then. Hadn't known about her then. Didn't know about Breathtaker and everything that had gone on with him when she first came into Barry's, Caitlin's, and Cisco's lives.
"I don't want to talk to you," he said under his breath. He truly didn't. Despite having come up with a plan to try to break out of their captivity, he couldn't let her off the hook that easily. He couldn't forgive her that easily. There were too many unforgiveable things she had done. Too many things he couldn't think about without shaking with rage. Stay calm, Barry. Don't lose control.
"You don't have to," she said. "I just need you to listen."
"I don't want to listen either." Barry continued to hold his hands over his mouth, tapping his feet up and down. He didn't allow his heels to fall onto the ground, allowing his feet to move faster and faster as the seconds passed. He felt like breaking out and running as fast as his feet could carry him. To allow himself to run away from the anger and frustration that continued to pulse through his body. To allow himself to finally get away from the things haunting him.
If only I hadn't been taken over by Bivolo, he thought. If he hadn't allowed himself to think he could handle thing so his own, to think that he hadn't been whammied by Bivolo at all, things would be different. He would be in a better headspace to come to terms with everything that had come his way within the last couple of hours. He had been followed. Stalked. Watched by someone he thought was growing to be a great friend all so in the end he and Dr. Wells would be captured and killed. None of this would be happening right now. I would have seen this coming.
"I know that you feel that I've done the worst thing," Cadence said. Barry snorted but the fire metahuman continued undeterred. "But right now I don't want you to think about that. I want to be able to make things right." She paused, waiting for a reaction. "I know how you feel; with what I've learned recently…I feel like everything I've ever known is a lie. And I know I've made you feel like that too. A lot of my decisions were very selfish and I'm sorry but it wasn't all my fault. I didn't have a choice most of the time."
"You tried to kill me!" Barry broke out, cutting her off. "That's so much worse than hearing your parentage is different. I had to sit there and listen to them tell me how you were trying to set me up to be killed. How you were waiting for the right moment to do that! And to Dr. Wells! When we've done nothing but try to help you this entire time!" He laughed an incredulous, cruel laugh before shaking his head, turning his gaze to the ground. One thing he had to say positively, she was dedicated to give her point of view, to prove to him that she was indeed sorry.
Still, Barry was stubborn.
It was going to take more than that.
"Barry." Cadence grabbed onto Barry's arm and turned him around. Her eyes shone meaningfully as they searched his when she forced him to face her. "You don't have to trust me; I honestly don't blame you that you don't. But I need your help."
"Why?"
"Because it's the only way that Central City will be saved."
Barry looked back into her eyes and found nothing but sincerity and loyalty. She truly did want to make things right. "How am I supposed to know you're not going to turn around and stab me in the back again?" He breathed.
"Because when this is all over, I'll tell you everything," Cadence said. "I'll tell you when I got to Central City, why I came here, why I lied about it. Everything. You may not trust me, you may not even forgive me, but you have to believe everything I'm saying. I want to be able to make this right. None of this would've happened if it weren't for me. But none of this can be over without me, I know how the Assassination Bureau works and I have an idea to take them down. But I need your help."
She held out her hand, her eyes boring into Barry's.
Barry looked back at her, took a deep breath and grasped her hand in his, shaking it firmly.
She was right. He didn't have to trust her, but he had to believe that they were going to save the city.
"That's not what I'm asking," Jesse pointed out. She grasped her sister's arm and turned her to face her. Jesse's green eyes shifted, taking in Cadence's blue-green ones. Gentle eyes, very much unlike her real sister's—Burnout's. "Can we stop them now?"
Cadence took in a deep breath through her nose. Hesitated. Deep in her heart, she hoped they could. But, didn't know for sure. After a while, hope didn't keep you going. Hope became obsolete. Hope was a cruel trick that was successful at the worst of times and a failure at the best. She hadn't had much hope for a long time.
It was what she leaned on Barry for. He was one of the most hopeful people she knew. The one who had continued to hold out that his father was going to be released from jail, that it was all just a misunderstanding. He held onto that thought for over ten years and was eventually proven right. What could be proven right when, for all intents and purposes, she should be the one who was living out the rest of her life in jail?
