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.
"So, what are we looking at?" Charles asked as Patty and Barry and other CSI techs were investigating the sabotaged crane and the construction site.
Barry picked a swab and rubbed off the metal as he helped Patty put it into the vial with chemicals as the liquid turned black. "It's not natural corrosion, it looks like acid."
"Acid?" Charles narrowed his eyes. "What kind of acid is able to corrode high-end steel support of a crane in minutes? You think it was a meta?"
"It's too soon to tell." Patty said. "If we're able to find traces of DNA in the acid, maybe. We'll need to run some tests in the lab."
"I'll make some calls, so that Barry can help." Charles offered.
"Thanks." Barry said as Patty kissed her husband and Barry smiled but part of him felt hurt. While it was Barry's choice to let her go and he was glad to see her happy, it didn't make watching her not being with him any easier.
Later, Keystone Police Department
Patty and Barry, in lab coats and wearing protective glasses, with Barry having visitor badge, entered as Barry whistled. "Wow, your equipment here is much better than in CCPD."
"I know, right?" Patty smiled. "I think you'll find it here more comfortable than back in Central City."
Barry sighed. "After I was cleared of all charges from the murder of DeVoe, I had a lot of work to catch up with, due to some cases piling up."
"But knowing you, it can't have been that bad, was it?" Patty teased as Barry laughed, while she giggled.
"OK, let's go to work." Barry said.
"Any luck?" Barry asked as Patty was shaking lightly the chemical in the vial.
"Hang on a second." She started to type something into the computer. "OK, one of the components in the acid was manufactured in former Stagg Industries chemical plant. It was shut down eight years ago." Patty said. "I don't like this, Barry, it's too easy, whoever did this, it was like they wanted us to find them."
"You're right." Barry agreed. "I think it's better to call some backup." Then, he noticed the smile on her face. "What?"
"I missed this, you know? Working together." Patty said.
"Me too." Barry smiled as he was still processing the fact that Patty was married and had a child. "I just need to know, are you happy? With Charles and Sophie?"
"Yeah, I am." Patty said, smiling but a hint of sadness flashed across her face from looking at Barry.
"But…" Barry raised his brows.
"I… I don't know. I… all I wanted was to see you happy, Barry and I thought that you and I…"
"I know." Barry nodded.
"I'm sorry it didn't turn out with Iris the way you wanted." Patty said.
"Don't be, looking back, I think I was better off without her having too much effect on my life." Barry assured her.
"What do you mean?" Patty asked.
Barry sighed, remembering how Iris had treated him and Joe and Cisco and Caitlin in the two years prior to Barry breaking up with her and calling off the marriage. "Honestly, you don't want to know."
Patty tensed. "Yikes. That bad?" Barry nodded. "Oh."
Later
"I don't know, this seems like a wild hunch, honey." Charles said as he drove down to the factory with Patty and some other detectives.
"I know but at least we're ready."
The Flash was observing from afar before discreetly speeding in.
"Whoever did this, has got no clue, who is he messing with." One of the detectives growled.
Suddenly, gunshots rang out as the Flash caught the bullet before it could hit one of the cops as he was starting to drag the policemen out.
"It's a trap!" Patty realized.
The Flash tried to speed everyone, including Patty, out of the factory as the factory was bursting in flames and everything around was exploding.
"You OK?" The Flash asked as Patty nodded frantically before looking around.
"Oh, my God, Charles, he—"
"I'm gonna get him out, Patty, I promise." The Flash assured her. He sped into the factory as suddenly, the floor beneath him exploded as the Flash started to fall down.
"You didn't think it was going to be this easy, did you, Mr. Allen?" An unknown voice called out through the P.A. system and the Flash widened his eyes as the man said his name.
The Flash got up and shouted at the top of the lungs. "Who are you?"
"The real question is, do you want to know how much do I know about you?" The voice challenged as in front of the Flash opened the door. "Oh, and, don't think about trying to phase your way out of here. I have special energy field surging through the walls here, you'd be roasted the moment you got on the other side."
The Flash narrowed his eyes. Whoever it was, he knew more than enough about Barry.
The Flash went down the corridor and saw figurines, precisely staged. A woman with a knife in her chest and a little boy at her knees, with a man in cuffs. The Flash clenched his fists, someone was trying to recreate the death of Barry's mother and father's arrest and taunt him as he was trying to keep it together. "Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?"
"A boy like you doesn't grow up this way on his own. He has to be forged. Tragedies, motivation of righting an injustice, being framed for the crime he did not commit and trying to prove the impossible… quite a hero you are, isn't that right, Bar?" The voice taunted.
"Whoever you are, I'm not playing this game!" The Flash snapped, having had enough of such taunting from Thawne. "Let me out and face me like a man, instead of hiding behind this act!"
"This pathological need came from trying to make things right and traumatic childhood syndrome, how cute…" The voice taunted as the Flash rushed down the corridor and in another room he saw a figurine in black leather suit, Zoom, having his hand through another figurine in usual clothes. Zoom murdering his father.
"When I find you…" The Flash growled.
