.:27:.

Barry rested his chin in his hand, staring out the window of his office. Everything around him was moving so normally and yet, everything was so different for him and no one else knew. No one else could know except for Harrison and nobody else could or else the timeline would be disrupted.

All because he had traveled back in time.

If he had known things would go that way once he had met up with Mark Mardon he might've done things differently. But would it have been different if he hadn't gone back in time at all? It was hard to figure out, especially since he couldn't talk to anyone about it. He couldn't even talk to Harrison, who was the one that realized he had traveled through time in the first place. He had to be careful, as Harrison suggested, or anything anyone else remembered form the other timeline would cause ripple effects in the current timeline.

With a light groan, Barry closed his eyes, running his hands over his face. It was all so confusing.

To think it all started because Mark Mardon wanted to get revenge on the death of his brother. Barry and Joe thought the two men had passed away when their plane went down on the night of the Particle Accelerator explosion. Wait. Barry frowned. That wasn't it. It was believed the two had died the night of the explosion but that hadn't been what happened. Clyde and Mark had both survived and Clyde had gone on a rampage with his metahuman ability of controlling the weather, specifically targeting banks. But then he had died after Barry had really used his powers for the first time. He remembered that clearly.

It was Mark Mardon who was the problem now. Mark had come back to avenge his brother's death and because of that, he had taken Joe hostage, threatening his life because Joe was the one who had killed Clyde. Then when Barry had gone after him, Mark created a massive tidal wave that then threatened Central City, coming up from the coat faster than Barry thought he could outrun. Then Cadence and Brady had showed up to help him out. That was the more frustrating, more devastating part. As Barry raced around the outline of Central City so that his speed created a wind shield that would hold off the wave, Brady held onto his mother, using his ability to keep the both of them intangible, so that the gust of winds that Barry shot around would pass straight through them rather than knock them around.

Cadence then used her pyro-electrokinesis powers to send lightning bolts to Barry so that when they struck him the burst of heat would allow him to continue to run faster. Then he saw the wave crash over them and in Brady's fear he stopped his powers short and the two were washed away by the wave. But Barry continued to run as fast as he could, screaming with effort.

Earlier that day he and Cadence finally had the conversation they should have had the night they went to the bar with Caitlin and Roy. They finally had a date set up between the two of them that they were to go on that night, an official date. But he was forced to watch her and her son die in front of him as they were ripped apart from the waves.

That was the exact moment he had raced back in time to the day before. And he had to act like nothing had changed. But it had. Having gone back to relive the day before, he captured Mark Mardon before he could do anything and placed him down in the Pipeline. In his excitement over saving the city, Barry tried to set up the date with Cadence again…but made the mistake of doing so in front of Harrison. He then practically gave him a death glare for the rest of the night before demanding to know if it had been done in the other timeline. When he explained it had, Harrison pointed out that because he had jumped the gun and done it at a wrong time, it was little things like that that gave him an undesired response. In this case, Cadence hadn't responded to their date other than intense confusion while Harrison immediately went into a fatherly mode he didn't know existed.

But that hadn't been the worst part. There were two more events that he couldn't get off his mind. The first one was of the Rogues; Mick Rory, Leonard Snart, and now Lisa Snart; who, incidentally, had been the one who had broken Mick and Snart out of the car that had transferred them to jail after their last encounter with the Flash. This time, they captured Cisco and forced him to create another Heat Gun and Cold Gun for the two villains, as well as a gold gun for Lisa. Finally, Cisco—and his brother whom had also been kidnapped—was released as long as he revealed Barry's identity to Snart now signifying that Snart knew Barry's real identity while Mick knew Cadence's, making the identities of Team Flash that much more in danger. Within that agreement, Barry also had to say he wouldn't lock Snart in the Particle Accelerator as long as Snart didn't kill innocent people or go after his friends and family.

The second event he couldn't get out of his mind was how he Black Flash had followed him everywhere since he had run back through time. As a matter of fact, Barry was now expecting to see it pop up out of nowhere every time he took a step. He flew through the portal that took him back to the day before and as soon as he did so the Black Flash had practically tackled him down to the ground, frantically scrabbling at him. But Barry managed to land a solid series of punches to its face and chest and knocked it off of him.

