! 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.
"You alright?" Caitlin asked as Luke was healing an injured bird, while looking tired.
"I… thank you for your help, Caitlin. Ever since… the other day, I can control it better." Luke said.
"There's nothing wrong with being scared of your power. But you can't let that fear get ahold of you." Caitlin pointed out.
"The people saw metahumans like a threat. When your friend told me that it could be a gift…" Luke trailed off. "I was so worried how people might see me after what I did—"
"I understand." Caitlin assured. "I get that you're scared. But at least it keeps you on alert and you're careful but you can't let that fear control you, otherwise you might lose control of your powers."
"A man came to visit me the other day." Luke admitted.
"Who?" Caitlin asked.
"Some… black Englishman. He offered me a sanctuary." Luke admitted. "He said that there was a place where are people like me, where no one would have to be afraid of me. Where they would help me control my powers."
"Was his name Manchester Black?" Caitlin demanded, immediately getting full attention to the topic.
"Yeah." Luke nodded. "How do you know—"
"Because he came to visit me, when we helped you. He told me the same thing. That he offered me a place, where I would feel safe, among other metahumans, with no one being afraid of me." Caitlin said.
"You're not worried that people—"
"Some people might be afraid of me. But… I believe that everyone deserves a chance at redemption before going into seclusion. You're not the only one, who messed up with your powers. I messed up too." Caitlin explained.
"You mean with your freezing powers and the water?" Luke asked and Caitlin nodded.
"I hurt a lot of people." Caitlin admitted, ashamed. "Some of them I even killed, recently. And… I was ashamed of myself and ran away. But… then I realized that I was going over the edge slowly until my friends pulled me back. The thing is… I was afraid no one would be able to help me and that I'd always be on my own until I'd find the right people. And I believe that I can help you. I get that you want to leave because people might not understand you but trust me that I understand what it's like to be scared of your powers."
Luke seemed a little more assured.
S.T.A.R. Labs
"It's exactly like the compass we picked up in Gotham." Barry said as the compass Caitlin had handed to him, spun like crazy until it pointed at a specific direction.
"And it almost again came with a dead body. First Mercy, then the bank manager in Gotham, and almost Lyla now. And last night, another meta, with the same compass." Joe said.
"What?" Barry, Harry, Caitlin, Iris and Cisco stared as Patty entered.
"Last night, a metahuman was killed." Patty showed a file. "M.O. seems to indicate his throat was slit. Adam Light. According to Luthor's file, his power was energy projection and light manipulation. He robbed six banks, while being invisible…"
"…before we busted him and sent him to Iron Heights, I remember this guy." Barry nodded.
"Unfortunately, during the prisoner transfer, he did a Houdini act and disappeared." Patty said. "Wasn't seen for over two years until…" She put the flash drive into the computer. "Last night. CCTV caught it from downtown."
The footage showed Light running down the street and firing energy balls as a masked man in a hood dodged, making strange breathing sounds before he pulled out a dagger in shape of lightning that drained Light somehow before nearing him and stabbing him in the chest.
"What… what do you want?"
"For all of you… to die." The masked man said before slitting Light's throat as he gagged and fell down, dead.
"Oh, my God." Caitlin whispered.
"Who did that?" Barry demanded.
"I was hoping you would tell me." Patty said before she pulled out a plastic bag with some metal fragments. "The M.E. did an autopsy and pulled out some shrapnel from the dagger that our guy used."
"Wait." Harry rewound the footage before typing in some commands.
"What, do you see something?" Joe inquired.
"Not seeing. Listening." Harry corrected as they heard some chirping sounds.
"It sounds like an insect." Caitlin said.
Cisco nodded. "Yeah. Like a…"
"…cicada." Harry finished as he paled. "Oh, no…"
"What?" Everyone turned to him.
"You know who this is?" Patty demanded.
