.:40:.

Cadence sighed so heavily she could've blown over an entire card castle. Brady continued to wail in his car seat, face as red as a tomato. She rested her chin in her hand, holding a pacifier up to his mouth but he turned his head away, pushing at her hands. He started to cry even harder. Now Cadence could see some annoyed glances turning her way and she became even more annoyed.

It's a food court, not a library. It's not like you're not allowed to be loud here, she thought. Reaching forward, Cadence picked him up from his car seat and held him in her arms, bouncing him up and down, hoping the jostling would soothe him a little bit. But a screaming toddler was harder to console than an adult man who was having a tantrum.

"C'mon Brady, please stop crying." She leaned him back and glanced into his mouth. Little white nubs poked out from his gums and he continued to stick his finger into his mouth. "Are your teeth hurting? Are more teeth coming in?"

Brady quieted for a second then he closed his eyes and started to wail once more. She placed him back in his car seat and gently rocked it back and forth, looking down at the half-eaten food that sat on her tray. No use in trying to finish it now as it was too cold.

"What's wrong, baby? Are you just throwing a tantrum?"

Startled, Cadence looked over her shoulder to find a woman she had never seen before standing right behind her. Actually she was pulling out the chair that sat next to Cadence, inviting herself to sit down. "Do you need some help, honey? It looks like you haven't finished eating yet."

"No, I'm fine," Cadence replied. She ran a hand through her hair, smoothing it off her forehead. And she tried her hardest not to get annoyed. No matter where she went with Brady there was always someone who had to give her funny looks, 'a kid shouldn't be having a kid', or try to give their two cents into her situation. "He's just being a little fussy today. I was finished eating anyway."

"Well, it looks like you need some help. I can play with him a little if you want to finish," the woman insisted. Before Cadence could respond she reached out and started to rub her hand over Brady's stomach, tickling him lightly. Brady slowly stopped crying but he now looked at the woman with a distrusting expression.

No. Confused. Wondering why it wasn't his mother that was tickling him.

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fi—"

"—you girls always thinking you can do things yourself. But raising a kid is a lot harder than it looks. You should take the help whenever it's offered. Finish your lunch dear, I'll make sure he's okay." Cadence gritted her teeth as she watched the woman start to reach into the carrier to pick him up.

Brady kicked his foot at her and scrunched down in his seat but the woman continued to grab him. And Cadence snapped. She reached over and practically yanked Brady out of his car seat and into her arms, cradling the back of his head. Then she turned and glared at the woman beside her and said, "Back off my baby, bitch!"

The woman was gone in a flash and Cadence bobbed her knee up and down to gently bounce Brady as she did so. Then as her frustration subsided she turned to look at Brady, noticing he was gripping her shirt and resting his cheek against her shoulder.

"Oh, now you want to cuddle."

He lifted his head and smiled at her.

Cadence took a step back as the door to the townhouse opened and Ryder stuck his head out. He looked at her in surprise before standing up straight, holding the door open with his hand. "Hey," he greeted her. Then he lowered his gaze onto Brady and h smiled a little. "Hey buddy, how's it going?"

"Okay." Brady shrugged and leaned over to look into the house.

Of course that was as bit of a lie. Things weren't really 'okay' when they had to pretend their days were normal when trying to find someone who may or may not be trying to kill them.

"Can we come in?" Cadence asked. "I know its short notice but I was hoping that we could talk." She ran a hand through her hair. Ryder nodded and stepped back, still holding the door open so that Brady and Cadence could go inside. Brady stood just inside the doorway as Cadence looked around, nodding in approval. "This is a pretty nice place."

"I reckon so, it's close to the construction sites we're working on and there're a lot of stores and things nearby," Ryder said with a deep country drawl.

A smile came to Cadence's lips as she gave him a funny look. "Where'd that come from? Last time we talked it wasn't there."