When she knew the only way Breathtaker would finally go away, would finally leave her alone would be when either of them was dead. And it appeared he was going to keep going no matter what they came up with to stop him. He was much too powerful. The last time they'd stopped him, he'd been testing them.
She knew that now.
Has been waiting to see the strength of power they all had. Used that information to get to the point they were currently at. Specifically, to use Savitar against them later. It was funny how clear things were in hindsight, compared to being in the moment.
"And with Caitlin being on his side, too? And Savitar…?"
"Silence!" Breathtaker cried.
With an invisible hand he pulled down a balcony that hung off the side of the building above and sent it crashing upon her. He then turned his attention back towards Barry, who stared at Breathtaker in surprise. He wasn't surprised to see him turn on her like that; he had turned on so many of his workers already.
But in such a brutal manner?
"Let's see how you deal with me, Flash. I can assure you I won't be so easy to defeat."
With Breathtaker, Oliver, Roy, and the Burning Man faced off against Breathtaker with Barry standing back a little bit, being used when up close attacks would be helpful. No matter the amount of arrows the archers managed to put into the metahuman, he managed to keep going, using his invisible hands to blast them out of his body, turn around in midair, and shoot back towards Oliver and Roy. The Burning Man zoomed around with his fire projection, shooting waves of fire over at Breathtaker when he got the chance, which managed to get him every now and then while other times Breathtaker shot it back towards him, knocking him backwards though he managed to stay in the air. The Flash then moved forward and shot a barrage of punches at Breathtaker, but found that he wasn't making a lot of progress, feeling nothing under the cloak. And yet, he could still see Breathtaker's hands coming out from underneath the cloak as well as his white eyes that glowed towards them as well.
Suddenly, Barry felt himself lifted up and thrown once more. He crashed into the ground then felt a barrage of punches blast over his face and chest, causing him to cough and spit out blood onto the ground.
"Now you know how it feels," Breathtaker remarked. "Though you feel more pain than I'll ever be able to feel." He then turned back the other way and Roy, Oliver, and the Burning Man felt an invisible arm strike them in the stomach, knocking them off their feet.
Cadence then came into the fray; sending wave after wave of fire towards Breathtaker, her eyes alight with the power that she worked to control. Every now and then her fire continuously changed colors form an orange-red to a blood red and back again with the power hat she continued to put out. Nevertheless, her ruthless fighting spirit continued to drive her forward as she bounced back from every attack that came her way. Round and round the heroes went, doing the best they could to take down Breathtaker.
But his power proved to be too formidable for them as he continued to use his powers to brutally beat each of them. No matter the amount of arrows Oliver and Roy sent their way, he would find a way to break them in midair or not seem to have any affect whenever they struck him. Even tag-teaming him as they moved in close with their martial arts training didn't do anything as no matter the solid punches they managed to get, it didn't appear to do any damage.
The Burning Man continued to swirl around Breathtaker, shooting fire towards the metahuman whenever he got the chance. At some points he would team up with Flash Fire to use their combined efforts of power to take him down. However, that continued to be fruitless. At one point she managed to get a solid strike towards Breathtaker. As he turned his back towards her, her fire attack seemed to bounce off an invisible barrier and shot back towards her.
Barry zipped over towards her and lifted her up into his arms in a bridal style carry and took her over to his friends as they gathered on the other side of the clearing. "Good timing," Cadence remarked as Barry set her down.
"What are we going to do now?" Roy asked, breathing heavily, hand held on his stomach that had started to bleed once more. He leaned heavily on Oliver's side. "None of this seems to be working."
"Neither of us have dealt with something like this in Starling City," Oliver remarked. He looked over at Roy. "The only way we're going to take him down is if we can overload his power in some way."
"Overload his power?" Barry repeated. He couldn't see how that was going to help. The only time that worked before was when he had been going against Blackout and even then, there were some drawbacks. He had gotten his powers stripped away for an undetermined amount of time, and he had felt nothing more than useless. No matter the amount of training that he received from Dr. Wells, it didn't appear that he would be able to beat this guy.
No obvious reason, anyway.
He…he just had to go faster somehow. To stop Breathtaker before he found a way to use his mojo on them. Even then the villain was waiting for them to get their bearings together, like it was some sort of a game they were playing. His arrogance was palpable and that infuriated Barry even more.
"I just…" he brought his hands up to his head. "I just need to go faster, somehow."