"Yeah… unfortunately, I do." Harry said as he sighed. "Cicada is an infamous serial killer, known across multiple Earths. Every Earth has him, as far as I know. No one knows where he came from or how he got his powers or who he is. All that's known is his M.O. and alias and the last sound his victims hear before he kills them."
"A serial killer that kills metas?" Barry demanded and Harry nodded grimly.
"On every Earth that I looked at."
"Who is he?" Cisco asked.
"It's different on any Earth, so knows who it could be here and his agenda behind hunting metahumans is always different." Harry explained. "All that remains the same is his M.O. and the sound he makes. He is somehow extraordinarily strong and has a dagger that dampens metahuman's powers somehow, with which he kills his victims. He kills any meta he deems dangerous…"
"…which unfortunately is almost every meta in this city." Barry finished, grumbling.
"Maybe… this was why this Manchester Black was offering a hideout for metas, to protect them from this Cicada?" Ralph deduced.
"Maybe." Barry nodded. "But why now?"
Everyone turned to him, not understanding. "What do you mean—"
"Put aside the whole Luthor thing, why would this Manchester offer a sanctuary for metas? And isn't it a bit convenient that Cicada shows up around the same time?" Barry said.
"You think there's a connection between Cicada and Manchester Black?" Iris said.
"It would make sense. The question is what." Harry nodded.
"That compass is the common factor." Cisco said. "What do we know about it?"
"According to Batman, it's LexCorp tech to track down powerful metas." Barry said before an idea hit him. "Cisco, do you think you could—"
Cisco nodded, carefully touching the compass before he appeared in what seemed to be vast darkness before in front of him appeared Manchester Black as Cisco tensed.
"I mean you no harm, Cisco, I promise."
"Who are you?" Cisco demanded. "And what is that compass you gave my friend, because it's the second time it turned up with a dead body. Why can it track powerful metahumans?"
"We're just offering you home. Nothing more." Manchester said.
"Your speedster buddy almost killed a friend of mine and gutted Mercy Graves like a fish." Cisco pointed out.
"She killed many of our own people." Manchester tried to defend. "Your friend was only at the wrong place at the wrong time. We meant her no harm, I swear." Manchester protested. "In the wrong hands, the compass means trouble for every metahuman."
"Such as in Cicada's hands?" Cisco demanded and Manchester paled. "You know about him. Why does he want to kill metas?"
"He came to finish a job." Manchester said. "The one Luthor started. I'm just trying to keep everyone safe."
"By putting us all in a ghetto?" Cisco scoffed. "Look, we don't have to be enemies. We might want to same thing. Protect all metas. We can help each other and maybe stop Cicada."
Manchester seemed to consider Cisco's offer. "I think it's an intriguing offer… but I'm afraid I have to decline."
Cisco looked surprised. "Why not? You just said—"
"No offense to you, mate… but you lot have put some of my sheep in the prison in the past. They would not take it well if they knew we worked with their enemies." Manchester said.
"Right now, we want the same thing. Making sure no one else has to die." Cisco pointed out. "Isn't survival more important than your integrity and pride?"
Manchester considered. "I'll be in touch."
Suddenly, the vibe ended.
"Cisco, what happened?" Barry asked.
"He said he'd be in touch." Cisco said.
"Do you think we can trust him?" Iris asked.
"I don't know. He seems genuine but… I just can't shake this feeling…" Caitlin said, glancing at Barry, who gave her an assuring smile and in that moment, it hit Cisco, Patty, Ralph, Iris and Harry as they all chuckled. They had noticed the attraction between Barry and Caitlin before but only now it seemed that the attraction intensified. After everything they had been through, everyone in Team Flash was happy for Barry and Caitlin and everyone showed enough respect to talk about the relationship later.
The Arrow Lair, Star City
"Dinah, you OK?" Diggle asked as Dinah was staring at her costume as Oliver and everyone else was putting back their gear.
"Yeah." Dinah said but no one was buying it.
"You sure you want to go back in the field?" Oliver asked.
