Quick warning: this is one of the most important chapters in the story. One I've been waiting to write for years. Do not skip or skim this chapter.

Chapter 136: Parents

"Do we really have to bring her with us? Couldn't we just let the feds take her and eventually release the body to S.T.A.R. Labs?"

"Technically, we are the feds, Cisquito. This way is faster."

"Stop calling me that Rathaway!"

More than one A.R.G.U.S. agent and JL member rolled their eyes as the customary bickering of Vibe and Pied Piper reached their ears. The two heroes were currently rolling a gurney through one of Cisco's breaches to the Central City A.R.G.U.S. base. On the apparatus was a body bage, containing the corpse of the woman formerly known as Grace Parker, now known as Pestilence. A.R.G.U.S. had swiftly claimed jurisdiction over her remains and were having it transferred to S.T.A.R. Labs to be studied and tested, in hopes of finding a cure to her plague. There were still many of her victims in the hospital, fighting for their lives, and saving them was now their top priority since Pestilence was permanently neutralized.

Meanwhile, as the superheroes continued their verbal sparring, in another part of the base was the woman formerly known as Julia Freeman, now known as Purity. She had been transferred here after her last two interrogations at the Hub City base had failed, in hopes that the more extensive… facilities of the Central City base could coax information out of her instead. That, and it allowed easy access to her DNA for the Flash, the world's foremost expert on Kryptonians. He needed the samples in order to figure out what, exactly, differed her from her more normal counterparts, particularly his sister.

Nobody was paying attention to Purity right now. Not particularly. They were too busy trying to secure the body of Pestilence, trying to solve the crisis she left behind. It was completely understandable.

But still a mistake.

Nobody was paying attention to Purity. Nobody was paying attention to the way she was smirking, the way her eyes almost seemed to glow. Nobody noticed the way she was flexing her hands, testing the strength and durability of her bonds.

Most of all, nobody noticed the way one of her nails extended into a claw, before retracting back.

Kara sighed as she walked up to her apartment door. After everything with Pestilence was done and the body was transported to the A.R.G.U.S. Base in Central City, she used the breach Cisco made for the Star City vigilantes to head to the Foundry and change back into her civvies. She stored her trusty sword back into its containment unit in the Foundry's armory, then said her goodbyes to her older brother and his girlfriend. Aunt Astra had elected not to come with them, wanting to get more information Pestilence from those who encountered her, see if she had left any breadcrumbs for them to follow before her death.

She frowned. Her enhanced hearing had picked up some noise beyond the door, steps and a heartbeat that were not her beloved Kal-El. Kara listened harder… and relaxed.

Sam. Another surprise visit from her friend. Nothing to worry about.

Kara schooled her face to make herself unknowing so her best friend wouldn't suspect anything, before opening the door. It's not that she didn't trust Sam, but it was better that her—

And she stopped. Eyes wide.

"K-Kara…" a tearful Samantha Arias, face red and blotchy from what was undoubtedly at least an hour of sobbing. "I…I'm sorry, I didn't know where else to go—"

Kara immediately hung her bag onto the coat stand before marching over to Sam and giving her the biggest hug she could possibly give her friend. Sam took that as her cue to stop holding back her grief, and buried her face into Kara's shoulder as her tears renewed. Kara said nothing as Sam weeped, simply rocking her gently and softly caressing the back of her head. She slowly maneuvered them to the couch, where she guided them both into sitting.

Neither them knew how long they sat like that, Sam crying into her best friend's arms. Kara presumed that it didn't matter. You didn't put a number to grief, after all.

Eventually, however, the sobs ceased. The hiccups lingered, and then stopped. Sam let go, still sniveling slightly, but no more energy to cry. Kara nonetheless squeezed her hand wordlessly, before gently guiding her to lean back into the couch. As she did so, Sam grabbed one of the throw pillows and squeezed it for more comfort.

Once her best friend was settled into a comfortable position, Kara quickly headed over to the kitchen and pour both of them a glass of water each. She returned to the couch with both of them, giving one to Sam, before taking a small sip herself. Sam mirrored her, before setting the glass down onto the coffee table.