The terrifying part was the feeling of dread he felt while he had pushed the Black Flash off him, how he felt as if everything in his life wasn't worth it and he as just seconds away from death. It was similar to the feeling he had when having seen his mother when Mindboggler had mind controlled him and when Nathan Bliss hypnotized him to see zombie version of his parents.

So much had changed that one of the first things he had done when things winded down was go to Iron Heights and see that his father was okay. His mother was still dead; the Reverse Flash had still killed her, so his father was still in jail. In a way he had been relieved to see his father sitting behind the partition glass unharmed.

"What's going on, Slugger?" He asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

Barry almost laughed out loud and explained everything with the Black Flash. It had to be a ghost. A ghost of is past, maybe, now that he had gone back in time. A constant ghost. A constant reminder everything is going wrong around him and he had no way of figuring out how to deal with it. Especially since the Black Flash hadn't done anything except scare him so far.

"There's been a lot going on," Barry explained. He took in a deep breath, pressing his phone against his ear harder. "A lot with the CCPD…a lot of cases with the Flash…" he explained. His eyes shifted for a moment before he looked at his father. Henry stared back at him with an expression Barry couldn't quite place. It was one of the more intense looks Barry had ever seen from his father, even more intense from the time he and a friend from school—who really had turned out to be a bully—got caught shoplifting from a local store.

It was just candy and pens and pencils, didn't count for more than five dollars, but it was enough for Henry to be very angry about it. He remembered his father was quiet for a long time, looking at him with that intense look, and then he punished Barry so badly that he never had the thought of stealing ever again. But now…this one was of suspicion and nearly utmost certainty about something.

"The Flash, huh?" Henry repeated. He cleared his throat. "I always knew you were destined for great things, Slugger, but I never thought you would be working with someone like The Flash."

"Yeah, well he's…he's…" Barry stumbled over his words. "He's helpful. To some of the cases when we have to deal with the metas."

"Metas?"

"Metahumans." Barry paused, wondering if he gave too much away "That's…that's what Caitlin and Cisco and Dr. Wells call them at STAR Labs. I've told you how I go to them to get some help on cases sometimes, right?"

"Right, like the thing that broke into Iron Heights," Henry agreed.

Barry nodded. That was another thing that had happened, something he nearly forgot about. There was a teleporting metahuman that had broken into Iron Heights to take out her boyfriend. Within the scuffle Henry, who was trying to help Barry and Joe and the CCPD figure everything out, had been beaten up and stabbed. And Barry knew it was his fault. If he had tried harder, ran faster, did something…it wouldn't have happened. And as The Flash he did his best but…maybe he didn't do enough.

"This Flash is a really interesting character," Henry continued.

"He's doing a lot of great things for the city," Barry added. He tried his best not to give anything away in his face, the way he spoke, or his body language. He forced himself to look his father in the eye and tightened his grip on the phone. "He's saved a lot of people." He tried not to croak but his voice always did that, went raspy, when he was emotional. Tears started to prick at his eyes and he screamed at himself not to cry. But it was hard. It was hard to know he was doing so much for his father and his mother's legacy…and he couldn't tell him that. All because he was The Flash and he couldn't afford to put him in any danger.

"He has," Henry agreed. Then he swallowed hard and tilted his head to the side. "Did you see the newspaper? The Central City Picture News? They've got articles of the Flash going on."

"Yeah, I know." Barry smiled with pride. "Iris got a job there; she's been writing some of them."

"Really?" Henry's eyes crinkled at eth corners and he laughed in excitement. "Really? Well, that's great. You'll have to congratulate her for me." He gave his son a knowing smile. "Maybe even give her a kiss for me."

Barry felt himself blush. Which was silly in a way. He didn't really feel that way about Iris anymore, but it was still embarrassing to be teased about. "I don't…no that's not…that's not happening. She's happy with Iris and I'm happy…I guess."

"You guess?" Henry sounded interested.

"You know my friend Cadence I was telling you about?" Barry asked.

"The one with the son," Henry agreed.

Barry nodded. He had gotten Cadence's permission to speak about it first and she had been very open with it, especially since many others knew. But he wanted to make sure first, he didn't want to mess anything up. "Yeah…we've grown really close and…and I think things are going to move forward there." Barry felt himself flush again when Henry grinned. How did parents always make things so embarrassing just by the movements of their facial muscles?