Ryder's eyebrows came together. "That's because I was using my 'professional voice'." He used air-quote around the words. "When I'm around co-workers or people I don't know well I speak properly."

"I guess it's hard to take the Smallville country boy out of you."

Ryder laughed and nodded. Then the turned back to Brady who was quietly looking back and forth between his parents. "Do you mind if I talk to your mother for a while? I've got a video game system set up in the den if you want to play." He laughed as Brady perked up and immediately raced over to the living room, immediately plopping himself down in front of it.

Ryder motioned for Cadence to sit at the dining room table. And for the first few minutes they were silent. As a matter of fact it was probably the longest she hadn't said anything. There were a lot of emotion she needed to work through and so many of them were fighting their way to the surface. At the moment she was stuck between apologetic and angry.

"This is probably the longest I haven't heard you talk," Ryder pointed out. "Which is a surprise, you always seem to have something to say."

Cadence gave him a look. "You always said it was cute when I talked a lot."

"No, Cade, I said you were cute. Your constant talking? Not so much."

"At least I had something to say, I never talked just to hear myself talk."

"True."

Cadence smiled and looked away from Ryder for a minute. Then she took a deep breath and turned back to Ryder and looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry."

"About what?" He sat up in his seat and lowered the brim of his hat down onto his eyebrows, now slowly chewing his gum at the side of his mouth.

"About everything that happened. About blaming you for leaving and going off to school in California. I know it was your parents' idea, they're as insane as mine are, but I still blamed it on you because you were an easy target and I couldn't take responsibility."

Now Ryder leaned forward her, eyes flashing for a moment. "We dated for three years, why did you ever think that I'd want to leave you like that? Or Brady, I told you I wanted him, that I wanted to make things works, and I meant it."

"Then why didn't you tell your parents to back off?!" The question came out a lot harsher than she had intended.

There was a sudden whistling sound and as Cadence whipped her head around she saw Ryder racing over to a teapot that sat on the stove. "Sorry," she apologized. "I didn't think you had anything flammable out."

"I didn't think I still had water in there," Ryder muttered, opening the top and glancing inside. He scratched the back of his head. "Unless this is another thing with your powers."

Cadence nodded. That was a hard conversation to have, too. Explaining to him everything she and Brady could do with their abilities, everything Barry could do and how important it was he kept all of their secrets. That was one of the quiet conversation they had at one of Brad's recent soccer games. Other times their conversations revolved around slowly getting to know each other again along with giving him the chance to get to know Brady better.

Still, it was a question she needed to know the answer to. She had wanted to ask that ever since he had left, ever since her letters and emails were unreturned. No phone calls. No nothing. And her resentment grew and grew. "They were the ones who sent you away and I know you didn't want to go because you told me that. Why didn't you just tell them that you wanted to stay with me. With us?"

Ryder licked his lips and crossed his arms, leaning against the counter behind him. "Because I was afraid."

"And you think I wasn't? You freaking abandoned me, Ryder! You went off and have your normal life leaving the responsibility you had behind! People treated me like I had some sort of a disease and you were living your life scott free in California!" She slapped her hand onto the table, trying to stay as calm as possible despite the desperate need to raise her voice. To yell, to scream, to let him know just how hurt she really was. Unfortunately the risk of burning his house down in the process was far too great and it'd been terrible considering the same fate had befallen his bedroom years ago. "You went to school and got a career with little to no problems at all and I was struggling the whole time! Do you think I wanted to have only the choice of going back to Metropolis or working things on my own? I knew what was the best option for Brady but I doubted myself the whole time."

"I wasn't afraid of having a baby, Cade! Damn! I was afraid of everything else!" He pulled off his hat and ran a hand through his hair, eyes flashing. "What if we weren't able to stay together after he was born? What if we got married and later ended up getting divorced? What if we got married too young? Or waited too long and just fell into being comfortable. Not to mention finances…"

Cadence tilted her head back and ran her hands over her face. She scrubbed at her skin making sure not to press her fingernails into her skin. "That wouldn't be anything we could've avoided. You don't think money isn't something I worry about all the time?" She paused and lowered her chin. "I mean, before getting the job at the CCPD. But if it weren't for Detective West putting in a good word for me I probably wouldn't have that and I'd be…" she trailed off.