"Patricia," she finally spoke, her voice still a little hoarse from all the crying.

"Patricia?"

"She was in Metropolis today," Sam explained, and Kara felt a pit begin to grow in her stomach. "At City Hall."

"At the same time as…?"

"Yes." Her friend's tone was dull, but Kara could sense the undercurrent of sorrow. "She was one of those infected."

How had Kara not seen her or sensed her? The thought passed, and was dismissed. Of course she hadn't. She had only met the woman, Sam's mother, a scant few times. And it had been Barry in charge of evacuating the hostages, Pestilence's victims — not her.

"Oh, Sam. Is she…?" Kara had no illusions to what Sam's answer would be. Patricia was an elderly woman, already middle-aged when she first adopted her daughter. The elderly died from simple illnesses like the common cold and the flu all the time. Something like Pestilence's virus, however, was far more severe.

Sam confirmed those suspicions with a simple nod, her face crumbling. Kara set her own glass of water down onto the coffee table, and then reached over once more to give Sam another hug. The sobs weren't as strong as they were before, but the tears still came.

"I don't know why I feel this way!" Sam told her as Kara continued to comfort her. "I mean, she didn't love me—!"

"But you loved her," Kara answered for her, voice soft. "You loved her, even when you were angry with her. It's not your fault she didn't care, and it doesn't invalidate your feelings. You are allowed to grieve for her Sam, no matter how things ended between you two. Nothing and nobody else gets to dictate your feelings like that."

Sam's face crumpled even further. "But it hurts, Kara. It hurts so much."

"I know. Trust me, I know." It was a pain all too familiar to her. One that, for two years, she had felt time and time again. "If I could take it away from you, I would." She wouldn't wish that kind of pain on her worst enemies. It was the worst pain in the world, and no amount of training with the League had changed her opinion on that.

"…Does it ever stop?"

Kara closed her eyes.

She could lie.

But it wouldn't help.

"No."

"Where were you today?"

Oliver sighed. "Seriously, Mom, Dad? I'm not a teenager anymore."

Robert was unmoved, arms crossed and expression severe. "Yes, but you are one of my employees, and my son or not, that is no excuse to skive off work."

"There was an emergency," Oliver grit out. "I followed the proper protocol."

"And what kind of emergency was it?"

"A private one."

Moira, standing next to her husband, sighed. Oliver had come to the Mansion for a pre-planned, small family dinner. Something to heal whatever wounds were caused by forcing him into the CEO position far sooner than he had wished. Of course, then came in word about Oliver leaving for an emergency, and, well, they had panicked, fearing it had been that League of Assassins coming for their son and hiding the tracks. It was paranoid of them, probably, but could anyone blame them for it?

Their son could apparently. But it's not like they could hold it against him — he had no idea of the danger hanging over his head. "Oliver," Moira finally spoke, cutting off the staring contest between father and son. "I'm sure whatever you had to do was important to you, but you can't run out from work for every single problem you have anymore. You're going to take up the CEO position soon, and the last thing QC needs is an absent, negligent CEO."

Her beautiful boy fumed. "Well then, maybe that's a sign I'm not ready to be CEO yet, considering I'm not willing or ready to offload my other responsibilities for it."

"Oliver—"

"What's going on?"

All three adults froze as the youngest adult in the family walked down the stairs, a perplexed expression on her face. Thea looked back and forth between her father and brother, before locking eyes with her mother, silently demanding an explanation. Moira grimaced, then subtly shook her head.

"It's nothing, Speedy," Oliver finally said, speaking for all of them. "Just a disagreement."

"Yes, Thea," Robert rumbled, concurring. "Your brother and I are just having a small disagreement."

Thea eyed them both skeptically. "Right." She clearly didn't believe whatever disagreement they had was 'small'.

Before she could say anything more, however, Oliver sighed, giving his sister a guilty look. "I'm sorry," he told their parents, "but I don't think I can be here tonight. Maybe another time."

He moved to leave, but not before heading to his baby sister and giving her a small hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you another time, Speedy. Just tell me when you're free."