"But the real question is, does she—"

"Yes, she knows you're in jail."

"And she knows I'm in jail? That's good, Barry. Nothing good comes from a relationship based on a lie." Barry cringed, knowing that's what Cisco and Caitlin, Caitlin especially, have warned him about wanting t have been in a relationship with Iris, especially when he went to meet her as The Flash. Before he messed that up. Why was it everyone seemed to give him the best advice and he didn't hear it until much later?

"So I've been told," Barry said.

"I'd like to meet your friends the next time you get the chance," Henry commented, confusing Barr for a minute. "I'd like to know how your life is really going, who you're surrounding yourself with. It can't be that safe if you're hanging out with the Flash."

Ha. Barry tried not to smile. "Well, I'm not hanging out with him more than I've been running into him lately."

Henry smiled and nodded. Then he made a show of running his hand along the counter that sat in front of him then rested his elbows on it. He leaned forward and kept his eyes on his son's, unwilling to let him look away. "I saw him once, in here. When the whole thing with the riot went on. He helped out, you know. Because I was roughed up by someone in here and then the next thing I know he's caught outside the walls saying he was taken out by the Flash."

"That's a weird…" Barry tried to find the right word. "Coincidence."

"Coincidence. Right."

And then Barry figured it out.

Henry, his father, knew he was The Flash.

He hadn't come right out and said it, but he knew.

Barry had to at least try to throw him off. He gave a disarming smile and tried not to croak once more, "Don't you think if I were the Flash you'd be the first to know?"

"Not unless you were trying to keep me safe," Henry reasoned. "But if you were the Flash I'd tell you that the world is dangerous and you need to be careful. And I'd tell you that you're a hero and you're saving a lot of lives. But the most important thing you'd need to know is that I have been and always will be proud of you."

And Barry had to leave then. He couldn't continue to sit there and listen to everything he had ever wanted to hear from his father and not reveal the truth. It was too hard. Now three weeks later—three weeks filled with some of the most intense and emotional metahuman issues they'd ever have—he was sitting his office trying to wrap his head around things.

If he could've gone back in time on accident, even just one day back. Maybe he would be able to go back to when the night his Mom died and save her from being killed. His father would be out of jail, his mother would be alive, he could have the life he wanted…but there was the chance things could go wrong. Would he still know his friends if he changed it? Would he be with Iris? How would everyone's lives panned out.

Was he willing to risk all of that just to be able to save his mother? Now he knew how Caitlin felt; having to potentially sacrifice her fiancé for the second time. Was he willing to sacrifice his mother for the life he had now or was he willing to sacrifice the life he had now for his mother?

As far as he was concerned, the Rogues, the Reverse Flash, and the Black Flash were waiting to for the chance to make that decision for him.

Turning away from the window, Barry shifted his attention back to the massive poster that sat beside him. The poster of the city. He shuffled the chair forward and grabbed the handle at the bottom, lifting it up to reveal the evidence of his mother's case below. He stared at it for a few moments then hid it once more.

He needed to stop torturing himself.

"And you were dismissed from your residency program because of tardiness—"

"I promise that I'll be here on time," Cadence interrupted Joe before he could flat out tell her 'no'. She gripped the folder that held her resume and references tightly, hoping she wouldn't accidentally set them on fire as she sat in front of him.

Ever since she had woken up from her short lived coma her control over her powers had continued to deteriorate. There were some things that worked as well as they had ever been, but when it came to her emotions surrounding her powers, that wasn't working as well as it used to. And there were some of her other abilities. She had accidentally managed to burn people sitting beside her on the bus or walking too close. To the point that she became aware of it when having to shake someone's hand or even hug Brady. A semi-job interview was the worst place for that to completely go haywire.

Not when so much was at stake.

If she got this job then she could get CPS off her back once and for all. And even if she didn't get the job, maybe Joe could see she was trying to do the right thing and dismiss the investigation? Especially since he was the one that had called it in and while she understood it would've been suspicious if the CCPD didn't follow up on it, she wished she could've gotten some warning before they came in. She would do anything to make sure Brady wasn't taken away from her.

