.:24:.

Iris pulled her hair behind her ears and turned away from the steaming coffee pot that sat behind her. Once again she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and looked over the screen. Despite having the phone set to vibrate and ring, she still hoped maybe she had missed a call. Or a text. Anything that would let her know her prayers had been answered. Okay, maybe not her prayers but something that let her know she was bound for bigger and better things than Jitters. Not that she didn't enjoy working at the coffee shop; there were always new people she was able to meet, new stories to get from the patrons. But it didn't push her forward like the prospect of becoming a journalist did.

That's what she went to university for, got a degree it. And it was going to be her career, no matter what.

"Don't tell me you're texting and working, I'm pretty sure you can go to jail for that." Tess smiled when Iris turned to face her. The older woman sat at the counter, crossing one jean clad leg over the other. "What's going on, Iris? You look like you're waiting for a date to call."

"Not really," Iris replied. She put her phone back in her pocket. "Eddie and I already live together so if it's anything else, he'll be proposing. But we haven't talked about that, so I don't think that's going to happen." She smiled a pained smile, resting her hands against het counter and leaned towards the woman. "No, I'm waiting for a call from the Central City Picture News. There's a reporter job that I applied for and I really want it."

"Oh?" Tess's eyebrows rose, her green eyes sparkling. "You want to be a reporter? That's a very interesting job. But it can be dangerous, too, depending on the stories you take."

"But that's the point; I want to be right in the middle of the action." Iris asked if Tess wanted her usual cup of coffee and the woman nodded. "In this city there's always a story to tell. A case to crack. That's what I want to do. And with the metahumans that are running around here, there're more and more stories that I want to tell." She handed the mug over to Tess, studying her. "Have you ever come in contact with any of the metahumans? They can be pretty wild at times."

"Not that I've noticed," Tess remarked slowly. "I mean, I've seen on the news. I've seen that…" she swallowed hard. "STAR Labs is the one that everyone is blaming for things going wrong around here. But I haven't seen a metahuman up close. Not that I'm aware of." She looked around the coffee shop before training her eyes on Iris one more. "But that doesn't mean they're not here, right? How do we know the next one isn't who we're sitting next to on the bus? If the blast from the…" she snapped her fingers. "Where did you say it was?"

"STAR Labs," Iris supplied.

"Right. If the blast form STAR Labs was as big and wide as the news reports said, then with all of the dark matter, and x-elements that were spread around, there's a chance many people won't show the manifestations of those particles and energies until much later."

"You seem to really know about your stuff," Iris said.

She tilted her head to the side, watching the woman carefully. Tess had been coming into Jitters nearly every morning since the two had first met. She enjoyed talking to the woman; she was very warm and inviting and definitely had an air of worldly intelligence about her. Still there were things about her that were strange.

She didn't much talk about her past, didn't speak much about where she was from; the only time Iris had asked she had said 'I lived in Maryland, Coast City, Starling City, Central City, Keystone City, Astro City, Midway City…I've moved around a lot. I was an army brat. My mother was part of the military.' Other than that she didn't get much of an answer around her. She skirted the question about whether or not she had kids, if she was married, and what her profession was. As far as Iris was concerned, the woman was as mysterious as any of the other metahuman that crawled through Central City. The only difference being that the woman clearly was not a metahuman or else Iris would have figured that out pretty quickly.

Her blog continued to be flooded with pictures and stories of metahumans; sightings, trackings, and pictures. If Tess was a metahuman, Iris would've known it as soon as the woman stepped through the door.

But there's something she'd hiding, Iris thought as she continued to watch the woman. And I'm going to figure out what it is. Maybe it was none of her business, but it was the journalist in her. The little girl that always told her Dad, Barry, and anyone else who would listen that she would make a difference by exposing everything that people were trying to hide. To make Central City a better place.

"I've got a bit of a background in science," Tess explained. "I've done a lot of things here and there. I was a scientist once upon a time. Right now I'm still recuperating from my accident."

"I thought that was years ago," Iris pointed out. She distinctly remembered Tess saying that to her. And as she watched the woman now, a deer in the headlights look slid onto Tess's face. Gotcha. "But I guess there was more to deal with than just the physical therapy on your leg."

"Well, I broke that," Tess admitted. "Nearly crushed it, actually. Which is why I'm still limping. But there were also some injuries to my head and my collarbone. There was a lot to deal with."

