The rules of a prank war are simple. The problems with following them usually stem from involving people that were never meant to be involved. These people are known as innocent bystanders. These people tend to respond by laughing along or not even remotely appreciating their unintended involvement. The latter tend to break the rules.
Lisa Snart did not enjoy being the victim of collateral damage. She just spent the last hour listening to her brother subtly hint (read: constantly, forcefully and annoying hint) that she should keep her distance from Team Flash. More importantly: Cisco. She had no idea what his issue was. Cisco was very smart and very funny. Of all the men she was ever attracted to, he was also the least likely to break her heart over something stupid and criminal. It wasn't until the whole pranking incident occurred that she realized just how much she had come to enjoy Cisco's company. Due to that little reason, she was reluctant to pull him into what was sure to be a WWE smack down against the Flash. Well, as much of a smack down as it could be. She did learn at least a little subtly from her brother. It was the Flash who opened his speedily flapping lips to her brother about her time with Cisco and that could not be forgiven. He was probably used to the evil doings of men and super villains. Now, he was going to learn what it would be like going up against a woman. Two women, if the soon to be conversation got her what she was looking for.
She waltzed into Star Labs (security? What Security?) and made her way to where Caitlin Snow was quietly working. Caitlin looked up and froze when she saw Lisa leaning against her doorway.
"What are you doing here? I swear if this is another kidnapping-"
"Relax, honey," Lisa interrupted. "Actually, I need your help."
Caitlin warily set her hands down on her desk, frowning. "Why would I help you?"
"Because if you don't, being kidnapped will be the least of your problems," Lisa drawled out. She regretted it immediately, realizing if this was ever going to work, she was going to need to be sincere. 'No problems there. Cisco really has gotten to me apparently.'
"Oh, well since you put it that way." Caitlin reached into her desk to pull out the taser she hid in there after the last kidnapping ordeal she went through. It was Cisco'ed so it was bound to do some damage.
"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. I see you are a girl after my own heart. That's nice to know. I'm going to need that resourcefulness you carry." In effort to get Caitlin to hear her out she let herself relax and smiled earnestly.
"Cisco has told me about all the work you do here, especially since the Flash came on board. I can't imagine how smart you need to be to figure out all you need to help him. Even before then though, you and Cisco were pretty close. He told me about Ronnie. I'm sorry," She said softly.
"Bringing up Ronnie is definitely not endearing you to me."
"I mention him because Cisco told me about how close you all were. I've-I've never had anything like that. I'm close with my brother but that only goes so far. He is far too over protective and I can't tell him everything. Not to mention I'm kind of annoyed with him at the moment."
"So, what exactly is it you need help with?" This was one of the weirdest conversations Caitlin had ever had. She could tell Lisa was trying. After the week she had, she was willing to listen.
"Well, Cisco told me about the little pranking game you guys have going on and I thought it would be fun to team up with you. Your brains and my street smarts would be a powerful thing, you know?" Lisa did her best to be as delicate and precise as possible.
Caitlin just knew it was going to be along those lines. Lisa was right about her being very smart. What Lisa didn't know was," Ok. I'm in."
Lisa was at shocked for a moment and then she smirked and said," They got you too, didn't they."
"Yes they did." She enunciated slowly. She was more than a little annoyed with Barry Allen at the moment. She was annoyed enough that she was willing to take the olive branch that Lisa was so clearly extending. "So here is what we are going to do."
Lisa loved that Caitlin was a no nonsense type girl. They could be good for each other.
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"So what did they do?" Lisa asked, munching away on the popcorn Caitlin made when they got to her apartment.
Lisa was a little shocked at Caitlin's invitation to her apartment. She asked Lisa over to brainstorm. She liked that she wanted to put a lot of thought into vengeance. 'I mean prank. Not revenge. Just a prank. Hmmm, I should probably invite myself on my brothers' sabbatical to the tropics to re-find our bad-assery. Nah, I'm still plenty bad ass.'
"Let's just say it involved my chair at a very public dinner. I have never been so embarrassed. Plus, the stunt that the Flash got your brother to do destroyed some of my own things that were at Cisco's apartment. "
"I swear, men never think things through."
They sat on the floor with their bowls and decided to put on a movie to help with the brainstorming, of course. They needed to study and come up with something monumental.
Caitlin was pleasantly surprised at how much she enjoyed talking to Lisa. Lisa could not have picked a better time to come find her at the labs. She banned Cisco and Barry from her presence for the rest of the day. She had her yell-y voice and her angry eyes to the max and they both agreed, for their safety, that they should respect her wishes.