"I…" Dinah trailed off. "I don't know. At first, I thought that I could just bounce back, like when Sonus killed Vince but—"
"You never talked about what did Lex do to you." Oliver pointed out. "I get if you don't want to talk about it—"
Dinah couldn't keep it inside her anymore. "I was injected with something. Some red drug… and… it was like if my body was on fire. And in pain. Even more pain than when I lost Vince." She admitted. "It was like if I was going through all the pain I had been through already, feeling it all at once, like if it was the first time ever. I never thought I could go through such pain…"
Oliver tensed, already knowing what was she talking about. "Dinah—"
"And since then…" Dinah sighed. "What I did before you took me in… it's been haunting me since then."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Oliver asked.
"You've had more than enough on your plate, Oliver." Dinah turned to him. "You shouldn't have to worry about me."
"You're my friend, I'll always worry about you." Oliver pointed out.
Dinah sighed. "Do you even know what it's like? To feel your entire body on fire? To feel every cut, bullet, every injury you had endured, again, like if it was the first time? And all that pain and suffering you had gone through, burning into your mind, making you want to die, to escape that pain, not wanting to relive it all again?"
"I do." Oliver said, to Dinah's surprise. "I've been injected with this drug you're talking about. Once. And it was the worst pain I ever felt."
Dinah looked into his eyes and expected pity but saw nothing but pain, sadness and understanding. "How did you even deal with it? Even now I can…" She stopped, her voice breaking. "I can still hear Vince calling me a monster and a murderer for what I did to avenge him."
"Honestly, I don't know if that pain ever goes away." Oliver said. "But what I do know… is that with good people at your side, the burden gets easier."
Dinah seemed assured at Oliver's suggestion. "It just feels like… barely anything in my life fits together right now. I've spent past four months putting my life back together but... now that people know what I am… it's kind of hard to fit into the world, where most of the time, people are wary of you and you can see in their eyes that they don't trust you."
"Dinah… we can work through this." Oliver said.
"What if there was a place where people were not afraid of me?" Dinah said. "I've heard that… some metas are creating some kind of a community, away from other people. Where they want to help each other. Where no one would fear them."
Oliver considered. "You're thinking about looking for such a place?"
Dinah sighed. "I… I just don't know if I can stand the way everyone in this city is looking at me anymore."
"It sounds to me like you're looking for an easy way out." Oliver pointed out. "I think that's what a coward would do. Run and hide. And you're one of the strongest and tenacious women that I've ever met."
Dinah smiled, seeming a bit more assured. "I'm just not sure if I can go back to my old life anymore, Oliver."
"Maybe not." Oliver admitted. "But that doesn't mean that you have to turn your back on your friends here."
Elsewhere
Cicada put down his hood and mask as he entered his apartment, looking at files in which were photos of Barry, Caitlin, Cisco, Ralph, Mark Mardon, Shawna Baez and other metahumans before putting his dagger next to him on his desk.
Then, he put on the wall a newspaper clipping headlined 'MERCY GRAVES MURDERED IN HER APARTMENT. A REVENGE OF A METAHUMAN?'
His phone then rang as he picked it up to see a photo of Steve Trevor.
"Attacked by a water metahuman. Suspected that Snow is alive."
A man in a hood went into an alley, meeting another man around 30 years old.
"Well?"
"Snow returned back to Allen and their friends." Kane said.
"I absorbed powers of most of them into this dagger." Cicada said.
"Amazo technology is interesting, is it?" Kane said.
"Someone took the compass and it wasn't Allen." Cicada said.
"Taking on Allen and his gang is suicide." Kane said. "Once we find this… sanctuary, we'll have a feast."
"Yes…" Cicada smirked.
"But… they're protected. We need to be smart. And make sure everyone turns against them." Kane pointed out.
This chapter was setting up what happens next. And yes, Kane and Cicada are working together, it will all be explained later.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.