Cadence sat up straight, placing her hands in her lap to keep them from shaking. "I'm usually very good at that. It's just…with residency the issue was that I had to leave early for reasons you're well versed in," She commented, lowering her voice. Joe nodded in agreement. "But the way I see it, this could really help; I already have a background in medicine, I'd have my own office so it's be easier to go in and out, it'd be easier for metahuman stuff and—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Joe held up his hands, trying to get Cadence to slow down. But she was too far into her spiel.

"And the position has been open for a while, no one's taken the job yet and by this point it's probably a good idea to fill it as soon as possible." She took a breath. "Now, I'm done."

Joe smiled; his goatee stretching as he did so. Then he started to laugh. Finally, he brought his hands up and ran them over his face. "I can see that you're not going to be easily swayed by this position. Honestly, I think it makes sense. But in the end, I don't have the final decision. I can put a god word in with Captain Singh but you never know how he'll react with it," he said. "As long as I've known the man you can never tell if he's in a good mood or not. But you've made some good points, especially with the metahuman things going on. Your qualifications and references are great as well." He tapped his hand on the desk. "Let me speak to Captain Singh and see what he has to say."

Cadence nodded and waited as Joe left his desk. She looked around at the hustle and bustle that went along the CCPD and held her breath. Then she released it slowly. Okay, so her nerves got to her and she went into what she called 'cheerleader mode' where she got overly…excited and talked a lot. She tapped her hands against her lap only looking up when she heard her name called.

"Hey Eddie," She greeted him as he walked over to the desk at a fast paced stride.

Eddie paused for a moment, his eye shifting around for a moment, almost looking like a deer in headlights, then relaxed. "Hey Cadence, how's it going?" He asked. "What brings you here to the CCPD is there anything I can help you with?"

"I'm here in a meeting with Joe," Cadence explained. "Just talking with him about some stuff. What's up? You looked like you had something you were looking for something."

"Yeah, I was looking for Joe," Eddie said. "But if he's in a meeting it can wait." He sat down at his desk and turned towards Cadence. "How are things going with you, really? I know that having CPS called on you couldn't be easy."

Cadence's eyes bore into Eddie's as she tried to figure out what it was he really wanted. She could sense his body temperature, it was fluctuating rapidly. He was nervous about something and didn't walk to talk about CPS at all. "Definitely not," She agreed. "But I'm working on it. It's sort of why I'm here." She waited for Eddie to say something else but he just nodded and turned away.

Okay, so he doesn't want to talk about that. So what is it? The two of them had never had a long conversation other than the drive from Central to Starling City a few months ago. And they had slightly bickered the whole way up as they argued over who was the one that was going to navigate them the quickest way to Starling City. And there was also the fact that he had earlier implied he had looked into her past a little and knew about her issues in Smallville. And he had his memory erased by Breathtaker after helping Joe and Iris defend the streets of Central City that could come back at any time.

"What's wrong?" She asked him. "I'm getting the feeling there's something else you wanted to talk about."

"Yeah, there is," Eddie said slowly. "But I'm not quite sure how to bring it up." He licked his lips and leaned forward. "Iris and I only just moved together," he reminded her and Cadence nodded. "Which is serious. And I'm thinking long-term for our relationship...like marriage."

"Yeah," Cadence prompted.

"So I've been thinking about a lot of different things. Where we would move after getting married, if we would stay in my apartment. Who we'd invite, how big it would be. How I'd propose…but there's also the topic of kids…that we haven't really spoken about."

"Uh…huh…"

"So, if it's not too forward of a question, I was wondering if there was any insight you would like to give in that area," he said. "I mean, because you have one."

Cadence laughed at the blunt way he broached the topic. As a matter of fact she preferred people to be blunt with it rather than pretending that it wasn't there and awkwardly try and tip-toe their way around it. Though she did also find it amusing how someone would and wouldn't exactly ask her about it. "Well, honestly, the first thing you should do is make sure that Iris wants kids, too. But the big thing you need to figure out is whether or not you can afford for one of you to put your career aside to do it. Not that I'm saying you're going to be having kids within the next year but…"

Eddie nodded but didn't reply.

"And, I'm sorry, but why are you asking me this rather than Iris or…"

"Or Joe or Barry?" Eddie broke in. "Because Iris and I have never had this conversation and…well…I think Joe or Barry would actually kill me so…" Cadence smiled. "I guess I wanted a neutral party to be able to work these things through."

"I wouldn't say I'm neutral considering it looks like I'm the only one you know who actually does have a kid."