"Pyro-Electrokinesis!" Cadence suddenly cried. Barry turned to her in confusion. "Pryo-Electrokinesis. Remember that one metahuman that could control electricity that attacked the school? When we found out that I could control fire-electric manipulation. You need more speed right?"
A figurative light bulb appeared over Barry's head and he nodded as he turned back to Breathtaker, who continued to fight Oliver, Roy, and the Burning Man. He seemed to have the upper hand and if they were going to defeat this guy, they had to try everything.
"Let's do it, Flash Fire," he agreed.
"You go it, Flash," Cadence replied.
The veins on her arms started to glow once more as she rubbed her gloved hands together as fast and as hard as she could. Little bolts of electricity flickered from her palms as she continued to do so. Barry crouched low, placing his hands on the ground in a runner's start, steadying his breathing. Cadence continued to rub her hands together as the crackles of electricity continued to increase. Then, she brought her hands back and threw the electric filled fire towards Barry. He closed his eyes as the heat wrapped around him, suddenly glad to remember that Cisco had originally designed it as a suit to aid the fire fighters. He felt the heat and electricity get absorbed by his body.
When he opened his eyes, he felt the intense power that came from the electricity. Lightning flashed through his eyes and he shot forward, running in a tight circle around Breathtaker, taking Cadence's fire along with it. Oliver, Roy, and the Burning Man stepped back, watching as Barry continued to circle around the metahuman. Around and around he went, taking in the fire and electricity as he swirled around until he was a yellow blur. All of a sudden, the electricity that shot around the makeshift tornado combined into one giant bolt of lightning that struck Breathtaker, launching him across the clearing and onto the ground. It took Barry a few moments to come to a stop, falling to his knees.
Breathing heavily, he brought his hand up and pulled down his hood before falling back onto the ground. He looked up as Cadence hurried over, falling to her knees beside him. She reached up and pulled her goggles down around her neck. A smile slid onto her face as she gazed down at his soot covered face.
"You did it, Barry!" She cried, grabbing onto his shoulders and shaking him. "You did it!"
Barry smiled and nodded, unable to find the words that would accurately show his happiness to know that they had finally managed to save the city. He reached up and wrapped his arms around Cadence and she hugged him back just as tightly.
It was finally over.
How naïve to think that they had taken him down then. How utterly sick. So sick, Cadence could feel it, starting in her stomach and rumbling through her body. Felt her arms and legs become weighted down. Closed her eyes. Knew what was coming. When Breathtaker got a hold of someone, there was no means of backing away from it.
Jesse's voice trailed off. Started to become faint as the seconds passed. Until it was like she wasn't speaking at all. Her mouth moved but no words came out.
The room started to darken around her.
Cadence could only close her eyes and bring a hand to her chest. Her heart raced. Faster and faster. As if she'd been hit by lightning.
"Cade…? Are you okay?"
Again, she was back in the darkness. Where there was nothing around her but blackness. No matter where she looked, the darkness continued to darken. Encompassing her like a wrap, freezing her in place. She wasn't alone. She could feel Breathtaker's presence along with her.
"Last chance, my child," Breathtaker said, causing Cadence to turn toward him. "All of this could be avoided if you were to join me, as you're destined to.
"No," Cadence replied.
Breathtaker sighed and reached up, lowering his hood. Showing off his true self to her. Cadence's eyebrows rose, taking in the pale white skin that glowed like a beacon within the darkness around them. Didn't look imposing in anyway, and yet she had to quell the intense sensation of horror that befell her. Horror in seeing the man who had taken over numerous years of her life. Because it hit her then that he had no intention of letting her go without killing her.
"Who are you?" She asked. "That's the least you can tell me," she remarked. "Who you really are?"
Breathtaker nodded. "I'm everything and nothing," he explained. "I'm the embodiment that can start and stop everything in existence. I have watched as the years have gone by, watched as everything continues to fall within the same cycle. Those who are utterly powerless have the most power and those who are the most powerful…" he sucked in a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so. Relishing in the darkness around him. "I have watched the rise and fall of civilization. It all works out the same way, once you strip the power of those who are at the top of the hierarchy, they become sniveling quivering messes. Pathetic shells of man.