"I'll bet," Iris said. She stood up straight and watched Tess closely. So there was something about the car accident that was off. And there was something about her background she wasn't talking about. Iris liked a challenge. She could be told 'no' so many times but continue to do whatever it was until she absolutely had no choice. But she was also heralded for her determination. Too bad Daddy couldn't see that, she thought. I would've made a great police officer. Maybe I can do the same investigations with this reporter job if they would call me back! She resisted the urge to look at her phone again.

"So what kind of a scientist were you?"

"I dabbled in a bit of everything. There was always something that caught my attention. Always something to learn."

"But don't scientists usually have one area of expertise?" Iris pressed. "There has to be something that you enjoyed more than the others. I mean, even Harrison Wells focused on physics when he had the pick of the litter for his studies. And he made the Particle Accelerator with such ease it was no wonder he became so well known for his scientific advancements."

Tess flinched at the name. She lowered her head and took in a few deep breaths. "Harrison Wells is living here in Central City?"

"Yes. He's been living and working here as long as STAR Labs has been up and running." Iris paused. "Why? Do you know him?" Before Tess could response she attacked Tess with another question. "Actually, you look kind of familiar? Have we ever met before?"

"No," Tess said calmly. "I'm sure I would've remembered meeting a lovely lady such as yourself."

"Thanks." Iris was about to ask Tess another question when her cell phone rang. She immediately grabbed a nearby dishtowel and wiped off her hands. They flooded with sweat as soon as her familiar ringtone went off. She picked up her phone and looked at the screen. CCPN. Oh Gosh. This was it. This was the call she had been waiting for. She was going to freak out. She couldn't do it. Iris looked over at Tess, who watched her closely and found herself filled with renewed vigor.

She had to get this job.

Iris took a deep breath and brought the phone to her ear. "Hello? Yes, this is Iris West." She paused as the voice on the other end of the phone congratulated her on her blog. She could barely hold still, keep herself from trembling as the recruiting agent kept speaking. "I'm glad you enjoy my blog. I try to get as much information out to my readers as I can." She held her breath as the best news of her life came in. "Yes! Yes! I'll take the job. Oh my God, thank you so much. I'll be there bright and early." Iris hung up the phone and started to jump in place in her excitement.

Tess chuckled, watching the young woman. "Something tells me that you got the job," she remarked.

"Yes! Yes! I got the job! I'm going to be a reporter for the Central City Picture News. I can't wait to show everyone what I can do. What I can tell them. I'll be the best reporter the city has ever seen." She let out a low sigh, the realization coming onto her. She needed to tell her father and Barry and Eddie, and her co-workers at Jitters. She needed to quit her job to work full-time. No more slinging coffee.

But that almost meant she wasn't going to have as close contact with Tess. To know what it was that she was hiding. Her mind whirled with a million options to keep the woman closer to her as Tess smiled warmly at her. The woman laced her fingers together and rested her chin on top of her hands.

"Congratulations, Iris. You're going to do a wonderful job. I've read your blog myself, I don't know anyone in the city that doesn't. You should be proud of yourself." Tess raised her mug in form of a salute. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

"I hope so, too," Iris replied.

Cadence sent blast after fiery blast at the targets lined up in front of her. She hit one with ease and precision, sending smoke and sparks in all directions. Finally she struck the last target and lowered her hands to her sides, immediately snuffing out the flames that sat there. She wiped sweat off her forehead and turned back towards Harrison, who was sitting behind her, a remote control in his hand.

"How'd I do?" She asked.

"Well, it looks like your marksmanship isn't a problem," Harrison said. "Though I did notice that you were a bit slower with your reaction times as our target practice progressed. That's the point that you start to stick to your plateau, we need to move past that."

Cadence briefly closed her eyes and shook her head. That seemed to be the theme of her life at the moment. She was moving past her past with Ryder, moving past her past with her parents, moving past her work with the Assassination Bureau, moving past…things with Barry. Opening her eyes, Cadence turned back to Harrison and leveled her gaze at him. She crossed her arms.

"You know I can't allow myself to get too far into my powers, Harrison," She reminded him.

"I do seem to remember a time where you did and ended up on a medical table with the sprinklers going off and industrial fans cooling you down," Harrison said. He moved the remote control aside and directed his chair closer to her. Folding his hands into his lap, he trained his blue eyes on his daughter. "And I also seem to remember you coming out of it with little to abject side effects."

