a/n: You all got it right! Shout out goes to animexchick, avalongirl55, gossamermouse101, and babyj for guessing Mirakuru right! Hope you enjoy the chapter and the surprises in store :)

Chapter 13:

Bombshells

General Wade Eiling started each day with a bowl of plain oatmeal, a glass of orange juice, and a dry, almost blackened, piece of toast and ended each day with a large bottle of whiskey to decompress and pick apart the failures. His days were inevitably dotted with failures as he tried to tackle something he, admittedly, didn't have the mindset for. It was all science-fiction gobbledygook he was dabbling in, a set of skills that were reserved for his old partner Harrison Wells but that was in the past now. He had to do anything he could to get his project off the ground and further strength the US military. He didn't care who he stepped on to get there; Bette Sans Souci being the biggest stepping stone.

Too bad she had to run away and ruin everything.

The whiskey burned Eiling's throat and the ice cubes clinked against the side of the glass as he set it down. He made sure not to place it on the map he had been pouring over the past few days. Pins were stabbed into the map adding a colorful rainbow to the otherwise pristine surface. They surrounded the one circle that had been drawn on the map around Central City.

Of course. He couldn't help but chuckle. Here he thought she was smarter than that, smarter than going back to where it had all started. No matter, it made things easier for him. She couldn't help but leave clues behind it seemed. After all, it wasn't everyday a bomb went off in Central City. And going back to his old stomping ground could only aid him in one way or another. He could see his old partner and he could get his experiment back. Win-win.

"General?" Eiling looked up from his map to spy a Private standing in the door way. His arms were clasped behind his back and his posture was rigid as he waited for permission to enter or speak; a picture perfect soldier. But it was his furrowed brow on his otherwise stony face that gave Eiling pause.

"Enter," Eiling replied, motioning for the Private to come forward. His heavy boots thudded against the ground as he entered and stood by the table. "Has she been spotted?"

"This isn't about Sergeant Sans Souci," the Private replied. "It's about Dr. Hadley. We have the information that you've requested." He removed an arm from behind his back and held out a manila folder. It bent slightly from how hard he had it clutched between his fingers.

"Thank you." Eiling took the folder from him, his heart beginning to beat hard in his chest. His fingertips felt as if they had been zapped with electricity when they clutched the folder in his hands. He licked his lips and forced the muscles around his mouth to keep from giving him away. "That's all. You're dismissed."

"Yes sir." The Private saluted and exited the room.

Once he was clear of an audience, Eiling cracked into a smile. He flipped open the folder and his eyes darted back and forth as he poured over Dr. Hadley's findings. They briefly landed on little snippets that jumped out at him but it wasn't long before he flipped past that page and got to the one that he wanted. He carefully poured over the information on the page, not skipping a single word. He hummed at the extensive research Dr. Hadley put into his request as page after page detailed the history into the ace up his sleeve. Maybe his enhanced gene therapy plans failed before but they wouldn't fail now, not with this information. Not with this new breakthrough. And definitely not if he had a say in it. Harrison Wells couldn't mess this up for him now, not when his reputation had been ruined with the explosion.

And especially not now that Eiling had everything he needed to know about Mirakuru in his hands.

# # #

Books snapping shut and zippers rolling along their tracks reached a crescendo as soon as the bell rang, signaling the end of the class period. Sage took her time collecting her things as her latest paper lay on her desk, the large red grade sitting at the top stared her down. It made her stomach twist every single time her eyes caught the mark. Joe would not be happy about that.

Clutching the paper in her gloved hand, she waited for the class to clear out before she descended the small flight of stairs to approach the desk at the front. She waited for the professor to look up from her bag but the professor kept rifling through it. She cleared her throat and said hesitantly, "Professor Lance? About my paper—"

"It's wasn't your best, Ms. Moreaux," Professor Lance commented, finally lifting her head. She placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "The information didn't flow; none of your thoughts were linear and you didn't provide enough evidence to help support your stance on the Gods punishing mortals for justifiable reasons. You gave me the bare bones in your paper and, thus, I gave you the best grade I could offer." She shrugged. "You've done better."