"My child, you can help make everything greater. Your powers are not of destruction. They're of renewal. Even the toughest flame can't be burnt out by life. Life has a way to ensure regrowth. Even when following blind leaders and the false Gods you continue to follow."
"You're the one who joined with Savitar," Cadence spat back, shaking her head. "You were the one who decided to work with him. The so-called Speed God."
"Anyone can call themselves God," Breathtaker pointed out.
"Is that what you call yourself?"
"God isn't a strong enough word. I've been called many things over the longevity of my life. God has not been anything I've identified very well with. I'm born from death and dead by life. I continue to set in motion the regrowth that's needed for the correct civilization.
"And if things don't work out that way?"
"Then there will be many that will fall." He shrugged. Looked like he was about to roll his eyes but continued to study her closely. Cadence wasn't surprised. Breathtaker was never one for much emotions, let alone ones he deemed to be 'unnecessary'. "There's always someone who will fall when you're working to make the world a better place."
"Sacrifices."
"If you want to call it that."
"You're giving me one last chance?" Cadence then took the time to eye him warily. It struck her then, what he was so insistent on having her for. "Because you need me. And Brady. You need him to make sure you're unable to die…and you need me because you know what I can do."
"And what is it that you can do, my child."
"I can kill you. You're afraid of that. You're afraid one of your 'protectors' are going to be the one to take you down, you know I'm it. Because I'm not your puppet anymore, you're afraid I'll get the chance to take you down. You want Brady to ensure I don't go against you."
Breathtaker replaced his hood. "There's always casualty in war, my child," he reminded her. Cadence stared at him. At the glowing eyes that used to hold her captive. At the glowing eyes she was slowly yet surely breaking free of. "Does it keep you up? Knowing there's always going to be someone coming after your child?"
"It's my worst nightmare," Cadence admitted. Not just for Brady. Not anymore. But for Leah and Connor and Alicia and Frankie and all the other children and teens who were affected by metahumans in some way. Knowing they were as indispensable to him as they were…it kept her going just as much as it kept her up at night.
"What do you do when you wake up to it?"
"I sorry for the idiot who decides to get between me and my kids."
Breathtaker chuckled a dark, dry chuckle. As dry as October leaves on a November wind. "I've warned you before, you are one of the keys to cleansing the Earth. I'm not going to rest until it's achieved. Even if I have to kill you for it, for betraying me, I shall do that."
"You already went and found my replacement," Cadence pointed out. "In White Hot. You can have her. You can't have my son."
"I'm sure you won't feel that way once you realize who White Hot truly is," Breathtaker remarked. Cadence hesitated. Did she dare to fall into his trap? It was something she'd always wanted to know? Who was the fire metahuman that plagued her as much as the rest of the Assassination Bureau had? Who would willingly sell their soul like that? "I'm sure you remember a Michael Bloom?" he remarked.
Cadence took a step back.
"You two were quite the pair when you were working for me. And yet, I should've known you were finding solace in each other, in knowing you were doing something questionable for the children in your lives. But what happens, my child, when all your hard work of making them into nice people, into model citizens fails either way? Was all your hard work for nothing?"
"Hailey?" Cadence murmured. She hadn't thought of that name in a long time. Hadn't thought of the little girl she'd taken care of a few nights a week when Michael Bloom became too unnumbered, too sucked into his work with Breathtaker to take care of her. Had almost forgotten about her. "How'd you know about Hailey? About her powers?"
She hadn't known of her powers, let alone it being another fire metahuman.
"The same way I knew about yours." He watched as Cadence slowly fell into her mounting horror. "It's only a matter of time," he warned. "I've warned you. I wasn't going to be as forgiving the second time around."
"You're using her."
"To serve a greater purpose."
"How long have you been there?" Cadence demanded. She glared straight into Breathtaker's eyes. "How long have you been following me?"
Breathtaker smiled. He reached out a hand and pushed her hair from her forehead. "Since the beginning."
…
..
.
Cadence sucked in a shuddering breath, her eyes flying open. She felt a hand moving over her hair and shoved it aside, moving to scramble backwards. The hand then fell to her cheek. Warm and soft, gently stroking the skin.
"Hey, hey, it's just me," Barry's voice whispered. Cadence looked at him, relaxed against the pillows behind her. Barry continued to stroke her cheek, continuing to whisper to her. He put his face close to hers, allowed his breath to move over her face. His eyelashes fluttered against her cheek like a butterfly's kiss. "It's me. You're okay."