"Yeah, that time," Cadence pointed out. She turned on her heel and started to pace. "You don't get it. You weren't there. You were never there."

"I know I wasn't there for a part of your life—"

"No! You weren't there the last times this has happened! I would lose control. I would end up on the floor shaking and seizing. One time it happened while Brady was there another time it happened when I was working with the Assassination Bureau. Breathtaker hadn't been able to help me like he was able to do with Mindboggler. I had to come out of it on my own without help of any doctors. Every time I was this close" she held her thumb and index finger an inch apart. "To death. I can't keep doing that."

"Just like with Barry's powers there are things you have to work through," Harrison insisted, his voice growing gruff. It deepened with malice by the second. "And the more you hold yourself back, the better off the rest of us will be."

"I'm stronger than Barry!" Cadence cried. The tone to her voice and infliction mimicked Harrison's. Normally she would have found another similarity between the two of them exciting, especially as she learned more about him as the days went by. But this time she hardly noticed it. She could feel her blood spoil, her temper flaring with as much intensity as the fire she controlled. "I'm faster than him. I'm doing just fine right now."

"You can get even stronger and faster. But right now isn't good enough. You need to be stronger and faster to be sure that you know what to do when certain circumstances come your way."

Cadence tugged on the ends of her hair before turning on her heel. She started to pace back and forth. Every now and then she clenched her hands into fists, tight enough and with enough fury so that flames erupted around her hands. Then she opened them and the flames would disappear. "Like what?"

"Like the Reverse-Flash. If you want any means to defeat him, just like Barry, you have to get better. And right now you're not doing anything to help anyone in Central City." Cadence stopped and turned to face him. "That's why you're not put out on the field as often as Barry is as The Flash. You have to get better. You have to stop, stopping yourself."

"Like you understand what that means? Like you understand all of what is going on with me and Barry. Being a meta. You put these fucking unrealistic pressures on me."

"Because you're not trying!" Harrison snapped.

"I am trying!" Cadence snapped back.

"You try up to a point and then you stop. Yes, I understand you're running a risk of a seizure but you're in the best place for a seizure to happen! We are very well equipped for the medical needs that will come from it. But you are not equipped to push harder and further than you have before all because of the fear you will not allow yourself to push through. Emotions run your powers, I understand that. But if the only way you can reach your full potential is by having someone constantly push your buttons then I don't believe you deserve the name Flash Fire at all!"

Cadence's eyes flash with a fire induced rage. "That makes two of us. Because I didn't even want this stupid name. You haven't been in my life for a long time, Harrison and it isn't fair that you think you can control me and run my life the way you want. You don't see the potential in me; you want to use me as a weapon. Just like Breathtaker did. But I'm much more than a weapon and you don't want to be in my way when I do!"

She stepped around Harrison and stormed out of the training room. Crossing her arms over her chest, she stalked her way up to the Cortex, finding Caitlin, Cisco, and Barry deep in discussion. Barry looked up as she came into the room and he immediately stood up straight, running his hands on the legs of his jeans.

"Hey Cade," he greeted her in a voice that was slightly high-pitched. "H-how are you doing today?"

Cadence smiled back at him, already feeling her frustrations melt away. "I'm doing fine, Tholly. Just fine," She replied.

Barry's eyebrows furrowed together as he took a good look at her. "You don't sound fine," he noted. "Is something wrong?

"I just got into a fight with Harrison," Cadence commented after briefly glancing over her shoulder. "People always say I have a bad temper and while I don't show it so much, Harrison was just on the receiving end of it." She held up her hands. "Don't worry; I didn't burn him or anything. I have it on good authority that that can hurt." She gave Barry a knowing smile which he returned.

"I can vouch for that, it really does."

Cadence hadn't meant to burn Barry when he kissed her. She hadn't reacted as well as she typically did whenever he was kissed. As a matter of fact, his grabbing her arm and turning her around to kiss her had caught her so off-guard that she didn't react at first. His lips moved gently over hers and Cadence felt her eyes gently flutter shut before she placed her hands on Barry's shoulders and kissed him back. This kiss was different than the one she shared with Roy, different than the ones she had shared with Ryder when they got time to themselves.