She knew exactly what she would be doing. There was no point in saying it out loud. There was still so much Ryder didn't know and she needed to explain when the time was right.

"I thought being able to go to a school that would give me a better chance of being able to start a career and make some money. But I had to work really hard there; they were really strict on rules over us and studies were really important. Then I was going to pay for child support or whatever you needed." Now he started to pick at a loose thread of his sleeve. "Imagine my surprise when I called your place to tell you and your Mom and Dad said you had taken Brady and moved away."

"I didn't tell anyone where I was going. Not even my parents. I couldn't stand the ultimatum they gave me. Looking back at it now, I know I should've stayed and actually taken their help but…I was angry and I was self-centered…" Cadence took a deep breath and rested her cheek in her upraised palm. "Why didn't you tell me that my Mom had gotten in touch with when I was back in Metropolis?"

Ryder shrugged. "I didn't know you were there until I showed up. She didn't tell me that you were back in Metropolis."

Now Cadence's eyebrows furrowed. "Then what'd she call you over for?"

"She said she and your Dad were adding onto the house and wanted my opinion on things they wanted done. Apparently Mom and Dad gave her a glowing review of my talents."

He rolled his eyes and Cadence laughed. There was something about those within Metropolis—the upper class anyway—that tended to brag a bit more than they should. Her mother always said things were like a popularity contest and her father agreed wholeheartedly.

Cadence felt her heart sink as she thought about her father. Then it sank even further thinking about how much of her life was based on lies and things that weren't told to her. Even from some of her closest friends. It was starting to become exhausting despite the judgment she couldn't pass on them as she had been in the same predicament only months before.

I guess Mom really wanted to do something to help me for once, Cadence thought. Having him around is much better for Brady. She turned her gaze towards their son as he continued to sit in the living room, staring at the flashing TV screen. He was close enough for them to watch but not enough to hear their conversation.

"You know I hated you for a while," Cadence finally said.

"I know. I was mad at you for a while, too," Ryder agreed.

"But I don't think you were as mad as he was." She nodded over to Brady then twisted back in her seat to look at Ryder. "There's something he really wants to ask you. You already told me your answer but he needs to hear it from you."

Now Ryder managed a wry smile, one that Cadence realized was the splitting image of their son. "What else could he ask me? He's already gone from my favorite color to my favorite number to my favorite food. To whether or not I have a girlfriend. To what I think about you dating."

"I figured he would've told you about that."

Ryder laughed and rubbed is eyebrows. "Actually, it was more like wondering whether or not we'd get back together. That's what I got out of it anyway."

"Yeah, he has a tendency to go right for the hard hitting questions." That reminded her of Ryder, too. He always had a way of managing to cram one hundred feet in his mouth at once. "I mean, I love you, Ry. And I'm probably always going to but we're completely different people than we used to be. I think he just wanted to know for sure."

"Yeah, he likes Barry a lot."

Running a hand through her hair, Cadence studied Ryder closely. Studied the face she had known for so long, and was relieved to find that he didn't appear annoyed at all. "Ah, he told you about Barry?"

"And about Cisco and Caitlin. But mostly about Barry. Like I said, he likes the guy a lot." He removed his hat to scratch his head once more. "I like him too, actually. He's a cool guy."

"I think so," Cadence agreed. She cleared her throat. "So what about you? Any girlfriends?"

Ryder blushed, which was almost unnoticeable under the shadow of his hat. "That's complicated, at the moment." He changed the subject as he walked into the living room and sat down next to Brady. "I heard you wanted to ask me something, buddy," he pointed out.