"I know," Sage admitted. The paper crinkled in her tight grip and she lifted her bag higher up on her shoulder. "I just have a lot going on right now. Class work is piling up and…and I have my jobs and housework…" Not to mention heading out to S.T.A.R. Labs to stay in the loop on what's going on when I'm not avoiding freezing the hell out of anything I touch.

Professor Lance's lips turned up in a sympathetic smile. "I understand the workload you have at this stage of your life. But if the others can do it and turn in better papers, you can too."

"Is there any extra credit I can get? Maybe do a redo?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Moreaux, my mark still stands. You're just going to have to make it up on the next test. I do have office hours that I suggest you make time to come to them." She paused and then added, "Contrary to popular belief, as a professor, I don't want to see you fail. I want to see you succeed. And I'll tell you this: you're going to have to work a little harder to get back to where you were."

"I will, I promise," Sage said, "this is one of my favorite classes. I'm just…preoccupied. I'll try harder."

"I hope you do."

Hanging her head, Sage walked out of the classroom and then released the breath she was holding as soon as she was out in the hall. She glanced down at the D+ scribbled on her paper again before shoving it in her bag. Joe didn't exactly have to know about the mark. She could just come out and say that she didn't do so well and that she would do better next time. Surely he'd understand the pressure that she was under trying to balance everything. She was no Barry Allen but it was still tough.

Her gait slowed briefly as her phone rang and she dug into her pocket for it. Her eyebrows furrowed briefly when she saw Barry's name flashing across the screen and in the next instant her phone was up to her ear. "Hey, what's up? Everything okay with Bette?" She asked, her voice low as she passed by some other students that were loitering in the halls.

It'd been a couple of days since they discovered that it was Bette Sans Souci that was the one who had set off the bomb in the office building. Not only that she had set it off, that she had made it with her metahuman abilities. Sage's first instinct was intrigue about Bette's abilities but that quickly faded and turned to worry when she learned of the danger Bette had been put in. She knew it far too well.

"Yeah, she's safe," Barry replied earning him a large sigh of relief from Sage. "I was just talking to her…about her abilities and everything. She's got it rough."

Sage scoffed. "I don't doubt it. She can't touch anything without it blowing up. Can't touch anyone without causing them harm. Can't hold someone's hand…" she sighed. It must suck bounced through her head but that was an understatement of the year. "Have you found anything new about her abilities?"

"Caitlin's still running some tests on her."

Sage hummed as she used her shoulder to push open the door of the building and bounded down the stairs. "And you haven't had any other distractions by way of Earwig or whatever his name is?"

"Eiling and no, thankfully. I think Dr. Wells helped on that front. Whatever he said has kept Eiling away after that whole tracker thing."

"Okay, so what's going on that you needed to call me? Need a coffee break? Are you looking to get creamed in mini golf? A night out for some karaoke perhaps?" Sage used her cheek to press her phone against her shoulder and held it in place as she approached her motorcycle. She picked up her bike helmet and dropped her free shoulder to get her bag to slide off it. It landed on the ground with a thud only reminding her of the chapters she needed to read that night.

"No, I want you to talk to Bette. She's not saying it but I can tell the whole no touching thing is really getting to her. Since you're in the same boat I thought you could…"

His words trailed off as her heart gave a painful lurch at the reminder. Sure her worries lowered a bit just as long as she had her gloves on but not by much. She didn't have the same control that Barry did, given that she hasn't really been given the same focus as him so she was still wary about dropping her guard when handling things. Even so she added cheer to her voice and said, "Of course! I can be at the lab in fifteen minutes. I'm at the school, just got out of class. I'll head over there right now."

"Thanks a lot. Oh, and Cisco asked if you could get some intel for him. I said I'd pass on the request but if you actually want to do it that's up to you."

"Tell him I'll find out everything I can. I'll see you soon." She hung up her phone with a little giggle and shook her head. Cisco having a crush on Bette was the cutest thing to witness. It almost made everything feel normal again. And she didn't blame him for his near instant attraction to the redheaded sergeant. Sage even caught onto the beauty that had appealed to Cisco, finding herself musing aloud agreeing to Cisco's sentiments and adding nonchalantly that she had a thing for redheads considering Lennox. But even then it wasn't that initially which made her feel oddly drawn to the woman, but the mere fact that they shared a common thread: not just being metahumans but being void of human contact as a result.