"Yeah…how'd you do that anyway?"

"Well, if you want me to draw you a diagram." Cadence laughed again when Eddie immediately back tracked his question. "Honestly, I don't know. I just take it a day at a time and hope that I'm doing the right thing. It's not like you get a manual about how to do it. As a matter of fact I wouldn't be surprised if I go back down to the lobby and find him climbing on top of that massive gold plaque at the front of the precinct."

"When I came up he was talking to another officer," Eddie explained.

"Mm, that can be just as dangerous."

And yet, Cadence was still suspicious as to why he wanted to talk to her. Her suspicions of people she never really gotten a chance to know would always do that other than the fact she made friends so easily. There was nothing completely alarming about Eddie but there was something she couldn't quite put her finger on that was weird. She didn't have any emotional ties to him like Iris and Barry so she couldn't dislike him the way Barry had, they seemed to be friends now. But she couldn't shake it.

Thankfully, her suspicions were put on hold as Joe walked back into the room. He looked at Eddie and smiled. "Ah, Eddie, why don't you meet your new co-worker?"

It took Cadence a second before she leapt up out of her seat, clasping her hands together. "I got the job?" She asked.

"Captain Singh must've been in a good mood because he agreed with all of the points you made," Joe explained then gave her a pointed look. Right. All of the points that didn't have to do with metahumans. But who cared, she got the job and was now the Medical Examiner of the Central City Police Department. "Welcome to the CPPD." He held out his hand towards her and Cadence shook it firmly as Eddie said, "Congratulations."

"Thank you so much, Detective West," Cadence said. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with me…just thanks." She turned to Eddie and grinned at him. "I guess I'll see you later." She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, waved to the two and started to leave the room. She paused at the doorway, realizing she hadn't asked when she was going to start and turned back to the two. She watched as Eddie picked up his discarded folder and opened it, holding it out to Joe. Joe looked around before taking the folder and from her angle, Cadence caught a glimpse of what looked like a photo of Harrison.

She turned away, her excitement immediately taking over her concern and hurried down to the lobby of the CCPD where she found Brady looking over an officer's walkie-talkie. "Hey," Cadence greeted them. Brady looked up an abandoned the walkie-talkie, hurrying over to her.

As soon as he reached her, he was a machine gun of questions. "What happened? How'd it go? Did you get the job? When do you start? Do you get your own office? Do you get your own gun?"

Cadence laughed and waited for him to run out of breath. It was hard to think that a few days before, when she finally told him about their money issues and how she had been kicked out of residency. She gathered Brady into her room and motioned for him to sit on the floor beside her. He looked up at her earnestly and she took a deep breath before explaining.

"Okay, so...I usually tell you everything that's going on with me or am honest about things that may or may not change with the way we live," Cadence said. Brady nodded and continued to watch her. "And you know that we've been having some problems with money over the past couple of years and that I had been getting most of it from my residency." She took a deep breath. "I got fired, bud."

Brady's eyes widened for a moment and then he tilted his head to the side. "Fired?" He repeated. "Why?"

"Because I was working so much with STAR Labs and the Flash and being Flash Fire that I couldn't keep up. And my professor knew that I was having problems because I was coming in late or leaving early and it just started to get too much." She felt her eyes started to well up and she quickly wiped them away. "So my professor fired me."

"Oh." Brady then reached out and brushed her tears away. "Don't cry, Mom. You're doing a good thing to help the city."

"I know, but how can I help the city if I can't help you?" Cadence pointed out, still crying. "We've been in Central City for just about as long as you've been alive and we only just got an apartment big enough so you could have your own space. And, you know how we've had Child Protective Services coming around a lot." Brady nodded. "That's an issue, too."

"I have money saved up," Brady insisted. "You can have that."

"No, that's your money. You keep that for something you really want."

"But I really want to help you." Brady sat up on his knees and wrapped his arms around Cadence's neck. "Don't cry, Mom." Cadence smiled and sniffed loudly, wrapping her arms around Brady as well. And the two continued to sit there for a long time until Cadence suggested that he go get some homework done. And it was then she decided that she wasn't going to sit around and allow herself to let life run its course for her. She was going to make a decision for herself and that was how she got the idea of working for the CCPD.

And instead of talking herself out of it she went right for it and now things seemed to be working even better.