Brady paused his video game and looked over at Ryder seriously. "Did you want me?" He asked. Cadence watched Ryder's head jerk back in surprise. "Mom says you did but…you've been gone for a long time. Was it something I did? Or was it me…?"

Now Ryder lowered his head into his hands. Brady leaned forward and lifted his hat so that he could look Ryder in the eye. "Brady, I always wanted you. Do you think your mother would've given your middle name after mine if I didn't want you? My parents sent me away before I could figure out what to do for a job and everything." He held up his hands. "I thought about you all the time. I felt like a jerk for everything that happened but you should never think I didn't want you."

Brady looked hard at him.

"As a matter of fact, you know my guest room upstairs? I was thinking of changing that into a room specifically for you." He turned back to Cadence. "If that's alright."

"That's fine," she replied, a little amazed. He really had put a lot of thought into Brady. She started to say something else but stopped when her phone suddenly started to blow up. Her phone rapidly shook in her hand as she pulled it out to look. The first thing she noticed was that the text was given to her and Barry, the second was the urgency of the text.

Cait: SOS, Gorilla Grodd in the City. Get here, now!

Cadence quickly texted back: On our way now.

Brady seemed to have noticed the change in her demeanor because he turned towards her before immediately getting to his feet. "What's wrong? Is it the Reverse-Flash?"

"The Reverse-Flash?" Ryder repeated, getting to his feet as well.

"Long story," Cadence said shortly "It's Grodd. He's in the city. We have to go now."

"Grodd?" Ryder repeated.

"Gorilla Grodd," Brady confirmed.

Ryder blinked for a second then shook his head. "Wait, are you talking about that Central City urban legend thing?" When Cadence and Brady nodded he suddenly turned very serious. "I don't know what I can do to help, but I'm going with you."

"No, Ry, you need to stay here."

"If this gorilla is real then I have to go. Two of the men from the company I work for disappeared ages ago when they were inspecting the sewers." He glanced at Brady as his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he brought a hand up to cover his mouth. "And I'd like to know if Grodd had something to do with it. And, again, I might be able to help."

Cadence shook her head then placed her hands against the sides of her head. If Grodd was around that meant Harrison was probably around as well, who else would've gotten him out of the sewers and up into the streets of Central City. Tears threatened to come to her eyes and she breathed hard, forcing herself to keep calm. There wasn't enough time to argue and she knew Grodd could do a lot of damage in a short amount of time.

.

..

...

Iris looked up as Eddie looked at his phone as it buzzed. He stood up so fast his chair fell over and knocked to the ground. "Are you serious?" Iris closed her book and started to ask Eddie what was wrong but he quickly raced over to the couch and leapt over it in a long jump. He jabbed the ON button and swept up the remote from the coffee table into his hand in a matter of seconds.

The channels flew by as he frantically searched through them then stopped when he found it. Iris stood up next to Eddie and watched, her jaw dropping when she got the good look at the television screen. What looked like a massive gorilla was storming through the streets. According to the newscaster the gorilla hadn't damaged anything yet, but it was moving in an obvious direction; towards STAR Labs. Behind the gorilla she could see a humanlike figure strolling along, an assault rifle cradled in his arms, standing out against his camouflage fatigues.

"Yeah, yeah that's him," Eddie was saying, breaking Iris out of her thoughts. "That's General Eiling alright."

"General Eiling?" Iris repeated. "Who's General Eiling? What does he have to do with any of this?" Eddie ignored her and Iris turned her attention back to the TV. Her eyes shifted to the corner of the screen where there was a sudden yellow streak of light. Her heart leapt into her throat as the streak stopped and revealed itself to be the Flash seconds before Flare teleported at his side.

The camera angle changed, shaking frantically back and forth. Whoever was corresponding on the ground was obviously trying to get a good view of the action that was going on, ignoring the warnings of the newscaster for civilians to get to safety.