She lifted up the seat on her bike and shoved her bag inside, snapping the seat back down when it was snug in the bottom of the semi-shallow space. She tilted her head back and shook her hair out of her face and then pulled her helmet down over her head until it fit snug. She kicked one leg over the seat, settled down, and once it was up and running she smoothly transitioned into the heavy afternoon traffic.

It was when she sat at a red light that she noticed during her drive she had gotten flanked on either side by a few other motorcyclists. It wasn't out of the ordinary at first, it was a nice day for a drive but they usually didn't keep up speed with her. Every time she slowed down they would stick to her side and any time she sped up they made sure to stay level with her. She clenched her jaw and stared at the light. Her fingers gripped the handlebars and her feet tapped against the asphalt beneath her. She ran her tongue across her bottom lip and blew out a slow breath. The light turned green.

Game on.

The engine roared beneath Sage roared as she shot forward. She squeezed her way between two rows of traffic, keeping her knees tucked in to avoid ramming into the side view mirrors that were on either side of her. A quick glance into her own mirrors showed her that one of the other cyclists followed right behind her and the other two were weaving in and out of traffic as soon as they got enough space. With a twist of her wrist, she shot forward.

The cars on either side of her became a blur as she streaked down the street. The engine roared in her ears and was accompanied by the thudding of her heart in her chest. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head. Honks erupted around her and one particularly loud one mixed in with a squeal of brakes as she shot in front of an oncoming truck to her left as she blew through an intersection.

A glance in her sideview mirror earned her the sight of one of the cyclists flying through the air and landing in the middle of traffic due to having crashed into a car. One down, three to go. The three were close on her tail. She ran through another intersection, barely managing to swerve out of the way of a cement truck.

Crack! Sage looked around to check and see if the noise had come from her bike only to hear the crack by her head again. A street lamp bulb shattered above her and rained glass down over her head and shoulders. Crack! The noise sounded close to the side of her head this time. Twisting her head to the side, she glanced over her shoulder and the sight made her blood run cold. Two guns were pointed in her direction and no matter how many bumps the drivers went over their aim was steady.

Wham! Sage felt a heavy jolt to her side. Her wheels jerked and she nearly crashed into the car next to her. It honked and stopped short and the biker next to her hit her again. She skidded through the empty space and nestled herself between cars in the furthest right lane. Crack! Another bullet flew past her; this time she didn't have to look to know that a biker had caught up behind her.

"Shit!" she grunted when she felt something stab in her upper arm. The area throbbed and burned, like an open flame was licking greedily at her skin. Her arm felt heavy, like it was being weighed down with sand. Her bike jerked beneath her heavy arm. She spied another intersection coming up. Perfect.

Briefly letting go of the bike handles, she ripped the velcro on her glove and wiggled out her hand. She then gripped the handlebar and took the sharp right turn. Her knee almost touched the ground, she was leaning so far to her right. She firmly planted her hand on the ground and watched as a streak of ice formed atop of the asphalt, leaving a trail behind her. She grinned when the two motorcycles behind her slipped on the ice, ran up the curb, and smashed into a set of newspaper boxes.

Her elation was brief and quickly replaced with the gripping hand of dread when she saw the length of red lights in front of her. Brake lights. She pulled her brakes in vain as everything seemed to move in slow motion. She looked to her left and right to find an out but nothing came up. She barely managed to release the breath she was holding before she felt a hard tug behind her and she pitched forward. She connected with the ground with a hard smack and rolled a few times before coming to a complete stop. Horns honked, tires squealed, a very sharp "look out!" was uttered and, as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, a tractor trailer bore down on her. She closed her eyes.

When she opened them she was sitting on a table, sans helmet and jacket, hair windswept, with her t-shirt sleeve lifted as Caitlin inspected the large bruise on her arm. Her skin was an ugly shade of black and purple and it didn't help that Caitlin was prodding at her.

"How…?" she managed to speak amidst her rapidly beating heart. Her eyes then rested on Barry when he zoomed back into the room. "Barry!"

"I couldn't get to your motorcycle in time, I'm sorry," he said while pushing a hand through his hair. He dropped her bag on the floor where it made a heavy thud. "Figured you were a bit more important."