Thea pursed her lips, clearly unhappy but recognizing how uncomfortable her older brother was being around their parents right now. "Of course, Ollie," she said, nodding. "I love you."

"I love you too, Thea." With that, he gave his parents one final, disappointed look, before grabbing his coat from the stand and taking out his keys, exiting through the front door. He closed with a soft but definitive slam!, leaving the rest of his blood family all in their lonesome in the foyer.

Arms crossed, Thea turned to her parents with her own disappointed look, one that cut to the core. "I hope you're both happy," she spoke, a hint of anger in her voice, before she turned around and stomped up the stairs.

All Robert and Moira could do was watch her go. As she disappeared from view, they finally exchanged looks and sighs of their own.

"It's not easy," Robert said, glum.

"It never is, Robert," Moira noted sadly. "It never is."

"Stop fidgeting, Edward!" Charlene hissed to her son, a photogenic smile plastered to her face as she waved to the press, in tandem with her husband.

"I'm not!" Eddie hissed back, similarly picturesque. The blare of camera lights were not an unfamiliar sensation, and certainly not a missed one. Endure, Eddie. Endure.

The Thawnes walked down the metaphorical red carpet towards the hotel ballroom where the gala was being held. Eddie astutely ignored all the questions direct towards him while his father Hugo maneuvered and deflected through all of them with practiced grace, being careful to make sure he didn't contradict with the tenets of his platform. Doing that was one of the fastest ways to get crucified at the stake by the public. It made Eddie all the more hopeful that he would, because it meant he wouldn't have to be here any longer than he had to.

They crossed the threshold into the hotel, following the directions given to the ballroom. Already there were a number businessmen, socialites, and other assorted personalities present. Faces that Eddie had committed to memory either long ago or recently, with the packet of information his parents sent him a week ago. A standard practice for whenever Eddie had to go to one of these things, so that way he didn't make a fool out of himself and his parents by extension.

"Eddie? Eddie Thawne?"

Eddie blinked at the sound of a somewhat familiar voice, and turned to see an unexpected face: a woman around his age of Hispanic descent, with warm brown eyes, accented by her square, black-rimmed glasses. She had her hair up in a tasteful bun, and was wearing a beautiful hot pink evening dress.

Even though it had been years, Eddie recognized her instantly. "Valerie?" The detective gasped. "Valerie Perez?"

The newly-named Valerie lit up, and threw her arms around him in a hug. "It is you!" She exclaimed happily. "How have you been?"

Her friend returned the hug with only a touch of hesitance. "Good. Relatively speaking," Eddie told her honestly after letting go of the embrace.

Valerie looked puzzled at the strange answer. "What do you mean by that? You're a detective for the CCPD now, aren't you?"

Eddie blinked. "You mean you haven't heard?"

The woman shook her head. "Been traveling for work," Valerie answered sheepishly.

Right. Eddie supposed he should've expected that. Valerie was the daughter of the late genius nuclear physicist Manfred Mota. While her relationship with her father had been strained, the man had nonetheless been very wealthy and made sure his daughter (who had inherited his genius) was sent to the best schools possible. Honestly, Eddie doubted they would've ever met had his parents not made an effort to invite Mota to all their parties back when he was still alive. After he passed and Valerie graduated from college, she began traveling the world, working at some of the greatest scientific labs on the planet, mainly for big-name projects. It had caused quite a stir when she refused an offer from the late (and now infamous) Harrison Wells, which Eddie supposed was an early indictment of the man's real character.

"During Zoom's attack a year back, I was one of the casualties," Eddie explained, rubbing the back of his head. "Was sent flying and hit my head on the corner of a filing cabinet, which put me in a coma for nine months. Just woke up a few months back."

Valerie gasped, putting a hand to her mouth in shock. "Oh my God, Eddie! I'm so sorry."

Eddie waved her off. "It's fine. You didn't know. I'm okay now, and I'm about to be reinstated back into the CCPD. As far as I'm concerned, it's just been a long nap that's now over and done with."

"Well, that's good to—"

"Valerie! Oh, dear, is that you?"

