! Warning: This story may contain adult themes, such as nudity, sexual content, torture, mass murder etc. Reader discretion is highly advised. !
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
"As much as I appreciate the offer, isn't this… extreme?" Singh asked hesitantly as he read over Lex's file, while they met in his office.
"Captain, while I recognize and appreciate all the good that the Flash has done for the people of Central City, how do we know the Flash isn't in fact just trying to earn our trust and once we let our guard down, he strikes us down? If I recall, four years ago, the Flash did directly endanger a civilian and one of your detectives. A daughter of Detective West, if I am not mistaken."
"That was… an exceptional incident." Singh said. "The Flash was under an influence of a metahuman, who was able to induce rage upon anyone he would want to. He was just a victim, much like any other ordinary human—"
"See, that is my point, Captain." Lex interrupted. "How many metahumans can the Flash fight himself, until there is one, who will be able to turn him against us? Against humans. And what if one day, the Flash snaps and decides to play God and strikes us all down?" He demanded with paranoia and clear contempt against metahumans in his tone.
"I… see your point." Singh said hesitantly. "But so far, the Flash has largely benefited to the safety of this city and he is an ally, not a threat. Besides, S.T.A.R. Labs and other companies have benefited to help us contain the metahuman threat—"
"They are not enough." Lex growled, now sounding like a wild animal, about to lunge at its prey. "One day, they will decide that they are better than us. They will take matters into their own hands and use their powers against us. There may be the Flash, who will stand by our side but he won't be enough. And that's why they all need to be contained." He said, now sounding like a madman.
"Mr. Luthor, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. And I'd appreciate if I did not have to repeat myself. And I think you might need to re-read the history of World War II." Singh said with a forced calmed tone.
"I… understand your position." Lex said, looking like if he had tasted sour grapes. "Have a nice day, Captain."
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"So, this guy has an ax to grind with metas." Cisco summed up after Barry and Joe had filled him, Iris, Caitlin and Harry in.
"Why does he hate them so much?" Iris questioned.
"Good question." Barry said.
"What do we know about him?" Harry asked.
"Well, he's one of the richest men in the entire U.S., much like Bruce Wayne is and the Queens were. His company LexCorp specializes in many divisions – diverse international conglomerate that deals in R&D, utilities, technologies, airlines, chemicals, bio-engineering, weapons, you name it. They actually contributed to restoration of Central City after 11th December 2013."
"The night the particle accelerator exploded." Harry said and everyone nodded.
"And asides from that he's a successful charming businessman and philanthropist, there seems to be nothing shady about him." Ralph read from the screen.
"Come on, haven't we learned nothing from looking into DeVoe?" Barry reminded. "He was also squeaky clean and we know how that turned out, it's obvious that Luthor has some kind of an axe to grind."
"We'll be careful around him." Iris assured.
Barry was pacing around in the lab as Caitlin entered, looking worried.
"Are you OK?" Caitlin asked.
"I just can't shake this feeling that Lex is bad news." Barry said. "That look in his eyes… I don't know, it's like the one Wells… Thawne had. One moment, an ordinary guy, and suddenly…" Barry snapped his fingers. "Madman with pure hate."
"Barry…" Caitlin trailed off, not sure what to say. "I… I get that you're wary and you have every right to be but… I think you should be careful not to let your paranoia get the better of you."
Elsewhere
A man in white shirt and jeans had a black bag on his head as he was cuffed to a chair.
"Let me go, please. I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt me." The man begged, with a British accent.
A red-haired woman approached the man and pulled the bag out, revealing a man with blue eyes, unshaved chin and ruffled blonde hair, who was no one other than Julian Albert.
"Mr. Albert, I assure you, no harm will come to you and you will be granted your freedom, if you fully cooperate with us." The woman said.
"Who… who are you?" Julian demanded. "Where am I?"
"My name is Mercy Graves." Mercy introduced herself. "And I work on behalf of a private organization that is concerned with the metahuman threat."
"What do you want from me?"
"I had hoped that you could shed some light on the events of November 22nd, 2016. When you were abducted by a metahuman."
"I…" Julian hesitated. He knew exactly what the woman was talking about and there was a time when Julian would have spilled everything but he had grown fond of Barry and his friends, Caitlin especially and he would never forgive himself for betraying them like this. "I already told the police back then, I hit my head hard and I have no recollection of what happened."
"Are you certain?" Mercy questioned, raising her brows.
"I don't remember anything, I swear." Julian begged.
"Well, that's disappointing. But don't worry. We have means to help you jog your memory." Mercy smirked as one of the men jammed a syringe into Julian's neck and he gasped in pain.
Central City
"Barry, he's in Lawrence Hills." Iris said through the comms.
"Got it!" The Flash rushed into an alley and created a roadblock from pieces of garbage, as the man on bike pulled out a rifle and fired, destroying the roadblock before the Flash knocked the man down and took his rifle. "What is it with bad guys stealing hi-tech weapons?"
Some people applauded the Flash for saving the day but there were some, who were… wary of the Flash and in their eyes was… caution and mistrust… and the Flash frowned. He had seen that kind of paranoia before but… why was it showing up again? And why now?
S.T.A.R. Labs
"So, one hi-tech rifle is in the workshop and one thief is on his way to Iron Heights." Barry said.