"Thanks, Bare," she said, her words tender with appreciation. And while she did appreciate him yanking her out of the path of the incoming truck she couldn't help but feel a strong twinge of sadness at the news. Sure, it was just a motorcycle but it was hers! She rode it all the way from Canada to get to Central City all those months ago. And now it was lying in the street somewhere banged up to who knows what degree. …But that was neither here nor there. She'd rather her bike be smashed up than her bones and her brain. "I owe you my life—ow." She frowned at the way Caitlin dug her thumbs into her skin.

"You can bill me later, I know where you live," he said with a bit of a smile. But it fell a second later and she noticed how tired he looked. He had bags beneath his eyes and lines seemed imprinted between his eyebrows. "What happened?"

"Some people were chasing me," Sage replied, brushing her blond hair out of her face. At the inquisitive look in Barry's eyes she continued, "I don't know who. All I know was that some people were trying to force me off the road and were shooting at me."

"You're lucky you came out of it with only a bruise and a few scrapes, it could have been worse," Caitlin commented, standing up. She removed the Latex gloves that enclosed her hand and tossed them away. Her heels clacked against the floor and she sighed. "That contusion will take a few days to heal. Sorry for the prodding but it looked as if something were stuck in there. You have a bit of an open wound on top of it."

"Like a tracker?" Barry asked, suddenly on edge. His eyes darted to the door and his shoulders jumped up to his ears. After a few moments he relaxed and pushed his hand through his hair again.

"No. Maybe some glass," Caitlin replied. She removed a bottle from the nearby cart she had pulled over as well as a cotton ball. She tilted the bottle on top of it, the liquid soaking the ball, and then brought the cotton ball over to her side. "Sorry, this is going to hurt a little," she said while grasping Sage's arm. Before she could even flinch Caitlin dabbed at the bruise and a fresh wave of pain shot through her, making her grit her teeth. "Well, whatever it was it's gone. But you should keep that clean and dry to avoid infection. And I want to run some tests just to make sure everything checks out."

Nodding, Sage lowered her sleeve. She gingerly rubbed her arm. It started to feel as if she had gotten a flu shot in the area, her muscle was screaming in pain. "So…where's Bette? You said you wanted me to speak with her." Her attention may have shifted with her words but her eyes were still on her arm. She was certain she had gotten shot there; surely it would have left a bigger wound than just a bruise…

"She's out practicing," Cisco replied. His words were muffled as his head was bent as he hovered over a drawer. Sage recognized it as the Candy Drawer. He stood up straight and joined them in the examination room, holding out a Tootsie Pop and a Blow Pop. Sage chose the Blow Pop, unwrapped it, and promptly stuck it in her mouth. "By the way, we're calling her Plastique."

Sage blinked. "Why didn't you go for the obvious and call her Bombette? Like in Paper Mario?"

"Because Plastique is cooler," he replied, shoving the Tootsie Pop into his mouth. "Speaking of cool, have you been having any more…surprises?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing. I managed to use a bit to help me evade those guys but it wasn't anything out of the…ordinary…" As she spoke she looked down at her glove-free hand and made a face of surprise. Covering her skin on the palm of her hand were what appeared to be small icicles pointing up towards the ceiling. "Except this."

"Whoa," Cisco uttered, eagerly rushing forward to see. Barry and Caitlin, hearing his gasp, turned to see what he was looking at their eyes widened at the sight. "Don't see that every day."

Caitlin grabbed something off the nearby cart and held it over Sage's palm, carefully cradling the back of her hand. Up on one of the many screens around the room a close-up picture of her palm appeared. The ice crystals covering her skin resembled mountain ranges and dotted every inch of her hand. "It…appears to be coming out of your pores."

"So her sweat froze?" Cisco asked.

Caitlin hummed. "Hard to say. It could be just that but it could also be something else. If you don't mind…" She picked up a pair of tweezers and clasped the tip onto one of the icicles. She wiggled it from side to side until it finally let go with a particularly hard tug. "Did that hurt?" she asked, a little alarmed.

"No, I didn't feel a thing," Sage replied.

"Okay, well, I'll just take a look at this. See if there's anything we need to worry about."

