A/N: I'm BACK (in black!...nah just kidding, just back). Sorry if I'm late a little, I got busy catching up with all the new fics and the new episodes since I left...OMG MY FEELS WERE ALL OVER THE PLACE. I blame you RedQ for part of it!

Anyway, thanks for the great comments, it did help me in my marathon. The draft for Chapter 9 is going along well. I also had a lot of time to think and plan my next fic in the loonnngggggggg 8 hours plane trip. It will be great!

Guest : I'm really sorry my errors are such a turn off for you :( Feeling awful about it. Like I said in the first chapter and on my profil, I'm a french canadian and English is only my second language. I try to wait for my betareader, but sometimes she gets very busy and I get very excited about telling you the story so I send a new chapter and edit it later when I don't know how many days/weeks left I have 'til the chapter is corrected. That's what I'm doing for this one too. Some of the first chapters have already been edited, the corrected version of chapter 6-7 are coming soon.

Hopefully this one is not too bad. Enjoy!

''When I hacked into the energy grid earlier to search when and where she could be feeding on it, I was looking at the active grid. Which I didn't think would matter since we thought she was stealing enough to raise a flag. That part of the system doesn't take into account slight electricity variations in closed down or abandoned buildings, nor does it count the energy of power plant or certain call center, them being threated separately because...''

Cisco was bombarding his friends with explanations and facts, speaking fast, even for him, in a hurry to get to the point. Even then, his speech speed wasn't going fast enough. Before he could say another word, Iris interrupted him:

''Cisco! Where are they?''

''Getting to it: remember that call center that was damaged and closed after the singularity about 7 months ago? It hasn't been reopen yet and there's been power use for the last couple of days.''

''It make sense'' said Jay. ''Easy access to the lines, good hideout, access to the power...I think that's it!''

Iris almost felt like crying and she couldn't tell why. Maybe it was the happiness of them being so close or just her nerves starting to crack after all the events and emotions of the last couple of days. Keeping everything in, she frantically searched for her phone, founding it on a desk.

''I need to call my dad and tell him''

''Whoa, wait! Were you even listening?'' exclaimed Cisco in his...Cisco's way. ''I thought we just agree she could probably listen to our calls. Who knows if she' doing it right now or not. How about just call her ahead and say we're coming?''

''Sorry.''

''Don't worry about it.'' answered back Cisco. ''Stay here, we'll come pick up Joe at the station and bring Barry back home.''

''Stay here? No way! I'm coming with you guys!''

''Iris!'' intervened Caitlin, ''Chances are Barry will need urgent medical cares when we bring him back. I'll do my best to stabilize him on the transport, but I'll need someone here to get everything ready when we come back.''

No need to sugarcoat it, there were no doubt their friend was hurt, probably badly, or worse and they were going to need to be ready to react the second he was free. It was enough to get Iris to see reason and nod, lips tightly closed, staying strong and getting ready. Time to go and rescue the hero for once.

''We're coming man, just hang in there a little longer'' whispered Cisco as he walked out of the cortex behind Caitlin and Jay. He didn't necessarily mean for anyone else to hear it, but it still caused Caitlin to turn her head around at him and give a determined look. They *were* going to bring him back. Alive. Not coming back to the labs until Barry was back.

***FLASHFLASHFLASH***

The team, minus Iris, arrived at the site, or at least in a back alley close to the abandoned call center, making it there in a record time after a quick stop to take Joe at the police station. Fire and determination burning in everyone's eyes. They had one shot, one chance to do this. If they were to let Mrs Wandel escape with her prisoner, they might not find her again or at least not in time for a rescue if she treated Barry only half as bad as what she did to her other victim or even her first partner in crime who ended in the water.

Joe was silent when they stopped, making sure for the 6th time his gun was full of ammos. The plan? Get in, take Amelia down one way or another, take Barry and get out. That simple. Why would it need to more complicated than that?

''You sure you won't need us inside?'' eagerly asked Cisco.

''I want you to stay behind and get ready to treat Barry. Me and Jay can handle the rest.''

''You need to be careful, don't let her electrocute you.'' Responded Caitlin.

Jay stepped forward, in full Flash uniform, before the detective could answer :

''If she's from Earth 2.0, she must know who I am. We'll keep Mrs Wandel distracted long enough for us to take her down and get the information we need.''

Caitlin looked at Cisco who nodded as an answer. It was as good as a plan as any for the time frame they had to come up with anything. Not to mention it was no use trying to convince Joe to stand down, relax and take the time to rethink about a better way to do things. Who knows for how long the woman will stay there, how long until it was Barry body's turn to wash up on the shore? If he wasn't already dead...No, no time for talk like that, it was time to be focussed , 100% focus.