"It went great, I got the job. I don't know when I'm going to start and I do get my own office, but I don't get a gun." Cadence answered his questions as quickly as they came, giving him a double high-five and hugging him. Then she tilted his head back so she could look down at him. "Only city police gets guns."

Brady's face twisted up into displeasure, "That's lame."

"I know," Cadence agreed.

"They could've given you some sort of a weapon to defend yourself when you're on the streets and everything," Brady continued almost as if he hadn't heard her. "Maybe even a hand grenade if you could, that'd help with your powers and everything."

Cadence looked at him for a moment before remarking, "I should've had a girl."

Brady turned and gave her a look, making her laugh, before his attention moved behind her and his entire face lit up. "Barry! Barry! Mom got a job with the CCPD!" Cadence turned around and waved when she spotted Barry coming down the staircase. He looked distracted for a minute before his name was called then he smiled.

"Sorry, did I hear you say you got a job here?" He asked.

"Yeah, I was just hired as the Medical Examiner," Cadence said.

Barry's eyes then lit up ad he opened his arms wide. "Congratulations." The two hugged and Cadence closed her eyes, resting her chin on his shoulder as she squeezed him. It lasted a few seconds longer than it should have before they pulled away again. "That's great." Then he looked confused. "I didn't know you were applying."

"Well…I sort of didn't have a choice," Cadence admitted. "Considering I got fired from my residency."

"You got…why didn't you tell me?"

"I was embarrassed."

The admission this time around wasn't so hard. She said it to herself since she had been fired to remind herself it was real. But then again it didn't' really. She had enough going on that she could pretend it hadn't happened but knowing the steady source of income wasn't coming in…and how was she supposed to say it to Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and Harrison. They were all extremely smart and successful in their fields, in their careers—ignoring that pesky explosion—and she was the one that couldn't do it.

"Because of the whole bar thing?" Barry asked.

Cadence held her breath, lightly placing her hands on her hips. "Actually, I was talking about being embarrassed in general, but we need to talk about that, too…" she trailed off, looking to the side. Barry followed her gaze and the two looked at Brady.

He looked back at them and blinked. "Oh. Um. Barry, is there anything to eat around here?"

"There's a break room just over there," Barry pointed. "Just tell them that you're here with me and it shouldn't be a problem." He waited until Brady was out of earshot before bringing his attention to the fire metahuman that stood in front of him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up in front of him."

"That's alright," Cadence replied. "He's going to find out anyway." She twisted her fingers together. "But I do need to be honest with you about something, Tholly. About why I invited Roy to come with us without saying anything. When you asked if I wanted to go out that night the way you mentioned it I thought you were just asking me out. Then Caitlin called and said that you had asked her so…I've said it before I haven't been on a date in a long time so I immediately assumed that you asked her out and then asked me to go along so I didn't feel left out. Instead of talking about it I went ahead and called Roy to come with. But there was something I never told you or the others, really.

"When I went to visit my parents in Metropolis, I wasn't in Metropolis the entire time. I was in Starling City for some time, trying to figure out some things about Harrison and Roy and I hung out a lot." She looked at Barry and waited for his response, glad when he seemed to figure it out. Thank God he's smart or else I probably would've had to explain that about eight times before he finally got it.

"Oh," he said. "Okay."

"And I knew you were kind of jealous of him."

Barry let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm not jealous of Roy, I'm—"he paused, running a hand through his hair. "Okay, if we're being honest. I'm not jealous of Roy, I'm envious of him. He's athletic and took to being a superhero a lot faster than I ever did. He's like those guys in high school on the football team that everything seemed to work out for while I was the one that was constantly known as 'The son of the doctor who murdered his wife'". He shook his head, pain flashing through his eyes as he allowed himself to think about his past.

"Yeah, but you're not Roy, Barry. And you're not Oliver, you're you. Up until I got here you were doing everything on your own and you're doing a great job," Cadence insisted. "I wish you could see that. Everyone else can."

Barry smiled at her and Cadence smiled back. All of a sudden she felt her body temperature increase, and her heart start to race. That was strange. It had only happened when she was first getting used to her powers, getting used to the way she felt when becoming aware of everyone else's body heat. She shifted her eyes up to Barry's and bit her lower lip, waiting for him to ask the question that was on the tip of his tongue.