The camera then panned onto General Eiling as he came to a stop, with Grodd stopping behind him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Eddie pacing back and forth, bringing his hand up to his hair. Then he slowly slid down until he sat, staring at the TV. Iris sat down next to him, resting her hands between her knees. She tried breathing through her nose to keep from freaking out.

This was the biggest thing to ever happen to Central City and they were seeing it all live. If she could get something written down it'd be the best article she'd ever worked on. As if reading her thoughts, her cell phone started to buzz on the table in front of her, the loud sound causing the two to jump. Eddie was so startled his hand quickly shifted towards his side where his gun would've been if he had his belt on.

Iris looked at him for a minute then picked up her phone. She saw Lois's name along the front of the screen and quickly answered. "Hey Lois," She said.

"Hey nothing, do you see what's going on out there?" Lois demanded. Iris could hear what sounded like a whirring sound in the background followed by a loud screeching sound. "Why don't you watch where you're going!" she shouted then turned her attention back to Iris. "This is a once in a lifetime journalistic opportunity. Where are you?"

"I'm in my apartment," Iris replied.

"Well, get your ass out of your apartment and get down here! You're missing everything! There's a story To go after. And I don't mean all of that Flash stuff that you normally spout off to your followers and the guy that signs your checks. I mean the biggest story that you could ever imagine. It's time for you to find it! I'm already on my way to the scene. I can meet you there."

"They want us to stay…" Iris trailed off. Lois was right. This was the story she had been hoping for, something that was other than just knowing what The Flash was doing. This was determining what it was that General Eiling had to do with the whole thing and what the rampaging gorilla wanted…and the Flash could be in there as well. "I'll meet you down there. I'm getting into my car right now." She hung up her phone and leapt off the couch, heading towards the table by the door to retrieve her keys.

"Could you hold on a—, wait a min—…Iris!" Eddie's panicked voice made her turn as she was grabbing onto her keys. She held them tightly in her hand, pushing the jagged teeth into her palm. "Iris, where are you going?"

"I have to get out there," Iris explained, backing towards the door. "I have to know what's going on."

Eddie stood up and motioned towards the TV. "You can stay here and do that. They're giving as much information as they can."

"No. No, I'm a reporter; I need to be down there."

Eddie glanced at his cell phone then at the TV as it turned back to a picture of The Flash and Flare as they stood in front of General Eiling, waiting to see who was going to move first. It was then she noticed Eddie turn pale and stared to sweat all the same. She recognized the look immediately; it was the same look he would give her father when Joe would, in no uncertain terms, let him know he didn't particularly like him dating his daughter. As if he were caught doing something he shouldn't be doing.

Iris continued to stare at him and Eddie continued to look at her…except for the few seconds his eyes would move to the TV.

"What?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Eddie replied just as soon as the word left her mouth.

"What's going on, Eddie? I know you know something. And that's my Dad on the phone isn't it? Or Captain Singh? You're supposed to be going down there or something and there's something about this that you're not telling me."

Eddie took a deep breath, placing his hands on his hips. "I'm a Detective, Iris, there are plenty of things that I can't tell you."

"But you've been acting like this for weeks. You've become…different. Distant. You don't talk to me like you used to."

Over the past few weeks Iris felt herself starting to consistently question everything he was doing. Wondering why his calls would take longer than usual, why he would take his phone calls in a different room and act like nothing had happened when he came back. Why whenever she would ask about the cases he worked on he would clam up and only say a few words here or there. The same way her Dad and Barry would; having become incredibly secretive as more and more time passed.

"Iris, we talk all the time," Eddie insisted. "We talk about everything."

"Obviously not. Or you wouldn't be trying so hard to keep me out of the loop!" Iris grabbed her coat of the back of a nearby chair and shrugged into it. "I have a job to do and you're not going to stop me!" She turned towards the door and had it open as Eddie called her name once more. "What?!" She snapped, turning to face him.