This one made her feel completely secure and safe. And that was Barry in a nutshell, she realized. He was someone she didn't worry about potentially or purposefully hurting her. She didn't have to worry about him using her for his own selfish gain. She just didn't worry. When on and off the battlefield he was one of the few people she completely let her guard down around. He was sweet and nice and…Barry. Ryder had been all of those things but he had been someone that became as caught up in the life he kept away from his parents as she had from her own. As much as she did love him it wasn't what she wanted or needed.

And what she needed in that moment was for the kiss not to end. But then she remembered what she had said before, her confession of feeling lonely and always being alone, her worries of not wanting to be wanted ever again, of being able to bring someone into her life the way others hadn't been able to, and how she was stupid enough to allow that to happen when she thought Barry was asking her out on a date. But he wanted to date Caitlin. He had spent a lot of time with her that night.

Oh God, how stupid she felt when Caitlin told her she would be going along.

It was that thought that made Cadence push Barry away from her, abruptly ending the kiss. It was supposed to have been a gentle shove, but then she found Barry crying out in pain, frantically patting at the smoldering spots on the shoulders of his shirt. She grimaced as smoke trickled away from the darkened spots.

"I didn't mean to do that," She said lamely.

"Good, at least I know when I get my dry cleaning done the workers will know it wasn't on purpose," Barry replied. He finally finished putting out the spots and awkwardly turned back to Cadence. "Why did you…?" He frowned, unsure of how to ask it. "That kiss was nice," he finally said.

"Yeah," Cadence agreed.

She watched Barry, now confused. She had no idea why Barry had kissed her, especially after explaining herself like that. He couldn't have understood what was going on that night and how…immature she had been acting. But she had been hurt and reacted on instinct and emotion, the way she always worked. Her spontaneity was always something she was complemented on; even from such a young age she tried everything once and was willing to step out of her comfort zone on everything.

Maybe this time it was a mistake.

"Why did you bring Roy?" That wasn't the question she had been expecting.

"Why did you bring Caitlin?" She shot back, annoyed.

"Because I invited Caitlin," Barry explained. "And you and Cisco but he couldn't come because—"he stopped as Cadence grimaced and lowered her head. "Oh." Oh! Barry brought his hand up and placed a hand over his mouth. "Cade, I didn't mean—"

"—to hurt me? You always said that."

"And I didn't," Barry insisted. "I really didn't. I would never do that on purpose." He scratched at the back of his head. "If I ever thought you would want to go out with me…then I definitely would have asked you out, Cade. But I didn't even know until recently that I liked you."

"Because you realized you could never have Iris, right?" Cadence asked. It wasn't an accusation, but an honest, curious question. Actually, she was a little afraid of the answer, afraid to ask it in the first place. "So you settled—"

"I didn't settle, Cade." Barry reached out and tilted her chin up so she could look him in the eye. "You and Joe were the ones that helped me figure it out. I fell out of love with Iris. I haven't been in love with her for a while and I didn't realize it. Because I was afraid of what we would be without having those feelings anymore. We're friends. That's it. You're my best friend, Cade. You and Cisco and Caitlin. But…you…I…" he struggled to find the right words.

"I get it, Barry," Cadence interrupted. She took a step back away from him, making his hands drop from her face. She glanced at the door behind her then turned back to Barry. He was smiling a small, anxious smile at her. "You should probably go." At the sudden stricken expression on Barry's face she continued with, "Everything's fine. I just don't think you'd be too happy to try and explain things to Ryder. No matter how many times I tell you that we're nothing anymore, I can tell you don't really believe that."

"I believe you," Barry pointed out.

"But you don't believe Ryder."

"I don't know him."

"Then you'll just have to get to know him." Cadence waved to him and started up the stairs once more. Then she snapped her fingers and turned back. "And I'm sorry about your shirt. But on the plus side you could always take it off." She smiled teasingly. "Green's not your color, anyway."

Now as she looked at Barry she could see in the smile he was trying to suppress that he was thinking about the same thing. Cadence tore her gaze away from him then noticed the pout that marred Cisco's otherwise joyful personality. "What's wrong, Cisco? You look like you finally ran out of your candy stash."

"He's still upset about Hartley," Caitlin explained in a low tone, fumbling with the large sunglasses that rested on her face. She then ran her hands over her hair as it was pulled back into a ponytail, taking in a deep breath.

"Is it my fault he was such a dick?" Cisco demanded. The explosion of his voice made Cisco and Barry jump. Caitlin groaned and leaned forward, pressing her forehead to her knees. "Is it?"

