Jitters was a relaxing place to go to after a hard day's work. Joe never thought he'd ever say that, but it was true. Slowly but surely things were falling into place. Life with Wally was good, his son was a good kid, a smart one as well. Looking at him though, Joe could tell there was something bothering him. That is why he finds himself asking. "How's school going Wally?"
Wally takes a sip of his coffee, hesitates for a moment, a lot happens at college, but not all of it is stuff he can really share with his dad. "Yeah, things are going good, thanks Dad. There's just a few things that have been bothering me." He sees his dad nod, as if he had suspected such a thing, and he has to remind himself that his dad is a cop. Of course, he's going to be suspicious. "It's just that, I'm not really sure what to do once I finish." He can see that his dad might be about to lecture him, so he goes on. "I've had a look at all the potential opportunities for jobs in engineering, and the only place that has anything which could be a good fit, is off in Australia."
Joe nearly splutters out his coffee. "Australia?! Are you sure there's nothing a little closer to home?"
Wally shakes his head. "Nope. I've looked everywhere, and I can't find anything." He starts playing with the napkin near his coffee cup. "That's why I'm thinking of asking for a job at Star Labs."
"At Star Labs? Why there?" Joe asks, not sure he quite understands.
"Well, I'm good with my hands, I'm a damn good engineer, and from what I understand they need an engineer there. Besides, it would be a good way to get to know Barry properly, I feel as if we only meet when something bad happens, or at family dinner." Wally says.
Joe thinks about that for a moment, then he sighs. "Well, if you wish to apply, do so. Just make sure you speak to Cisco and Caitlin first." His son nods, and they fall into a companionable silence. Something that is interrupted when Joe looks outside and sees a woman fighting off a masked figure near her car. He stands up, looks at his son and says. "Wally stay here." He moves from the table, his phone in his hand, looking at the masked figure as he walks out of the shop. The figure is big, muscular, probably a former football player. "CCPD, stop right there." Joe calls out as he gets closer to the car.
The masked man stops, looks at him and then runs at him. Joe braces himself, but the man doesn't hit him, instead he's gone right past him. Joe watches him for a second then goes running after him. "CCPD stop right there." He shouts, but the man does not stop. If anything, that just makes him run faster. Shit, he's running toward Jitters. Joe begins moving toward his phone to call in a few spare officers, but before he can the man stops and turns around.
"Ah detective," the man says. "I've been dying to meet you." The man draws out a knife and runs at him, Joe moves to the side, the man comes back, slashing and stabbing in the air. Joe struggles to withhold him, eventually, the guards from Jitters come out and help him subdue the man, but the man merely laughs. "You are not going to be able to stop what comes next. Morea Mortis." The man keeps laughing, as Joe takes his phone out of his pocket and calls for a car to come and take the man to the station.
Wally comes out of Jitters and asks his dad. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine just a bit out of breath. Haven't had to run that fast in a long time." Joe replies.
Wally nods, and then looks up. "I think that guy might've been a meta. It's not meant to be raining today."
Joe glances up at the sky, seeing the dark clouds forming, hearing the crackle of thunder. "Get inside now. Everyone get inside." He bellows, he and Wally are nearly in the door when a gust of wind pushes Wally back. "Wally!" he yells, he makes to get his son, but for some reason he cannot move. He must watch helplessly as his son is buffeted by the wind and then hit by a bolt of lightning. He sees his son's body shake and shiver under the pressure, sees his eyes roll upward, and he hears the call of the wild, a chant echoing on the back of everything. Eventually it stops and he runs forward to his son. "Wally! Wally, can you hear me?" Joe asks desperately. His son does not respond so he calls Barry, who appears as quickly as he can, his foster son takes his son to Star Labs, Joe following in his car, driving as quickly as he can. They get to the lab, and Caitlin says something about Wally going into shock, he's not paying attention, not sure if he can or not. All he can hear is the words that man said before he was taken away. His son is lying on a table, being kept alive with everything Star Labs has, but there doesn't seem to be anything to be done. He calls the precinct and asks to speak with the Captain, the word comes then, the death blow to his hopes. The prisoner killed himself an hour into lock up. Joe slumps down against the wall, and yells his anger.