She found him gathering his things together as well. "I just got called down. Your father and I, they need our help to keep this…thing detained until we get some more heavy hitters to come in." He pulled on his jacket. "I can give you a ride down there."

"Really?"

"Only because I know if I don't take you down there you'll find your own way and then I'll worry about you the whole time. But you need to promise that you'll stick by me."

Iris nodded back.

On the way down the to the scene Iris ran her hands over each other as she sat glued to the radio, listening for every tidbit of information they could get. Her fingers moved over her phone, typing as quickly as possible. Finally, they came upon a police blockade and Eddie quickly climbed out of the car, taking the bulletproof vest her father handed towards him. She waited until they were deep in conversation, loading up their guns and coming up with a plan, before quietly opening the passenger door to the car.

Carefully, Iris eased the door shut behind her before taking off down a side street to meet up with Lois, where the two planned to meet up through text on their way there. Lois was pacing back and forth in front of an empty office building as Iris approached.

"Finally!" Lois grabbed onto her arm and pulled her down another series of streets. Hiding in the shadows. Iris pulled out her cell phone and started to take as many pictures as she could. "Check it out!"

Iris lowered her phone just as General Eiling took a step forward. He seemed to have broken out of the trance he had been in, staring straight at the Flash and Flare. Finally, he cleared his throat and lowered his assault rifle. "Get out of the way."

"What are you doing, Eiling?" The Flash demanded. "What are you doing to Central City?"

"Central City terrible place," General Eiling replied. "Central City place where I tortured. Central City not help me. I not help Central City." Iris's eyebrows came together as she watched General Eiling. He slowly lifted his rifle and pointed it towards The Flash and Flare. All of a sudden his arms lowered back to his sides and he swayed on the spot before pitching forward.

There was a sudden gust of wind and General Eiling was moved out from in front of the gorilla to the side of the road. Then when The Flash stood by Flare once more he took a few steps forward then suddenly stopped, grabbing the sides of their head.

The fight was on after that and Iris stood transfixed, watching the entire thing. Grodd The Flash and Flare continued to race back and forth across the street, showing off their strength and speed. Every time Grodd would roar, beat his chest, or lumber towards the metahumans the ground would shake, rattling every bone in Iris's body.

And yet, Iris continued to stand and watch with Lois. Not just because of her own journalistic integrity, not just because she was a cop's daughter and found being told to do something made her not want to do it that much more, but because of the real reason she was out there. To know everything there was to know about him and the other metahumans. To know what was truly going on with this specific fight.

It was a spectacular fight; no matter what the gorilla threw their way The Flash and Flare would come right back with an increased burst of speed or strength. Lightning bolts zipped back and forth across the street, smoke and flames rushed by, warming Iris's front despite the chill of the night. Grodd certainly wasn't giving up and continued to charge back and forth across the street, taking in punches and sending some back of his own, knocking them back and forth across the street and into nearby buildings.

Glass glittered over the street from the force of the impact, the sound of support beams bending under their weight. But as the fight went on they continued to shoot themselves back as quickly as they were knocked down. Every now and then Grodd would do something to them that would make them stop and slap their hands to the sides of their heads before falling to their knees then collapse to the ground. Once incapacitated Grodd would then grab onto one or the other or both or fling them around once more.

And Iris continued to watch along with the rest of Central City, her heart crashing against her ribcage and body wired up with extreme excitement. If no one else sees what The Flash is doing to help this city…then they don't know what a hero is, Iris thought.

Then there was an incredible flurry of movement that was hard for her to keep her eyes on. Lightning flew back and forth along with bright blasts and flashes of red fire. Then the gorilla was gone and the street was empty. Iris was as amazed as ever and turned to go away but another streak of yellow lightning caught her eye.

"Wait, Iris, look!" Lois grabbed her arm and turned her back to the street.