"Cisco, keep your voice down," she groaned. "My head hurts so much. Ugh and I feel so nauseous. I swear I'm never drinking that much ever again. I don't ever want to be reminded of that night."

Barry and Cadence exchanged another mischievous glance. Then Barry cleared his throat and asked, "So you don't remember anything about that night at all?" When Caitlin shook her head, Barry bobbed his head back and forth. Then he started to hum under his breath before singing quietly, "Summer lovin' had me a blast."

Caitlin's face screwed up and she groaned even louder. "Oh, but I remember that. That's so embarrassing."

Peering at his friend's pale face, Cisco's eyes widened and he started to laugh. He looked at Cadence for confirmation and when she nodded he started to laugh hysterically, clapping. "You actually got Caitlin Snow to sing?" He asked. "You do know she's totally tone-deaf right?"

"Us and the rest of the patrons in that club," Cadence pointed out. Now she was laughing so hard her eyes started to tear up. "But Caitlin had a blast lost. She lost all of her inhibitions, had some fun, sang some songs, downed some shots, proposed to me…"

Cisco laughed again as Caitlin's head whipped upwards. Cadence was sure Caitlin was glaring at her behind her sunglasses. "I never proposed to you."

"Actually, you did," Barry insisted, raising a finger. "You said that the two of you were going to go to Vegas and start a life together without men because you could use them as breeding stock."

"Breeding stock?" Cisco repeated.

Cadence waved her hand.

"And that was after you kissed her," Barry added.

"Before," Cadence piped up. "I remember a kiss like that. Though it's not as interesting as the one I got later," She added under her breath. Beside her she could see Barry shift, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans and turned his face away from his friends so they couldn't see his blush. "But yeah, you did propose to me and you started to make plans about what we would do when we got to Vegas before you passed out."

Again, Caitlin groaned, resting her face in her hands.

"Okay, so, taking the attention off of Caitlin for a little while, what's up with this Hartley guy? Why do you guys hate him so much?"

"Because he's a dick," Cisco said.

"I think we got that," Cadence pointed out. "But why is he a dick?"

"Well, he was the one that told me on my first day at STAR Labs he couldn't trust me because I showed up for my first day of work with a t-shirt that read 'Keep Calm and Han Solo Shot First'." Cisco rolled his eyes at the injustice then sat up straight, resting his hands on his knees. "And he thought he was God's gift to everything. He was good at every language he tried, he was a great scientist, and he didn't play well with others."

"Not to mention he was the prodigal son," Caitlin added. "He was such a kiss-up to Dr. Wells it was like he was trying to be his son. I can't say I completely blame him, if there's anyone to have as a mentor, Dr. Wells is the one."

"And he wants revenge on Dr. Wells because?"

"Because Hartley was one of the brightest scientific minds I have ever encountered," Harrison declared as he wheeled into the Cortex. Cadence sighed, keeping her eyes averted away from him. He went up to a computer and moved his fingers over the keyboard before a profile appeared on screen of a young man in glasses, staring ahead in a determined glance. "As you could have guessed, he is indeed related to Rathaway Industries. His grandfather started the company and his father expanded it. Hartley was in line to take over."

"What happened?" Barry asked.

"He came out to his parents," Caitlin explained. Harrison looked at her then did a double-take when he noticed the sunglasses and her death grip along the mug that sat on her desk. Caitlin smiled sheepishly and carefully pulled off her sunglasses, squinting against the bright lights of the cortex. "Old money, old values."

"He's gay?" Cadence asked in dismay, glancing at the picture. "Darn, he's really cute, too."

"Not that cute," Barry remarked.

"You're a guy; you don't have the authority to call a guy cute. He's cute."

"Anyway, he's a dick and that's all there is to it," Cisco explained.

"Let's just say that Hartley, like many outliers, had trouble relating to his peers," Harrison said quickly. He shot Caitlin and Cisco a look but they continued to appear as incensed as when Hartley was first mentioned to the group.

"Yeah," Caitlin agreed. "But he was always your favorite." She stared hard at Harrison and he pointedly looked away from her.

Cisco, noticing the change in Caitlin's demeanor, turned to her with a smirk. "You sound jealous, Cait," he pointed out. His smile widened when Caitlin glared even harder at him. "Jealous of the Chosen One."