"Well that's peculiar," Harrison mused aloud as he rolled into the room. They all whipped around, watching him as he moved over to the table Sage was sitting on. The light above their heads reflected against his glasses, leaving a large streak that blocked out his eyes. "And you say you're feeling alright, Ms. Moreaux?"

Sage nodded. "Yeah, I feel fine," she replied. You know, besides the burning in my arm. The pain had gone past flu shot pain and shifted straight into fire territory but she kept her mouth shut. One painkiller and she'd be fine.

"May I?" Harrison held out his hands and Sage placed hers in his. They were warm to the touch in contrast to hers, making gooseflesh arise on her arms. He brushed his fingertips over the peaks of the icicles, all the while an unreadable expression sat on his face. He turned her hand this way and that and she stiffed, waiting for him to pull his hand back or cry out in shock due to freezing a part of his hand but it never came. "Once you're finished speaking with Bette…please come see me. I would like to take a closer look at your abilities. This is a bit of cause for alarm."

"Yeah. I mean…what happens when you need to go to the bathroom?" Cisco asked. He earned a scoff from Caitlin and an eyeroll from Barry for his question.

Sage, however, took the time to rub her palm against her gloved hand and watch as the little bits of ice fell to the floor before replying. "Cisco…I'm not a boy. I don't have to worry about my hand getting stuck to anything when I use the bathroom," she pointed out with as much of a straight face as she could manage. Only when Cisco's cheeks bloomed red and he began to stammer an apology did she laugh and reassure him that it was a fair question.

She hopped off the table, tossed her half-eaten lollipop away, and, looking at her hand, walked off to find Bette. She had barely made it out of the room when she felt as if she were being followed. One glance over her shoulder confirmed it when she saw Barry following her. "I'm fine," she stated before he could even ask.

"Are you sure?" he pressed, stopping her with a hand to her shoulder. "That hasn't happened before, right?"

"Right," she replied with a nod of her head, still inspecting her hand. "My sweat doesn't freeze. None of my, erm, bodily fluids do." With a sigh and shrugged. "But maybe it's starting now? Who knows. It's not like we know everything about your abilities, right? I'm sure there's still some stuff you can do that we don't know about. Like…cause enough friction to light up a building." She paused and added as an afterthought, "Damn, it's really gonna suck the next time my period comes along…"

Barry's face looked as if he didn't know whether or not to be disgusted or ignore her comment altogether. He gave his head a shake and then rubbed at his eye with a few fingers as they resumed walking. "Just let me know if anything else happens, alright? You get followed…your arm suddenly freezes entirely…you wake up covered in a layer of snow. Anything. Okay?"

"Okay," she said with a nod. "And thanks again. For saving me. I owe you so much." She had been in the middle of reaching out to grasp his hand when she stopped herself, curled her fingers up into a fist, and dropped it by her side. Instead she smiled her thanks and walked off to find Bette. Every now and then she could hear the distinct sound of something exploding and followed the sound down the halls.

She had her hand wrapped around a door handle when searing pain grew in the inner tear ducts of her eyes. The pain made her fall to her knees. She gasped for air. It felt like fiery hot needles were being shoved straight through her skull and being tapped on by a hammer. No matter how hard she squeezed her eyes shut the pain didn't lift. She could feel something leak out of the corners of her eyes and drip down her face as her head burst with throbbing pain. Each throb matched her heartbeat and it felt as if a cinder block was being slammed against the side of her head. She felt as if her head was going to explode and wished it would.

Before long the pain ebbed, like receding tide out in the ocean. Sour saliva hung over her lower lip and dangled in the air. Her stomach clenched and relaxed as waves of nausea crashed through her. Her knees shook as she slowly got back to her feet, swaying on the spot. She sucked the string of saliva into her mouth and forced it down her throat with a hard swallow. She didn't want to risk wiping her mouth with her hand or else she'd be in a worse predicament than that kid who got his tongue stuck to a frozen pole in that movie.

Sage pushed out a slow breath, mentally counting to ten as she waited for her heartbeat to slow down. She brushed the back of her hand across her forehead, swallowed once more, put a smile on her face, and opened the door. She flinched at the bright sunlight that assaulted her eyes but she kept walking out towards the metahuman who was currently picking up a range of balls that sat on a nearby table and threw them only for them to explode in a purple blaze a few moments later.