"I was against this whole thing from the start. I just knew I would get caught up in it somehow."
"How did it start?"
"Karaoke night. We were having fun. We just got Barry up there to sing Madonna-"
"Who is Barry?" Lisa interrupted. 'Ah! Gotcha now. This HAS to be it. I knew I'd get the name eventually.'
Caitlin kept her face as expressionless as possible."One of our friends from the CCPD."
"What does he look like? Have we met?"
"Tall, brown hair, lean build. Puts his foot in his mouth almost every time he talks."
"Oh, that adorable nerd that was with Cisco when we met at the bar?"
"Yup! Yes, that's that guy. Good memory." 'Keep it cool Cait. There's no way she will figure it out' She thought.
"Wow, I didn't realize the Flash was a baby."
"What? No, no. Barry is not the Flash." She laughed unconvincingly.
"Uh huh. Sure." Letting it go for now, she said," SO do you have any ideas in mind yet? I'm trying to think of something that won't permanently injure him. I'm not having much luck."
'Sigh. Oh well. I tried Barry.' "I'm thinking we need to call in a special request. His best friend will definitely have some ideas. She can be quite scary and knows him so well."
"Oooo. Another lady? Absolutely. It gives me chills to think of an all women team taking down the Flash. Give her a call!"
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After that evening, Caitlin, Lisa and Iris made a point to get together a few times a month. Girl talk, slumber parties and super hero pranking became a wonderful bonding experience for them. They enjoyed each others' company so much that the boys all dreaded, just a little, when they got together because that usually meant someone was getting pranked soon. They did their best to be on good behavior and not piss any of them off. Least of all: Barry. He learned his lesson and he learned it well. He was still suffering from repercussions from the last prank:
Barry raced home, ready to call it a night. Spending the evening after work taking down a metahuman with the ability to levitate objects had not going well at first. The fact that he had needed Captain Cold's help again was just aggravating. He was feeling bruised and abused from the meta and wanted to go to bed and erase the continuous banter with Cold out of his brain. He ran upstairs and showered, got dressed for a nice, long, good night's sleep.
"Son? Come down, we need to talk," Joe called from downstairs.
Barry walked downstairs saying," Joe, I'm exhausted. Can we leave this for a little later?"
Walking into the kitchen, he saw Joe and his father sitting at the kitchen table.
"Dad! What are you doing here?" Both Joe and Henry sat next to each other with very serious looks on their faces.
"Barry," Henry started, "I know it's been a while since we've really sat down and talked. Is- Is everything ok? Is there something you want to talk about at all?"
Joe joined in," You can tell us anything, Barry, you know that."
Barry stood there in front of them, eyes burrowed in confusion. "Yeah, everything is fine? What's going on?"
Joe pulled out a newspaper and laid it on the table. "I don't know why you thought you could hide this. What were you thinking, Barry? You have an image to maintain as the Flash and this is certainly not the way to handle it."
Barry walked over and picked up the newspaper on the table and saw it was opened to the classifieds.
'Hey Cold, I just wanted to say last night was amazing. I wanted to shout it out to the world how much I enjoy spending time with you but this will have to do. I knew there was good in you. Last night just proved it. Anytime you want to get together again, just let me know. I miss you! - Scarlet Speedster'
Barry sat on a chair in shock. He peaked over the top of the paper when Joe said," A criminal, Barry? And you made it public no less. If anyone connects this to the Flash, and I have no doubt that they will, this is going to cause problems."
Henry cleared his throat."Son? Why didn't you tell us you were gay?"
Barry shot up." What? Dad, no! I am not gay! I've been in love with Iris for years, I'm definitely not gay!"
"Really." Iris smirked in the doorway. "Good to know."
Barry spun, pale. "Iris! What-what-I mean-"
"I honestly can't say I blame you for taking Cold to bed, Barry, he is pretty hot. It's kind of flattering that you feel I'm in the same league as him." With that, she sauntered off.
Joe interrupted Barry's whirling thoughts with," The Flash cannot be dating criminals Barry!"
"How is this my life?"
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So yeah. That was chapter 2. Next chapter will probably include the reactions of everyone when they discovered the personal ad. Definitely Oliver's and Len's. AH, I can't wait to get that out. I think the next chapter will be an interlude of sorts.
The titles of the chapters are going to be song titles. I listen to a lot of music so I'm guaranteed to get inspiration at all times of day. I've taken to keeping a notebook open in my kitchen to jot down notes so I don't forget them. My daughter wants one too now because she thinks it's funny when mommy starts laughing and runs to the kitchen to write.