"So if he was so close to you guys, then why did he leave STAR Labs?" Barry asked.

"We had a disagreement," Harrison said simply.

"That doesn't surprise me," Cadence murmured. Harrison then shifted his gaze to her and stared. Cadence stared back; she had his trait of stubbornness too. She wasn't going to allow him to treat her like a child. Especially when he wasn't around before to do so.

"Well, if this guy is like what you guys say he is, then with whatever powers he has it's no wonder he wants revenge on Dr. Wells," Barry pointed out. "But I'm not going to let him hurt you. Any of you guys. I promise." Without having to look at him Cadence knew the last part of his declaration was directed towards her.

She smiled.

"So how do you plan to do that?" Cisco asked. "I mean, we don't even know what power he has."

"Actually, I think I figured it out," Barry said. "I think he has the power of sonic vibrations," he explained. "You see, everything in the world has a certain vibration pattern. A natural frequency. And since sound is expressed as a vibration if the pitch of the sound matches the natural vibration frequency of an object then it blows up. I think that's what happened to your house, Dr. Wells. I think it's something he's figured out to attack you."

"That is a very…interesting theory, Mr. Allen," Harrison agreed. "One that we certainly should look into."

All of a sudden alarms started to go off around the Cortex and Cisco immediately dove to his computer. He pulled up a map of Central City and found a red dot situation on the map. He studied it for a few minutes before lifting his gaze to Barry and Cadence. "Looks like Rathaway Industries is under attack."

There was another beeping sound and this time Caitlin pulled up the target. "And Concordance Research. Looks like you guys will have to split up."

"You take Concordance and I'll deal with Hartley," Barry suggested.

"You got it," Cadence said. Then she turned a cold glance to Harrison. "That is, unless you think I can handle it." Without waiting for a response from her father she pushed herself away from the desk and she and Barry walked side-by-side to the room that held their suits. Once they were out of earshot Cadence said to Barry, "Go ahead and ask the question you want to ask."

Barry didn't waste any time. "Do you really think he's cute?"

"It's not going to make a difference, Barry, he's gay." She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I couldn't do anything about that even if I wanted to."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a flirt?" He asked.

"Yes, many times," Cadence admitted. "How do you think I got Ryder?" As Barry thought about it, she grinned. "And as far as I can tell, it's working on you, too."

Barry smiled back.

Brady looked up from his book as his teacher sat down at her desk, turning to her computer. With a paper ball hovering over his left hand, Brady wiggled his fingers and the ball landed in his palm. He crumpled it up in his palm and stashed it into his desk. Then he glanced around the room as the rest of his class read silently before leaning over to Conner, who sat at his side. He reached out and tapped Conner on the arm. Conner glanced at the teacher before leaning back towards Brady.

"What?" He whispered in case the teacher heard them.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Brady asked him. He smiled when Conner nodded. "I'm getting a Dad soon."

Conner's eyebrows rose. "Really? What makes you say that?"

"I wished for it on my birthday cake," Brady explained. "And so far all of my birthday wishes have come true." He spun his pencil in his fingers as his smile widened. "I really want a Dad."

"Yeah, but you just told me," Conner pointed out. He looked over his shoulder, ducking his head when he spotted the teacher looking their way. Brady held his breath and lowered his head, too. But he moved so fast that he bashed his forehead against the edge of his desk. Brady moved his hand to cover his mouth as he and Conner both laughed quietly. Finally their teacher turned away and Conner whispered. "A wish doesn't come true if you tell someone."

"Mm-mm." Brady smirked. "I told you a secret; I didn't tell you my whole wish. It's going to come true. Besides, my Mom went out on a date. And everyone knows that when you date you're going to get married."

Conner nodded. His pressed his lips together in thought. "I guess you're right," he agreed. "My Mom hasn't been out on a date in a while. And she doesn't really do anything other than show houses all day."

"See?" Brady insisted. "If Mom keeps going out, then we can—"He suddenly cut off as the lights in the classroom went off. Like the rest of his classmates he looked around the room, trying to figure out what happened. Then the lights flickered back on. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Conner replied, shaking his head.

"It was him!"

Brady and Conner turned around to find a girl pointing over to a small, frightened looking boy as he trembled in his chair. "I-it wasn't me," he protested. He brought up his hands and they trembled as well. "I swear!" There was a sudden bright flash of light and kids screamed, starting to scatter.