"Hey, uh, have you talked to Caitlin at all…since what happened happened?" Barry shifted his eyes away and crossed his arms.

Cadence tried her hardest not to let her jaw drop. That wasn't quite the question she had expected, or wanted him to ask now that they had cleared up everything from that strange night. Instead she thought about the tensions that had surrounded them when Ronnie's and Professor Stein's lives were at stake. "Oh, you mean since she called me nothing more than a killer and that I'll amount to nothing else."

"She didn't say that."

"Well, Caitlin never actually has to say anything; she's really good at implying things by the way she looks at you. Not to mention that she did say, and I'm quoting exactly here, 'You've already killed more people than the rest of us could ever imagine. What's two more?'" Cadence shrugged. "So excuse me if I don't feel that t freaking welcome wagon should come from my side of the fence!"

"So you don't want to—"

"Why should I, Barry?"

"She was hurt."

"So was I. And anyway it's not like its any great loss. I've had people leave me already; my parents, Ryder…what's one more?" She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I thought you wanted to ask me something else," she prompted.

"Something else?" Barry repeated.

So Cadence tried another tactic. "Well, I wasn't exactly sure but I thought there might be a rule against co-workers dating or something." Then he got the hint.

Barry thought for a moment. Then he started to pace a few steps towards her, babbling as he did so, "No. Nope. No. I mean, it's frowned upon. I think. I'm not really e-entirely sure. But I don't think it'd be an issue. Why was there someone you were interested in around here? Not that there's a problem if there is. But, I was kind of hoping, I mean—"

Cadence held up her folder and slapped it against Barry's mouth, cutting him off. "That was kind of a hint for you to ask me out, Tholly. I mean, really ask me out this time. But if I have to do it for you, I don't really have a problem with that either."

"Oh." Barry nodded. "Oh! Okay, well, I was thinking maybe we could go out to an early dinner and then after that we can see where the night goes." Then his eyes immediately widened when he realized the double-entendre from what he had said. "I…I didn't mean it like that. Like, I didn't mean to imply that the night was going to go that way…I mean, it's not like you're not experienced in that area, you have Brady. Not that I think about it, I mean—"He was cut off once more as Cadence placed her hand over his mouth.

She smiled warmly at him, showing that his babbling and accidental insults hadn't messed anything up. "I'd love to go out with you, Barry."

Iris went straight to her desk once she arrived at the Central City Pictures News. She wanted to avoid Mason as much as possible, not just because he had been a jerk to her on her first day, but because he was her pseudo-babysitter as long as they were indicated. She was to follow him around make sure they were getting the right stories for the citizens of Central City to read.

And she wanted to get her notes together before Tess arrived. It hadn't been hard to convince the woman to meet her at the news office rather than Jitters that day, Tess had even suggested shortly after the announcement of her news to stop by. It was a little weird, she barely knew the woman but already felt some sort of a connection with her. And a little bit of guilt. Barry and her father had both suggested that she not do the article on her but where was the harm in it? She just wanted to get an idea of what it was like to work with Harrison Wells and to get her ideas of the metahumans in the city and what happened with the Particle Accelerator explosion.

She also knew they were keeping something from her. Barry and Joe had to work with STAR Labs with some of their cases and while CCPD business, most of the time, was confidential there was always something she was told. Even when she was young her Dad had given her and Barry nightmares from some of the stories he told to warn them about the real world and how not everyone was so forgiving and nice. But to be shut out now? That really hurt.

There was probably a reason for it, but it still hurt.

"Iris, hey." Tess grinned as she walked up to the desk with a small potted plant in her hands. "Wow, you've got a desk and everything. I figured this could spruce things up a little bit; trust me when I say I know how drab these office settings can be."

"Thanks." Iris took the plant and examined it closely, noticing they were small flower buds that were just about to bloom. She turned and them on the corner of her desk and turned back to Tess, holding out her and. When Tess grabbed it she reached out her other hand and placed it on top of Tess's. "I'm so glad you decided to come."

"After seeing how excited you were about getting the job in the first place, I couldn't stay away," Tess pointed out. She looked around. "Looks like an exciting place to work, too."

"I hope so," Iris agreed. "Actually, I have an idea for an article and it kind of has to do with you."

Tess removed her hand from Iris's. "Oh really?" She asked.