"What are you going to do, Barry? Kill me? We both know you don't have the guts to do that. You're too self-righteous and not enough dark, just like dear old Detective. You don't have the willpower to cross the line and do what it takes, unlike your dear friend Ollie…"
"Stop this and face me now!" The Flash snapped.
"You want to face me? You're gonna have to play a game with me. Rules are simple, you win, I will leave you and your friends alone. I win… I guess I don't have to say what happens next. First your Mom, then dear Eddie, then your Daddy, who's next? Cisco? Caitlin? Kara? Or… Patty?"
The Flash snapped, rushing through the corridor in superspeed as in another room appeared a small army of robots, shooting blasters but the Flash was too fast as he phased through them, short-circuiting them as they collapsed as he suddenly appeared outside as Patty was trying to pry open stuck door as she turned to the Flash in despair.
The Flash grabbed Patty and quickly rammed the door, rushing out as in front of them appeared an unknown man, who applauded.
"Saving the damsel in distress and the poor innocent cops. Quite a hero you are, isn't that right, Barry?" The man smiled.
"Who are you?" The Flash demanded. "And how do you know who I am?"
"Just a man, who likes to play games." The man smiled. "And guess what, you and I are playing one. It's called 'Is the Flash really fast enough to save innocents?'"
"You're sick." Patty growled. "Innocent people got hurt because you want to know how fast the Flash is?"
"Oh, quite feisty, aren't you, Miss Spivot?" The man laughed. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Owen Mercer. And… all I want… is for you to play my game."
"We're not playing your game." The Flash said.
"Oh, I'm afraid it's too late to back out, Barry." Mercer warned. "You can't walk away from this and I will keep hurting more innocent, if I must, to get what I want."
The Flash tried to rush at him but he went right through him. "You really thought I was really here? Next time, try to check if I'm not a hologram. See you soon, Barry."
The hologram of Mercer disappeared as both the Flash and Patty stared in shock. "What kind of psycho is that now?" Patty whispered.
"Patty, are you OK?" Charles asked as she was sitting in an ambulance, with a blanket on her shoulders as she put down the oxygen mask on her face.
"It's nothing serious, don't worry." Patty assured him.
Barry then approached Patty. "You OK?"
"Yeah." Patty nodded. "Thankfully, the Flash was there."
"What kind of psycho is doing this?" Charles whispered. "Look, we'll see if we can find something on this… Mercer. Next time he shows up, he's gonna get his "just desserts", I promise." He walked away as Barry and Patty looked at each other awkwardly.
"Why is it that every time we bump into each other, it becomes this wild race?" Patty laughed.
Barry chuckled. "I called a friend of mine, she'll let us know soon what we can get on this guy."
Later
"Barry, are you sure?" Lyla asked as Barry sent her the sketch.
"Owen Mercer. Yes." Barry nodded.
Lyla sighed. "Look, Barry, he may not be a meta but he's very dangerous. He's a hired gun and no one ever gets away from this guy, not for long. Be careful and make sure everyone you care about, is safe. No one is off-limits for him. And be prepared for anything. Don't underestimate him."
"Noted." Barry said as Lyla turned off the video chat on his laptop.
"Wow, so you're friend with the director of A.R.G.U.S. and you're a member of the Justice League." Patty said as they smiled at each other, while she put down a mug of coffee as they were in Patty's apartment. "Things certainly have changed a lot during the past three years."
Barry looked around at the family photos of Patty, her husband and stepdaughter. "You guys seem happy together."
"Yeah." Patty said and Barry still felt some guilt over letting her go and not being honest with her. "It's been… rough at first but… I found some balance."
"I'm glad that you're happy. Really." Barry said. "That's all I ever wanted."
"Same here." Patty turned to him. "I… wanted you to be happy. And… I'm glad that you found someone."
Barry smiled but… while he was happy with Kara, he couldn't help but feel the pressure on his heart as he still felt some guilt over not being honest with Patty and letting her go… and seeing her now with someone else.
Then, they heard a doorbell as Barry turned to the door and opened to see an Afro-American woman with dark hair and a necklace with cat head on her neck and a young man with dark hair. "Mari. Tim."
"Barry." Mari laughed as she and Tim hugged him. "Lyla called us. Said that you could use some help. So, is there anything we can do?"
Elsewhere
Mercer was pulling out from some device a vial in which was lightning buzzing as he put it in a computer. "Insufficient data. Sample needs to be bigger."
Mercer smirked. "Guess I'll have to raise the stakes, Allen." Then, his phone rang as he answered the call and tapped his Bluetooth headset.
"Progress?"
"Readings not enough. The Speed Force signature is good but I need to be able to get out of Allen more." Mercer said.
"Better do it soon. Remember, I don't want Allen dead. He will be very angry, if Allen dies. Make sure you can get sufficient readings from his Speed Force signature, so that we can open the door."
"And I have just an idea how to do it." Mercer said. "Just a question, out of curiosity. How did you find out all this stuff?"
"Well, Miss Graves' network, combined with DeVoe's database that we seized, proved to be quite useful. But we can't afford to try and duplicate the experiment, too much risky with large collateral damage. It's better to siphon Allen's energy than risk it."
So, what do you guys think?
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