Iris watched as The Flash looked around the empty city streets. And despite his back turned towards her Iris could see his shoulders droop in disappointment before bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck. It was a move that could've been a way to ease stretch, to rub out the knots that worked their way into the muscle. But for Iris, whose lower jaw dropped at the sudden, familiar movement, it was more than just a way to relieve stress.

It was the habit of the guy she knew to be her best friend.

"I knew it," Iris breathed, staring at Barry's form second before it disappeared. "You're the Flash."

.

..

...

Barry tugged his hood off his head the second he stepped into the Cortex right behind Cadence. Cisco, Caitlin, Brady, Ryder, Professor Stein, and Ronnie all started to speak at once, and Barry tuned them out. His ears were ringing, his head throbbing, he had been thrown around so many times; hit so many things he was surprised nothing had broken. That was definitely a testament to his speed healing but at the same time he wasn't sure if Grodd was really trying to kill him.

It was more like…a caged animal that was afraid. An animal that just wanted to get somewhere safe and was attacking back only because it was being attacked. But then why use General Eiling in the first place and how did he know where to find Eiling? And why was he only attacking now?

"Barry."

Jumping as a hand gently laid on his arm, Barry turned to face Caitlin. She gave him a soft smile of apology. "You and Cadence need to be checked out. Just to make sure that everything's okay."

"I'm fine, Caitlin. Grodd didn't do as much damage as I thought…" Barry ran his hands through his hair. "I just don't understand why he got out of the sewers this time if he's been there just fine the last few times we were down there." He shuddered, remembering what it had been like when he had been taken down there to fight the Reverse-Flash. It was damp, dark, and there had been a consistent chill that made him shiver violently.

"You saw that General Eiling was there, dude," Cisco pointed out. "Obviously he has something to do with it."

"Or else Grodd wanted some fresh air," Cadence pointed out with a slight tone of sarcasm in her voice. "I mean, living under the streets for so long will probably do that to you."

"No, you're not listening to me! When I was down there, fighting with Dr. Wel—"Barry's vice caught in his throat and he turned away. "I mean the Reverse-Flash, General Eiling was just sitting in the corner of the room as if he wasn't all there and now Grodd was using him as a pawn. I don't think it's a coincidence that he was here this time, too."

"So you think that General Eiling brought him out into the city on purpose?" Cadence asked. She thought for a moment, exchanging a glance with Caitlin and Cisco. "Why?"

"As a distraction."

The group turned around as Tess Morgan ran into the Cortex as fast as her injured leg would take her. Cisco looked at her for a minute before bringing his hands up to rest atop his head. "Man, I really need to figure out this whole security thing."

"I believe the rest of us could've told you that," Professor Stein remarked with a raised eyebrow. Though he didn't appear as scared and wary as the others.

Cadence's eyes widened as she watched Tess but otherwise didn't say anything.

Tess ignored Cisco's and Professor Stein's comments and turned to Barry and Cadence. "If I know my husband the way I think I do he's got something up his sleeve. A failsafe plan just in case things don't originally work out. It's how he's always operated." She rested her hands on her stomach, her eyes glancing downward for a moment.

"If you know what he's doing then maybe you can help us," Caitlin pleaded. If she was phased by Tess's appearance she didn't show it. Caitlin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and took a step towards her. "Please, do you know what he's planning on doing? What he wants? You could really help us Dr. Morgan."

Tess lowered her hands and shook her head. "No. I don't know specifically what he's doing. But, like I said, Harrison is the kind of person that deflects your attention away from one thing so he can do another. Much like when the Particle Accelerator went off in the first place."

"That's right. He knew it was going to blow, that something like the explosion was going to happen but continued to bring up hype around it so no one would notice," Cisco said. He clenched his hands into fists, and gritted his teeth as well. "Curse Hartley for being right!"

Cadence finally found her voice and asked, "Do you know where he is now?"