Brady shielded his eyes from the sudden bright light and turned away. When it faded he looked up to find Conner sitting beside him, staring with wide, horrified eyes. Brady looked back at him and Conner shakily pointed directly behind him. Twisting around, Brady found a perfectly encircled hole in the wall, the edges smoldering. Then he looked around and found the classroom was completely empty other than him, Conner, and the boy that had now placed himself in the corner of the room, arms around his knees.

"What?" Brady asked.

"Th-that blast," Conner stammered. "It went right through you. How did you not get hurt? It blasted a hole in the wall."

Clenching his teeth, Brady turned back to the boy and slowly got up from his seat. Okay, we have to get this guy to STAR Labs, he thought. Or maybe bring it up to his parents? I wonder how they would take it. He started to slowly walk over to the boy. "Lucas, what's going on?" He asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Get away from me!" Lucas cried. He held up his hands again. "I didn't do anything!" He held up his hands and shot a few more blasts at Brady. Brady held his breath and watched as the first few blasts shot straight through his stomach. Then he couldn't hold his breath anymore and let go, crying out in pain as the fiery light shot by his arm, singing his skin.

"Brady!" Conner cried.

Lucas's eyes widened as he watched Brady. "How'd you do that?" Lucas whispered.

"It's a long story," Brady replied, holding up his hands. "But I can explain. I can explain what's going on with you. I just need you to trust me." He held his hand out towards Lucas. Lucas looked up at him. He then closed his eyes and turned his head away. "Lucas."

"No! There's nothing wrong with me! Leave me alone!" He shot another blast of fiery light towards him. Brady raised his arms to shield himself and blinked as there was a loud clanging sound and he was pulled to the ground. Opening his eyes he found Conner had knocked over a desk in front of him and the two were kneeling behind it.

"Good timing," Brady said to his best friend.

"Thanks," Conner replied. He looked down and Brady's arm and started to poke it, every few pokes his finger would go straight through Brady's arm and out the other side. "Whoa." He didn't look as scared as he did before, now slowly understanding what was going on. "You have powers…just like The Flash."

"Not really like the Flash," Brady corrected him. "The Flash can move at, like, super speed and I just…can't get hurt." Conner reached out and punched Brady hard on the arm. "Ow! What'd you do that for?"

Conner's eyebrows rose. "You just said that you can't get hurt."

"Sometimes!"

"Sorry."

Brady rolled his eyes and looked up over the edge of the desk. He blinked twice then looked around. "Wait? Where'd he go?" Conner poked his head up next to him and looked around, too. "I don't see him." The lights in the classroom suddenly went off again, this time the lights in the hallway started to go off as well. At the far end a bright light could be seen.

"There he goes!" Conner declared.

Brady and Conner got up from the ground and the two raced towards the source of the light. As soon as they rounded the corner they leapt backwards as a strong beam of light shot down the hallway. They then turned back to Lucas just as he started to charge up another attack.

Conner turned to the side and grabbed a backpack off of the hook. He flung it down the hallway then turned back and grabbed the next closest one and threw it after the first. Lucas used his powers to shoot down the two backpacks and all of the coats that were then flung his way.

"That's not going to work," Brady said to Conner. "He'll just knock it back out of the way." He shielded his eyes once more as there was another blast of bright light that went whizzing by his head.

"Then what do we do?"

"I don't know. He can control it better than I can." As soon as the words let his mouth he found there was another blast of light. This time, however, there was a surge of power that went along with it, knocking Brady and Conner off their feet and onto the ground. Rolling forward into a sitting position, Brady shook out his hair then tilted his head to the side as Lucas lay quietly on the ground. "I think he blew himself up."

Conner got up and hurried over to Lucas. He kneeled over him and peered over the boy. Then he stuck his finger underneath his nose and lifted up his eyelid. "I think he'll be okay, though. What should we do? Should we get the nurse?"

"Um." Brady pressed his lips together. "That's a good idea," he said. "There's only one other place we could take him and I don't think that's such a good idea." He looked down as his feet suddenly sank into the floor. "Not again." He held out his hand towards Conner. "A little help here?"

At Concordance Research the parking lot was as empty as the halls. Despite the lights continuously being run and the janitorial staff working to open the space no one had arrived yet. No one except Quentin Quale. The project manager was the sort of man that arrived early and left late and did every job in between. He took his job very seriously and cared so much about the integrity of the research facility that he found it enjoyable to work at all hours.