"Hmm. That'd be an interesting new sport," Sage commented lightly, earning Bette's attention. She brushed her red hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. "Baseball with explosives." It was meant to be a joke but Bette didn't respond, instead she still stared at the younger girl. "You doin' alright?"

"Why are you out here?" Bette asked.

"Barry asked me to talk to you." She shrugged. "Said I'd be the best one to talk about your…predicament."

"I don't want to hear anything unless there's a way to cure me," Bette replied.

"Sorry. But I know how you feel."

"No you don't." Bette's words were hard. She shook her head and scoffed. "You don't know what it's like to be chased around. You don't know what it's like to be stalked. You don't know what it's like to be experimented on and…and used." She picked up another ball and gave it a good throw. The two girls watched as it sailed through the air, arcing before it exploded on its descent.

"Maybe not," Sage said, "but I do know what it's like to feel trapped." She slowly approached the table and picked up a tennis ball in her gloved hand. She gave it a few tosses up and down before gripping onto it. "Because you can't touch anything. Because you're afraid of what you can do to someone else because you just don't know the extent of what you can do." She tossed the ball into the air and caught it with her glove-free hand. As soon as it smacked down in her palm it crusted over with a layer of ice. She let it go and the two girls watched as it fell to the ground and shattered at their feet as soon as it connected with the cement, scattering ice shards in every direction.

Bette pressed her lips together. The two girls regarded one another for a moment before Bette picked a boomerang up off the table with her covered hand. She held it out to Sage who took it and the two watched as it froze in her grip. She then tapped the frozen boomerang against the table once and watched as it broke apart and littered ice shards everywhere.

"Hmm, I hope Cisco didn't want that back," she muttered aloud, letting go of the rest of the boomerang in her hand.

"…What happens if you…you know…?" Bette asked.

"Touch myself?" Sage asked with a little laugh. Bette nodded. "I know how funny it sounds. Nothing happens. Look." She clasped her right hand on her bare left arm and gave it a squeeze as if she were loosening the muscle. Bette seemed to wait on baited breath for something to happen and visibly relaxed when it didn't.

"What happens if you touch someone else?"

"You know what frostbite does to people?" Bette nodded. "Let's just say what I can do…would make people wish they had frostbite." She brushed her hair behind her ear and felt her heart lurch when a flash of that man lying in the alleyway invaded her mind. She had only tried to help him, tried to save him. That's all she wanted to do… She gave her head a shake and forced a smile back to her lips. "It's manageable, thankfully…"

"Yeah, but to your detriment," Bette pointed out. "You can't hung anyone. Shake their hand. Pat them on the back…nothing." She was quiet for a moment and asked, "Have they been able to help you?"

"No. They've been focusing on Barry." Sage noted the slight bitterness attached to her words and added, "But I understand. He has a better handle on his powers and until they can figure out how mine work exactly it's best to study what you know, right? They…they have a certain way of doing things, going with the flow makes it all easier. Besides, I'm not exactly in a rush for them to tell me I'm untreatable."

"Don't you think they already know?" Bette asked.

Sage nodded. "They're using Barry's abilities to help people; if they had a way to 'fix' him they would have done so by now." She kicked at the ground and cleared her throat. "They feel responsible for what happened; it's not as if they're not trying. It's that they don't know how, I guess. It took…how long for that Particle Accelerator to be put up? I can't imagine it'll be easy to find a cure of sorts."

"Not especially if you've bonded to your little problem," Bette said.

Sage took a step closer. "Look, it's going to be okay—"

"No it's not," Bette interrupted her. Her harsh tone made Sage flinch and stop in her tracks. "I used to be a part of something big. Something I felt proud of. I was making a difference in the world. And now, because of it…I can't go near anyone! I can't touch anyone or anything because I'll blow it up! I'll hurt someone! Kill someone! Unintentionally and without warning. How can you fix that!? How can any of them fix that? I'm not a soldier. I'm a ticking time bomb. Literally!"

Sage thought she heard Bette mutter something beneath her breath about not being able to have children and it made her press her lips together. What else could she say? Bette was right, they weren't the same. If she were to be honest, only a small portion of her life had been changed. Bette's entire life had been altered: she was taken away from her job, she was taken away from her family, and she was taken away from any sort of stability. Sage had all that left with Iris and Joe and school still being there for her. All Bette had left to look forward to was a life on the run and the hope that Eiling wasn't behind her. And what kind of life was that? What kind of existence was that?