"Nicely done." Cisco high-fived with Barry as Ralph entered.
"Oh, man, you couldn't have let me have this one? I learned a new trick on how to catch a bad guy with a bike." Ralph turned into a wall as everyone snickered. "Roadblock!" Then, Ralph turned normal again.
Iris then entered as he picked the remote from the desk and turned on the TV. "You might need to see this."
Lex Luthor was in some talk show as the anchor was talking to him. "Do you think the Flash needs to be—"
"I am not questioning the good the Flash has done for this city. I just think that more serious precautionary methods should be taken, since metahumans in general are a serious threat." Lex said.
"So you're saying that all metahumans should be contained?" The anchor asked.
"I think that for every noble metahuman like the Flash is, there are dozen more that are likely to be corrupt enough to abuse their powers. I mean, isn't the invasion of metahumans three years ago a clear example?" Lex asked rhetorically. "Even if the Flash really was on our side, one metahuman against hundreds, maybe thousands of more, is not enough. This is a major threat that needs to be taken seriously with appropriate precautions."
"I see your point but don't you think that is a little too… paranoid?" The anchor asked carefully, trying not to insult Lex.
"What one calls 'paranoia', another might call 'vigilance'." Lex said.
"There have been cases, when metahumans have been met with hostility even before they actually committed a crime, since they were identified as metahumans, which might explain—"
"Whether they are being pushed to such things because of our fear or because of their lust for power is irrelevant." Lex said. "The point is, 'Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely.' And I think this is a threat the whole nation needs to be wary of."
"What a paranoid prick." Harry grumbled, glaring as Iris switched the channel, not wanting to listen to Lex any longer.
"Today, the people looked at me with such… mistrust. Some of them liked me but… the fear is getting bigger and bigger." Barry said.
"They don't understand that you're a hero, Barry." Iris tried to assure him.
Caitlin walked away, not wanting to watch the news as she entered the lab.
Barry noticed in a reflection of the screen Caitlin walking away, disturbed as Barry followed her and she looked into her reflection on screen.
"You OK?" Barry asked.
"I…" Caitlin sighed. "Honestly… I don't know what am I feeling, Barry. That fear of metas…"
"Come on, it's just Lex spreading his paranoia. They'll get over it." Barry assured her, holding her shoulders.
"But it reminds me of… two years ago." Caitlin said.
Barry nodded in understanding. "Caitlin… we can work through this."
"And what if you can't?" Caitlin snapped, glaring at him. "You have no idea what is it like, to have a dark and twisted side within you and constantly struggle with it and keep yourself in check, every single moment! What if one day, Killer Frost snaps and decides to take over completely until I am gone fully?" They both looked taken aback by Caitlin's outburst before she got a hold of herself. "I'm sorry… I… I didn't mean to overreact."
"It… it's OK. I understand." Barry nodded. "Look… I'm not gonna pretend that I have any idea how you feel. But what's never going to change, is that you're my friend. And I'll always be here for you." He hugged her tightly as Caitlin hugged him back before she sniffed.
"You know… I felt lost without you, Barry." Caitlin admitted and Barry blinked, surprised. "When… when you had to go to Speed Force… it broke my heart. And then… you found your way back. And… it felt like a miracle. Screw the science, it was a damn miracle. I felt hope again and… I thought that we…" She stopped as she noticed Iris behind them.
"Barry. It was my Dad. He said you needed to go back to the precinct, now." Iris said.
"We'll talk later." Barry whispered to Caitlin before he left and Caitlin looked a little uncomfortable at being with Iris in one room alone.
"I… I'm sorry you had to see that. It—"
"No. It… it's OK, really." Iris said. "I mean… I guess Barry in the Speed Force affected us all a lot."
Caitlin forced a smile on her face, glad that Iris didn't hear their conversation, which would have made it awkward.
Later, CCPD
"Joe, what's going on?" Barry asked Joe as most officers, CSIs and detectives were in a meeting room.
"LexCorp has privately investigated the CCPD and they provided us an information, which I think makes sense. The Flash having insight knowledge of most of the crimes here in Central City and being able to be ahead of us and they also have a detecting algorithm, triangulating most of the Flash's runs into the precinct. So, I think that it is likely that the Flash has access to CCPD." Singh said.
Barry and Joe paled, realizing that they were onto them.
Caitlin's apartment
Caitlin stripped herself of her clothes and went into the shower, enjoying the warm water streaming down her bare skin as she could relax.
A minute later, she finished the shower and went out, wrapping the towel around her naked body and brushing her hair before she was heading into her room to get dressed but suddenly, she noticed six men in black bulletproof vests, masks, protective goggles, guns and military gear, in her apartment as she started to run but they surrounded her. Caitlin turned into Killer Frost, firing a freezing beam at one of them but the ice melted as soon as it formed on his armor, to her surprise.
"You want me to beg?" Killer Frost sneered. "I ain't gonna beg. You can all go fuck yourselves."
One of the men neared her and pulled out his gun, firing a dart into Frost's neck as she turned back into her human form and Caitlin collapsed on the floor, unconscious as the man, who had tranquilized her, took off his mask and picked his radio.
"Target Delta acquired." Joe Wilson, also known as Kane Wolfman, said.
Yes, Joe Wilson, alias Kane Wolfman, Slade's son is working with Lex.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.