''Alright, be careful''

Joe stepped out of the S.T.A.R. Labs van, gun out.

''Time for being careful is over.''

Jay and Joe checked their earpiece and slowly moved toward the building, staying under the cover of darkness. Which wasn't that hard considering pretty much every building around has been badly damaged 7 months ago and while some were slowly starting the process of rebuilding, none of the workers were around at this time of night. As they closed on their goal, Jay tapped lightly Joe's shoulder and pointed him a window on the second floor; light coming out of it. Someone was burning the midnight oil in there.

They could've sworn they heard noises in the alley they just passed, but after a second of closely looking, they dismissed it. Probably a cat or something, bigger fish to take care of. They found a small door at the back of the building and picked the lock as fast and silently as they could. With that behind them, they made their way to the second floor, walking in the long hallway full of what used to be separate offices, double checking every open door they passed in front of, just to make sure there wasn't anyone lurking in the dark, waiting to jump on them.

At the end of the hallway, there was one office with the lights on. They stopped a couple of steps before arriving to it, Joe gesturing to his partner to let him make a move first before stepping behind. Jay nodded and let the detective cover the last couple of steps with quick and determined strides.

The room that used to be an office has been turned into a makeshift laboratory with equipments all over the desk. A woman with short and dark hair, just like the one they saw on the camera, had her back turned on the door, focus on her note and whatever she was studying under that microscope.

''Don't move or I'll shoot!'' Joe warned, holding his gun up, pointing at the woman. Every muscle in his body tensed, his mind almost wanting to kill her on sight. ''Tell me where's your prisoner. Now.''

She slowly turned around, calmy looking the detective in his eyes.

''I know a killer when I see one, you're not going to hurt me.'' Somehow Joe wasn't expecting such a hypnotizing voice. Listening to her, he didn't notice the way her hands opened and slowly started to move up. Electricity passing through her body. She would've attacked Joe if it wasn't for the commanding voice who came up from behind Barry's dad.

''I wouldn't do that if I were you.''

''Flash?''. Ok, that was unexpected to say the least. It threw her off-guard, which was a new feeling for Amelia, always used to be in control. ''I thought you were dead.''

''Everyone does Mrs Wandel. If I see just a flicker of electricity, I will take you down before you know what's going on.'' Jay paused, waiting for Amelia to answer. She didn't, nobody did. ''Just hand over your prisoner.''

''Who? The speedster? He's mine.'' She stated calmly, closely watching how the man with dark skin grabbed his gun with more force, his jaw squeezing. But, the most interesting part was watching Jay, The Flash, not flinching. Not at all. She wasn't ready to take down a speedster, not alone, not one who was on his guard. She had no leverage at this moment, so what was he waiting for? Unless he was bluffing. That was just a theory, but one she was ready to put to the test.

''Alright, I'll tell you where he is…'' she started with her more sensual voice, distracting her audience just for one second. That's all the time she needed to react, charging energy in her body and sending an electric discharge their way.

Ironically, Joe was the quickest to react, pushing Jay out of the way of the lighting. Didn't want to test how many time a speedster could be hit by it without brain damage. They both ended on the ground, Joe quickly grabbing back his gun to point it at his son's captor. It was too late.

By the time it took to get Amelia back in his line of fire, she had already grabbed what looked like a bomb's detonator in her hand, attractive smile on her face.

''Too slow, boys? Look like you have no powers on this Earth, Flash.''

Joe got back on his feet, still aiming at Mrs Wandel. ''What are you playing at? Just move one muscle and I *will* shoot.''

''I already activated the bomb, we have 10 minutes before everything explodes….oh wait, I think that was 20 seconds ago.''

''What do you want?!'' screamed Joe. That crazy meta was going to get them all killed.

''Isn't obvious? I'm finding out what make speedsters tick so we can take down Zoom. Let make a deal; let me leave, unharmed, with all of my research and you can get my rat back. He's useless now anyway, he'll die soon.''

It took all of Joe's mental and physical strength to keep his cool. Did she realize she was talking about a person? It was taking all of his will to not kill her, right now. Amelia looked amused at his reaction.

''And just in case you're thinking about killing me, just a gentle reminder that if I let go of the trigger, it will blow. It's easy. Just let me go and I'll let you know how to free the subject. Or you can try and find him, I know you're dying to.''

She chuckled at her own words. Dying to. It seemed amusing to her.

''So is he actually. But I promise you, you'll need my help to get him out.''

What was that supposed to mean? Joe turned to his partner:

''Go, Jay. Find my son, get him out and don't come back for me 'til it's done.''

''Are you…?''

''Go!''