If he knew what the day would bring, he may not have gone into work so early. As it was, he was walking to his office when he heard a voice calling his name. "Quentin Quale!"

He turned around and stared at the string-haired young man that walked his way. His head was down, hair falling over his face, dirty jacket brushing against the sides of his equally dirty jeans as he took each confident step towards him. "Yes? What can I do for you, young man?"

"Young man? Wow, I haven't been called that in quite some time," the man said, walking towards Quentin.

Quentin studied the man for a moment longer. Then he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, do I know you? You don't seem familiar to me."

"We went to school together."

"Ah! You're one of my students."

"No." The man came to a stop in front of Quentin. He took in a few breaths and clenched his hands into fists. He cleared his throat a few times before speaking again. His voice took on a raspy tone, as if he was trying his hardest to control his voice. Either way, Quentin was starting to become suspicious of what this potentially homeless man wanted. If he wasn't one of his former students, then what did he want? "Classmates. University of Chicago, Class of '74. We protested the war: Make Love, Not Napalm. Remember?"

Quentin took in a deep breath of disgust then turned on his heel. He strode towards his office without a backward glance. "Look, I don't know if this is some kind of a practical joke but it isn't funny. Now get out before I call security." He made it only a few steps further before the man called out, "I know about your brother!" Quentin came to a halt.

He squeezed his eyes shut against the pain of the memory. Of his brother who had left the Earth too soon. Instead of turning around he continued to stand still, waiting to see what the man had to say but not giving him the satisfaction of seeing his pain.

"The truth is he committed suicide. You found the body."

Quentin's eyes squeezed shut. He took in a deep breath. How had the man known this? This man was too young to even know about his brother. It was far before his time. Heart thumping in his chest, Quentin turned around to face the young man. The man's breathing continued to become increasingly labored. "I never told anyone about that," Quentin whispered.

"You told. One. Person." Each word from the young man came out with conviction. Almost as if he was having trouble getting the words out. Almost as if something was keeping him back. "You told me."

Oh my God. He had only told one person. The same man that had stood beside him through the protesting rallies and all of their classes where they struggled to keep up amongst the massive amount of pressure, and through their late nights of studying. "Martin?" He whispered.

"I need you to help me," the young man said. Then he let out a guttural scream as he burst into flames; the flames exuded form his hands, wrapping around his body and expanded outwards. Quentin quickly back peddled away from the young man. Eyes wide with horror he scrambled back, trying to get away as the Burning Man walked closer to him. "No. Don't leave. I need you to help me. Please!"

Quentin moved faster along the ground, trying to get himself up. "I—I—"All of a sudden he felt a hand on his arm and he was teleported down the length of the hallway. He looked up to find a masked and suited figure standing by him.

"Hurry, get out of here!" Cadence cried. She watched Quentin leave before turning back towards Firestorm. "Looks like you didn't get the hint last time," she said to him. "I'm not going to let you hurt innocent people."

"You…you don't understand," Firestorm replied, struggling with each word. "I need…I need help." He screamed again, sending out another surge of nuclear energy. Cadence brought her arm up to shield her face then sent a stream of fire back towards him before charging towards him.

Firestorm shook his head then charged back.

"So?" Breathtaker's glowing eyes burned into Stratos's from underneath his red hood. "How did it go? Did you extend the offer?"

"I did," Stratos agreed. He slowly smiled. "And she took it."

"Excellent."

A/N: It's been a while since I've done a flashback into Cadence's youth as well as to her trip in Metropolis and there will be some in the next chapter. And sorry, I had to push SnowWells back a chapter. I intended to put it in this one but then some other ideas that I wanted to write came in.

Anyway we've got a lot of stuff going on in here. Some BarryCade flirting, Hartley and Firestorm are finally in the picture and then we have the Assassination Bureau who is back in town. What do you think of that? Personally, I think Hartley is awesome and there should've been more of him so I'm glad I'm finally at this part of the story.

And we had a scene with Brady revealing his powers to Conner. I bet no one saw it coming that quickly but there will certainly be more moments for Brady to show off his abilities on and off the field. And lat but not least we have Iris getting to know Tess a bit more but that's certainly not good for her or any of those at STAR Labs.

So what did you guys think? Please let me know. I'll have this update again soon.

-Riles