Valerie and Eddie paused in their conversation as Charleen barged her way through, that damnable smile on her face. Eddie frowned as she began chatting Valerie up, reminding the younger woman to call her 'Charlene' and other such nonsense. He was grateful he had enough self-control not to scowl, and instead started subtly casing the room, spying three very famous gossip columnists among the crowd, eyeing the three of them speculatively.

Eddie should've known. Valerie never came to these things anymore, even when she was back in the States. His parents had seen an opportunity with one of her rare visits, a chance to attach him to another, more noticeable (and celebrated) name now that Iris was out of the picture. The fact that Valerie was Hispanic no doubt played a part into that — no veiled accusations of racism could be thrown their way with her.

Ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. Valerie was attractive and all, and an old friend, but it simply wasn't happening. Under different circumstances he might've considered dating her, but the reality was Valerie was a career-driven woman. And that wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that her career took her all around the world. Eddie didn't do long distance, and he was still hung up on Iris. It might've been a year for her, but only like three to four months for him. He needed more time before he even considered dating again.

But what did his parents care about that? They never had before. Eddie would be a fool to believe they would care about it now.

Several Hours Later…

Eddie hated the Thawne Mansion. It was an over-sized, gaudy building that tried too hard to be both classical and modern at the same time and yet failed to be either thing. It wasn't really his home, just the place he crashed at after eight hours of being the fat, bullied kid. At least until high school, where he lost weight and grew into his looks. The only fond memories he had of the place were when Grandma Edna had been alive, and once she croaked all it became was the empty home with the parents that were almost never home and only ever insulted him when they were.

When he left for college and then joined the KCPD, he'd hoped to never see this place again. But then his parents had dangled all his student loans and everything over his head, and Eddie always found himself dragged here after whatever party they forced him to go to. The only time he had ever managed to skip out on it was the one time he had brought Iris over to meet them, and he was still grateful for that, even if their relationship hadn't work out in the end. Unfortunately, because of that, he couldn't skip out on the visit after this party, or the one before that for that matter.

"What the hell, Mom, Dad?" Eddie growled at his parents. "Dragging Val into this? Seriously?"

"Oh, come off it Edward," Hugo waved off his son's complaints, instead paying more attention to decanting his latest glass of wine. "You don't have to date the girl. The whole point of it was to remind everyone that you were now an eligible bachelor again."

Eddie looked aghast. "Are you trying to whore me out?"

Charlene scowled. "Don't be so crude, Edward. You just need to charm a few girls and convince their parents to support your father's campaign. Nobody said about dating or even having sex with them."

"I can't believe you two!" Their son shouted, and he's betting they were grateful that the staff had gone home for the night, leaving them the only occupants present in the building. Just imagine all the gossip that would come from this otherwise. "My love life isn't something you can use to drum up votes and donations!"

"Edward—"

"NO!" Edward cut off his parents before they could pull their stupid threats again. "ENOUGH! I am done! I am sick of being used as a prop to advance your careers!"

Now Hugo was scowling as well. He all but slammed his wine glass onto the desk of his study, before marching up to his son, grabbing the lapels of the younger man's coat and tugging him forward with no small amount of force so they were almost nose-to-nose. "Now you listen here, boy," Hugo snarled quietly as Eddie struggled to get out of his hold. "You've got no right to be complaining. Who housed and fed you for all those years? Who paid for your tuition to college, your application to the Police Academy? Who paid for your hospital bills when you were stupid enough to get your head bashed open and put into a coma?"

He threw Eddie backwards, causing the detective to stumble, catching himself before he could land on his ass. "We did, Edward," Hugo continued coldly. "And you owe us for that. You will do what we say, do your duty to the family, or you can kiss your life goodbye. I have more than enough influence to make sure your career in the CCPD doesn't go anywhere, that you won't be so much as a mall guard when they fire you. And won't that be a pain when the bills start coming in and you find you don't have a single cent to your name?"

Eddie grit his teeth, his hands turning into fists as he glared up at his father, suppressing the tears that he wanted to shed with practice. Hugo met the glare head-on, and while Charlene looked uncomfortable, she didn't dare intervene. She knew who really ran the show, after all. "Screw you," the younger man muttered quietly.