Joe wasn't going to take his eyes off this crazy woman again. If Jay could find Barry and get him out, it's was worth the risk of staying behind. Earth 2 Flash took a couple of step toward the exit of the room, trying to keep an eye of Amelia to make sure she wasn't about to make everything explode the second someone would move in the room. Seeing it wasn't the case, he turned around and accelerate the pace. Leaving Amelia and Joe alone in the same room.

Jay looked in every room, one by one, checking his watch. Time was running out. He moved on the downstairs level, than to the other one: underground. This place was pretty big or has been 'til the singularity hit the city. It was three floors high plus the basement. Logic dictated a basement was way more quiet place to keep a prisoner, less chances for anyone to hear or see anything, even in this mostly abandoned portion of town.

He frowned when, arriving at the bottom of the stairs, he ended up face to face with a broken door. Not a oops-the-door-handle-is-loose-and-I-should-fix-it, but more of a break and entry type of door. The lock has been broken and there was pieces of wood frame on the floor. Something told him that it wasn't Amelia who lost her key and decided to enter by another way. Someone else went there, and could still be in. Was that in any way related to the sound they heard outside? Someone followed them here? Who? Why? Someone else was after Barry?

Jay wasn't much of a shooter, but without being willing to take the risk to expose his powers, he accepted a gun from Joe in the van and took it out while he entered the basement.

On the bright side, if it was locked before, its probably because Barry was indeed there. On the other side, hard to tell who broke his way in and why. The speeder needed to be on his guard.

**FLASHFLASHFLASH**

Back in the room, Joe was still, hopelessly trying to reason with Amelia, trying to make her step down before they would all die, all of them, including herself.

''What are you doing? !''

''Zoom is never going to stop forcing Meta working for him, the ones he kidnapped and send here never came back. We can't just wait, in fear, for the day he'll decide to come after me and my friends… . We're at war. We need to act, now! Before it's too late.''

She has friends, her? That sounded surprising, but, thought Joe, the crazy ones seem to always find crazier people to get along with. He got it, the base on her thinking process, he did, but damn was she messed up in the way she acted on this.

''You will die!'', she either wasn't thinking all of this through or she was just crazier than Joe gave her credit for.

''Don't you get it? We will all die if we don't stop Zoom and all the others like him. It's us or them. We needed to make a choice and I did it.''

Alright, definitely crazy.

''Are you even hearing yourself. At war? I don't know how bad it is on your world and not going to pretend I do, but this?! Torturing an innocent man. How is that making you any better than Zoom?''

''He's no man, he's no innocent. If he's still alive it's because we need him to find out how they control their speed. He should be thankful I allowed him to live this far. Life as a lab rat is better than what he deserves. Let me go with my samples and formula, I will find a way to take down them all down. I will save us.''

Joe's blood was boiling under his skin, his whole body was shaking with rage. More strength was needed to stabilize the gun in his hand. Barry might not be his genes, but he still was his son and he was the kindest, most loving, caring, generous soul he's ever seen. Barry never backed down from helping people at the risk of his own life, again and again. What was he rewarded by for all that? Someone kidnapping him, torturing him like he was some lab rat, some bacteria, some mindless lab subject. The bomb in her hand was the only thing keeping Joe from killing Amelia. He couldn't stop himself from screaming the words that came out of his mouth, venom and hate in his voice:

''He's a person! A living, kind, person!''

''He's a speedster! Don't you get it?! They're all monsters, they're all psychopaths! It's us or them, we need to exterminate all of them, one at the time. You should be thanking me! We're not going to be free to live our life as long as one of them is still alive. You're weak for letting yourself believe his lies, he's just as evil as the rest of them. That speedster would've betrayed you one day or another, just like Jay will.

Joe was feeling sick in his stomach, disgusted by this woman. What the hell was wrong with her? There wasn't a single part of doubt in his mind that Wandel was sick, totally messed up or whatever way you wanted to spell it (A/N: Send over a 0,25$ copywrite check to CrimsonComet for sorta quoting your comment ;) ). In his life as a detective, he's seen some really brutal cases, including one scalping case and even a murder made by some crazy people who eviscerated their victims for some sort of ritual. It wasn't pretty to see, to say the least, but none of that made him feel like that woman in front of him. Talking about his son like he was some sort of disposable object, some sick and dying animal or some monster you needed to put down.

He made a quick glance to his watch, it's been 5 minutes since she activate the bomb. Only 5 minutes left. Time was running out.

A/N: Any ideas on the identity of the person who broke in? All I can tell you is: it's a character you know in the show...but that had yet to make an appearance in my fic. Let's see who can guess it in the comments first!

Oh and for those who are still wondering...yeah my meta is crazy!