Before she could answer an alarm started to go off and Cisco raced to his computer to check the screen. He brought a hand to his mouth and shook his head. "He's down in the pipeline!" He shook his head then slammed both of his open hands to the counter top. "He's releasing all of the metas!"

"He's here." Tess looked dismayed as if she couldn't warn them fast enough. "We have to get out of here now!"

"Wait, how did you know we were here?" Ryder asked.

There was a streak of red lightning that encircled the room twice before it stopped as Harrison smiled towards them. His eyes were trained solely on Tess. Barry glanced at her. She stared back at Harrison, unblinking.

His smile widened. "I should've given you more credit, Tess. To know that you would figure out your husband's way of thinking through mine. I guess my hold over him wasn't as strong as I thought it was. Or maybe your bond with him is even stronger. I guess we'll see. Having to split my time and memories between Eobard and Harrison can be difficult sometimes."

"Why are you releasing the metahumans from the pipeline?" Barry demanded. "You know as well as the rest of us what they can do to this city."

"As far as I'm concerned this city means nothing to me anymore. It hasn't mean anything to me in a while, too much of my life has been away from me here in Central City. Mostly because of you, Barry Allen. And now I'm going to go home."

"You ordered Grodd to come after us didn't you?" Barry demanded. "You wanted to distract us."

Harrison laughed a sinister laugh that started out as a wheeze. "You're every bit as smart as you've consistently proven, Mr. Allen." Then his smile immediately disappeared. "But the fact of the matter is I don't need to distract you anymore. Because I know how to beat you and I know how to get home with your help."

"No." Barry shook his head. "You're going to pay for what you did to my mother."

Harrison slowly cocked his head to the side. His eyes shifted and he brought his hands up to rest on his head. "Then I guess this is going to end in another fight. Are you prepared to lose?"

Again Barry shook his head. "No. Because this time you're going to lose. You've taken my mother from me, you taken my father from me; you've taken the happy life I could've had. And this time you're not going to take any more of it."

Harrison turned on his heel and raced out of the Cortex and Barry was right behind him. The two stopped outside and stood apart from each other, sizing each one up. Cadence appeared by his side, pulling her goggles down over her eyes, staring Harrison directly in the eye as she did so.

For a minute it appeared that Harrison was surprised, maybe even saddened, then he stood himself up once more. "Why not open the rest of your little bag of tricks and show me what you've got? This one is getting old." His eyes shifted as Firestorm flew in and landed next to the two. Then there was a loud whistling sound and Oliver landed on the ground next to them, having zip-lined down an arrow embedded in a nearby building.

"Sorry I'm late," Oliver apologized, voice deepened with his voice modulator. "I had some trouble with the league that I needed to attend to." He nodded to Barry and Barry nodded back at him, feeling himself smile.

He turned back to Harrison, who still appeared less than impressed, before his gaze was shifted skyward as a shadow passed over the moon. Barry tilted his head back and looked around to follow the shadow. His eyebrows rose as the figure drifted to the ground, his cape trailing behind him.

"Took you long enough," Cadence remarked.

Superman smiled back, the corner of his mouth turning up. "Sorry, I needed to speak to a friend. And I got lost on the way." He turned to Barry and nodded as well.

Barry found himself nodding back and was glad that he wasn't freaking out or fangirling as much as he thought when seeing Superman for the first time. With renewed vigor, he turned back to Harrison, who glared at the superheroes in front of him.

Now he looked scared.

A/N: So let me know if any of this chapter was confusing. It's the first time that I had a chapter where the action was shown from someone else's POV instead of being directly within it. It might've been a bit lackluster but I think having it from Iris' POV was interesting because of what she's currently going through and of the admiration she has (or had) for The Flash.

And now Tess revealed herself to everyone and Harrison (or Eobard I guess) revealed himself to everyone as well. With only 10 chapters left (as I currently have it planned, there may be less than that) there's plenty to come. And then Fuel to the Fire will be uploaded as well.

-Riles