"What was that?"

"I said…" And Eddie shot up to his feet, marching towards Hugo, his anger at a boil. "SCREW! YOU!"

And then… release.

It was fire and flame. A beautiful blue, a cobalt color that danced across his vision, encompassing the entire room. Eddie didn't see or hear anything as this… this power enveloped him, making him feel more than anything he had ever been before. He was rendered deaf, dumb, and blind, and he had never felt better in his life.

It was over too soon. Eddie's vision cleared, and his hearing…

"HUGO!"

Well, his hearing was just fine.

Eddie glanced down, blinking, as he took in the scene. His father was on the ground, on his back, with an open-mouthed, glassy-eyed expression on his face. Charlene was kneeling next to him, trying to shake him awake with increasing panic. It was honestly one of the few times he saw his mother as anything other than coldly disdainful while they were in private and not putting on some act for the cameras.

Suddenly, Charlene snapped her head towards him, eyes wild and afraid. "You killed him," she said.

It didn't register at first. "…what?"

"You killed him. You killed him! YOU MONSTER, YOU KILLED HIM!"

Charlene was shrieking now. She stood up and grabbed the nearest thing to her, a lamp, throwing it at Eddie with insane force. Eddie ducked under the throw, and the lamp smashed against the wall, falling into pieces. Charlene was undeterred and continued her assault with something else — this time Hugo's laptop — and throwing it directly at Eddie.

"Mom—!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT, YOU…YOU FREAK!" Charlene screeched. "I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER! I KNEW SHOULD'VE GOTTEN THAT ABORTION! IF I HAD—!"

And just like that, Eddie snapped.

The power returned, that beautiful, wonderful cobalt blue flame, except this time Eddie could see and hear and control. He surged towards Charlene, grabbing her by the arms, ignore her struggles and wails, and pulled.

He could feel it then, that energy pouring into him like the world's greatest drug. It felt good, so goddamn good, that he couldn't find it in him to stop, even as his mother's cries ceased. Eventually, the tap ran out and he had no choice but to stop, but it didn't matter — Eddie had gotten his fill.

The flames left him. Eddie was blinking once more, trying to get his head straight. He glanced down at his mother, still in his arms, except she was completely silent. Not struggling at all.

"…Mom?"

Charlene didn't answer him. She had that same open-mouth, glassy-eyed expression as his father. Eddie reached over with one hand to feel her pulse, only to let go of her in shock when he felt nothing. She dropped like a rock, landing right next to her husband. Desperate, Eddie turned and rushed to his father's body. He dropped to his knees and tried to feel for a pulse. And just like with the man's wife, he felt nothing.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…" Eddie chanted, head turning back and forth between the two corpses.

His parents. He had just murdered his freaking parents.

What am I going to do? Eddie thought franticly. If anyone finds this out, my life is over! It wouldn't matter if it was an accident. His name would forever be permanently tarnished, and he'd probably arrested and charged. Trussed up like some godforsaken peacock and gawked at for everyone to see while the city put him through the trial of the century. And even if somehow got acquitted, he could never return to the CCPD. Who would trust a detective who murdered his parents?

Nobody could know. Nobody but him. He had to get rid of the evidence. Eddie glanced around, trying to find something that could help him, and then he spotted it — the keys to the garage. That'll do.

He grabbed them, and made a beeline for his father's private garage, where the jerrycans were stored. There was more than enough to pour across the building and set the entire place aflame. With this being private property, the bodies would be burned beyond recognition by the time the firefighters got here to stop the flames. Nobody would ever know what really killed Hugo and Charlene Thawne.

Eddie supposed he should've felt guilt. But he didn't. His parents had screwed up enough in his life when they were alive. He wasn't going to let them screw it up any more when they were dead.

And here it is.

You don't know how many years I've been waiting to finally write this scene. The big turning point of Eddie's character — everything Eddie's ever done in this story has led to this, the culmination of all his character development. And there's only more to come.

Buckle up, everyone. Shit is about to get real.

As always, feel free to make comments, flames will be ignored and deleted, and don't forget to update the TV Tropes page!