"Yes, and it's sort of a way to welcome you back to Central City." Iris continued to gush about her idea, forgoing her original plan of being as casual as possible with the idea. "You have such an amazing story and worked with some of the best minds out there and I would love to interview you; to get the story on what it was like when you were working, how your career went, your future for your career, what it was like to work with Harrison Wells, the Particle Accelerator explosion…"

"No, I don't…I don't think that's a good idea." Tess took a step back, eyes widening. "I haven't spoken about that part of my life in a long time. I don't even…I just started to know about the metahumans and everything, I don't know how I could help."

"I just want your opinions on—"

"—And, Harrison Wells and I aren't in communication," Tess continued. "And we haven't been. Not for a long time. I…I'm sorry. But I have to go." She grasped Iris's hand once more. "I can't wait to see your first article, Iris. But please, don't ask me again." With that, she turned and left Central City Picture News as quickly as she came.

Iris sighed, crossing her arms. "Way to go," she mumbled to herself.

"Looks like you're having some issues getting a subject to talk." Iris looked up to find a woman about her age, if not a little bit older, standing above her. "Let me tell you, in journalism that's not going to start happening and you have to learn how to take the bull by the horns." She then stuck her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and smiled mischievously. "Unfortunately some men seem to take that to the extreme."

Iris stared at the woman before she smiled as well. "You're Lois Lane," she greeted her. "You're a reporter for the Daily Planet."

"Indeed I am," Lois agreed. "Though I have to admit…it's kind of weird to know that my reputation has taken me all the way to Central City."

"You're a legendary reporter," Iris reminded her. "You've written about some of the greatest things going on in Metropolis. And, I'm sure you're not slow on news considering how much Superman is doing to help things over there." Iris turned her gaze to her desk, pretending to clear it when it was already clear. "I bet you haven't been stuck writing stories only about him."

"I get it," Lois declared. "It's the freshman slump, sort of a rite of passage. As soon as you're known for something and get hired to a newspaper you only get jobs that have to deal with what you're known for. What is it here?"

"The Flash."

"Well, it looks like Central City has its own superhero." Lois thought for a moment then placed her hand on Iris's shoulder, turning her around. "The worst thing you can do is let this beat you down. You can keep doing the Flash articles but you need to prove you can do something more than that, so when you get the opportunity you're ready to take it."

A smile graced Iris's lips. "That's what my best friend Barry, said." Then she frowned. "Right before he figured out what I wanted to talk about you. You know that woman that just left, Tess? She's who I wanted to make an article on. She has a really interesting past in the science field and was close with Harrison Wells. But then she got into a car accident and was sent to Coast City for physical therapy and just came back to Central City. I thought it'd be a great way to welcome her back and to profile her achievements."

"But she gave you the cold shoulder and flew out of her like a bat out of hell," Lois interrupted. "Which means she may have something to hide just which is an even more interesting story. You know what? I'm going to help you get this story."

"Really? You are?" Iris's face illuminated almost immediately.

"I am," Lois agreed. "Because I see a great reporter in you, Iris. You've got the instinct. And it's going to take you far."

A/N: Well, things are really going to blow up with the next chapter.

So I had to make the very hard decision to skip by the episodes Out of Time and Rogue Time; there were many portions of those episodes that I really loved and would've liked to see within the story…but that was when it was my original idea when Flash Fire was going to encompass the entire season. With what I'm doing now it wouldn't make sense to entirely show it.

That being said if it isn't clear, Barry did travel back in time in a fight against Mark Mardon and Snart knows Barry's (and in extension Cadence's) true identity while they've met Lisa Snart. However Caitlin's and Cisco's points of those episodes haven't happened yet as you can see.

So I asked the question on Twitter and Tumblr if I show Cade's negative traits well: I do show them, but I haven't really shown the consequences of those negative traits yet so there's a part of it that comes up in this chapter. Though, to be honest, I'm surprised there's one negative trait she had (Which is glaringly obvious) that no one seems to have picked up on though DawnMay has alluded to it.

Thank you for being so patient with this chapter being late. I've been really busy this past week. More with SnowWells, SnowStorm, Eiling, and AB in the next chapter And, woohoo official BarryCade date coming soon!

So, having mentioned AB briefly, do you think Cade will tell Barry and the others what's going on or do you think she'll keep it a secret again?

-Riles