"There has to be some perk," Sage tried. At Bette's furrowed eyebrows she hurried, "I mean, you could blow up some of your ex's stuff. Get a nice purging process going if it was a particularly bad breakup. You could…make and set off your own fireworks every Fourth of July! They'd be one of a kind for sure! And…and…you're your own self-contained anti-burglary system. That's a plus, right? No one would want to try and break in if you have some explosives in your house right? And…it's a good excuse in a club if someone gets too grabby. And…and I'm sure Cisco would love to make you some awesome new gloves. Maybe he can somehow channel your explosive…ness and turn 'em into energy blasts like…like Iron Man or something." Bette snorted and then tried to hide her amusement by forcing her mouth down in the corners and reassembling her usual stern expression. "My point is the situation sucks but dwelling on it makes it suck even worse. You said you used to do something that made you proud, maybe you still can somehow." Bette said nothing, choosing to hum instead. Sage rubbed her lips together and let them go with a pop. "Well, I'm going to head back in. Are you coming?"

"I'll be there in a minute."

Sage nodded and turned back to walk into the building. Along the way she brought her hand up to her face to see if her hand was covered in ice again. It wasn't. She frowned and wrenched open the door, waiting for it to close behind her so she was shut in the dark hallway. Bette's worries began to pile up in her mind but she gave her head a hard shake to dislodge them. If anyone can help me it's them. They'll be able to figure something out.

But no matter how many times she repeated the thought in her mind she couldn't let go of the worry and doubt that latched itself onto her. Even that couldn't take a backseat when she noticed that the bruise on her arm had disappeared.

# # #

Harrison turned away from the screen that showed Bette still standing outside of S.T.A.R. Labs, pacing with her features pulled into a frown. He pressed a button on his keyboard and the image switched to Sage inside a hall, looking at her arm where a blank patch of skin sat rather than the large bruise that had settled there before. Harrison's lips pulled back into a smile as he hit another button to zoom in on the picture, just to be sure…

Perfect.

Oh how he loved when everything went according to plan. Barry may be taking a little bit long on his end but that was okay, he could speed things up eventually. No pun intended.

With a satisfied smile, Harrison pressed another key on the keyboard and the screen turned black. He turned away from the computer and got to his feet, taking his time to stretch his legs as he strode around the room. It was beginning to be such a nuisance having to stay seated for so long but he knew he had to be patient. It would all be worth it in the end if he was patient.

He had completed a lazy lap around the room when the phone rang but even then he didn't rush to answer it. He took his time to approach his desk, pour himself a glass of scotch, and take a few sips of it before he finally answered the ringing phone. He didn't bother with pleasantries, after all why stop and have a chat about the weather when there were more important matters in the world?

"I see you finally managed to do your part," Harrison commented, "I should commend you for only taking two tries to do it."

"Thank y—"

Harrison didn't wait for the man on the other line to finish. "Now to move onto the next part of the plan. You know your instructions?"

"Yes."

"And you know what will happen if you don't follow through with your instructions, don't you?"

"Yes sir."

Harrison's face broke into a smile. "Good. You may have gone a little overboard ensuring that you injected her with the serum but it got done in the end. I do suggest that, next time, you try not to kill your target in the process. Barry will be taking care of that for us soon enough."

"Yes sir."

"And Koushiro?"

"Yes sir?"

Harrison swallowed the rest of his scotch and set the now empty glass down on the table with a hard thud. "If you mess anything up," his voice was now a harsh whisper, "Snart is the last person you'll need to worry about." He jabbed the end button with his thumb and return the phone to its cradle.

a/n: I know it's been a long time between updates. Originally I was going to have this updated on the day season 2 premiered but I didn't finish it in time. So how about finishing it in time for episode 4? What do you guys think of season 2 of The Flash so far? I think Atom Smasher was a bit of a let down but I'm still excited to see where the show takes us. I especially can't wait to see what they do with Tom Cavanaugh this season. Speaking of Cavanaugh, Wells is super shady by the end of the chapter isn't he? Please read and review! Thanks for being patient with me.

~C.M.