"What happened?" Cadence asked. She pulled her head back and looked around. "Jesse?"
"She's okay," Barry reassured her. "She's in the Cortex with the others."
"Brady—"
"—He's with them, too."
"But, Savitar, what happened?"
Barry didn't respond. He simply continued to stroke her cheek. Tilting his head, he looked at her, eyes shifting back and forth over her face. Cadence looked back at him, slowly yet surely relaxing. Breathtaker wasn't there. He was gone. And yet, there was enough there to know things weren't getting any better, no matter how close they were getting to Savitar. He planned on killing them all when he had the chance.
What was stopping him?
"Savitar got away," Barry explained. He ducked his head, shaking it warily. "He took Wally into the Speed Force. He's trapped there." Cadence gasped. "And it's…it's my fault," he said. "If I were faster I could've gotten to him in time but…"
"We'll find a way to get him out." Cadence started to sit up, already feeling her strength coming back.
Barry moved his hand from her hair and dropped it to her shoulder, firmly held her down. "We can't do anything yet," he explained. "Not until we figure out how to get in there. Until then, it'd be too dangerous. We don't even know if he can get out."
Cadence turned away, bringing her hands up to her forehead. It was her fault. She should've been able to break free from Mindboggler. Had she been able to, she could've been there to stop it from happening. She should've been stronger.
Why wasn't she strong enough?
"If anyone should feel guilty about it, it's me," Barry pointed out, reading her mind.
Cadence smiled a little. "Guess we'll just have to live with it," She murmured. "Having all the powers in the world but still being unable to help people. Being unable to stop more people from getting hurt."
"Feeling the most powerless," Barry agreed. Cadence looked at him out the corner of her eye. Powerless…? It wasn't a strange choice of words, if she were being honest. But…Barry reached up and ran a hand over his face. "It's exactly how I felt…when dad was in prison. I learned everything I needed to learn to help him, I became a CSI to prove his innocence and…even then I still couldn't help him."
"What happens to Wally if he's in the Speed Force too long?" Cadence asked.
Barry shrugged. "I don't know."
"I think that's the first time I ever heard you say that," she teased.
"Hopefully, it'll be the last." Barry leaned forward and pressed a long kiss to the side of her head. "Get some rest. I'll come check on you later." He stared to back away, his hand slipping from her shoulder. He moved to stand up from his chair. Cadence lifted her hand, allowing his to drop over hers.
The seconds their hands connected, Cadence stilled. Her eyebrows furrowed together. Then, quick as the Flash, she lifted her foot and kicked between Barry's legs. Barry opened his legs, leaning back to keep himself from receiving too much damage, making Cadence's foot strike the front of his seat. The force of her kick propelled his chair across the floor and into the wall behind him.
Silence stretched between them as they watched each other.
Barry tilted his head once he came to a stop. He didn't appear annoyed or concerned. Didn't appear startled from the way Cadence had kicked him across the room. He merely smiled back at her, the corner of his lips turning up in a smirk.
Cadence continued to stare at him. Slowly, so slowly, concluding she, intuitively, already knew. Her eyes flickered to his hand. The same hand that had reacted when she touched him, but in a sinister way. Different. It didn't feel like home. Familiar, but not home. Didn't spark the same way. Her eyes lifted to his once more. Barry reached up the offending hand and ran it through his hair.
He brought his hand back down to his lap, rested his arm son his legs, leaned toward her. "Go ahead," he whispered. Taunted. "Say it."
"You're Savitar," Cadence murmured.
Savitar nodded in confirmation.
A/N: Oh, cliffhangers are so much fun for me. What'd you think? There's plenty more coming soon. And, awesome, I finally got two updates for you guys, one to make up for last week and one that's on tim!
I hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers,
-Riley
Review Replies
DarkHelm145: What'd you think about this ending? I hope it was just as good. Lol.
Ethan: Earth-2 Barry isn't a criminal, Cadence is. She can't go back to Earth-2 because he broke her out of prison, since that was the last time we saw the two of them together. Hope you enjoyed the fight. There's more coming in, but I was just glad to do some JesseCade sisterly bonding, even if it was after Cade almost killed her, lol.