Chapter 10

"I've called this meeting for one reason," Captain Cold announced. "We need to figure out who our number one enemy is behind the mask."

Central City's most powerful criminal organization was in session in an undisclosed location. The Rogues, as they called themselves, had been the Flash's enemies from the start, almost. They had changed over the years, but the most recent incarnation was made up of Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Golden Glider, Heatwave, Weather Wizard, and Mirror Master.

The entire room erupted in laughter, and Cold was left grunting in annoyance. It had been tried by everyone individually at one point, and never had they ever succeeded. It was kind of pointless to try to beat a speedster at his own game. Interestingly enough, the closest one out of all of them to achieving the impossible was Cold's own sister, the Golden Glider.

"Quiet!" he roared. "All of you, I have a plan."

"Yeah, sure you do, like every other time you've had a plan that won us the city," Mirror Master groaned.

"But this time it's foolproof," Cold insisted.

"Then for the millionth time, let's let Snart enlighten us," Boomerang said sarcastically.

"So here's the plan," Cold began. "We begin with a distraction."

"Weather Wizard will use his usual tricks to disorient the Flash as much as possible, while Heatwave and I will conduct a frontal assault on him, directly head on. Captain Boomerang and Mirror Master will attack from the flanks to disorient him even more, but Mirror Master, I have a special task for you. I need you to make one of your mirror illusions to disguise a syringe for it to be invisible."

"You didn't mention Glider, Snart," Heat Wave pointed out.

"How astute of you," Cold remarked. "Yes, I didn't, because she has the most important job out of all of us."

"What do you need?" the Golden Glider asked.

"I need you to act as if you want to leave the Rogues," Cold explained.

"Why?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"You will be holding the invisible syringe with your ribbons," he elaborated. "You'll also be holding other needles with your ribbons, that you will use to stab him in the back, in a 'surprise manner'. With this, the plan is complete."

"You've come up with more intricate plans before, Snart," Mirror Master interjected. "Why so sure this one will work?"

"Because of this," Snart said, pleased at the images he was projecting onto a big screen in the room. They depicted the Flash talking to a woman in the streets of Central City, and the slideshow included multiple pictures.

"Iris West, ladies and gentlemen," he presented.

"Who?" Golden Glider scoffed.

"The woman the Flash is having an affair with!" Snart declared.

Almost everyone in the room rolled their eyes.

"Guys, come on, you've seen things that aren't possible, like Batman, yet you won't believe the Flash is having an affair?" he argued.

"Have you seen what the guy wears?" Heat Wave remarked. "He's like Superman's twin."

"Right," Snart acknowledged. "It's time for you guys to see the video."

Captain Cold switched the pictures to a video, which now showed the same thing as the video, but in motion. Iris West's face was visible to the camera, but the Flash was facing in the other direction.

"Snart, seriously, what is it you do in your free time?" Boomerang wondered.

"Shut up," he ordered. "This is the part you need to see."

Although the video was taken from afar, the detail was still enough to make out facial expressions. What surprised the Rogues the most from the little video were the gestures the Flash was making while speaking to the woman. He was rubbing his hand on his head in possible confusion, and flailing his arms like a moron. It was something they had never seen from him, for he had always been confident when he was around the Rogues.

"Okay, that doesn't mean he's having an affair with her," Weather Wizard contested. "It could just mean he's ugly or something under the mask."

"No, you're not getting it." Snart was becoming impatient. "Can't you see he has another gal somewhere else while he's trying to court this one?"

"Maybe he just has bad luck with women," Golden Glider said sweetly, and everyone turned to look at her. "What?"

"The point is, he's having issues with his girlfriend, or she doesn't like him, or whatever," Snart said, frustrated. "This is our chance to finally take him down!"

"Wait," Heat Wave spoke up. "What's the point of your plan then?"

"Yeah," Boomerang piped up. "Why not just blackmail the bloke?"

"What?" Snart asked, confused.

"You heard me," Boomerang returned. "Why go through all the pain and effort to beat him in battle when we could contact him, and just blackmail him to tell us who he is?"

"Because then he could just search the entire city for the source of the contact to destroy us in an instant," Snart growled. "What part of my plan wasn't clear?"

Everyone in the room murmured. For once, Snart's reasoning seemed to appear to be foolproof, and they couldn't think of any way it could fail. Unless Flash was phasing from the beginning of their encounter, they were sure to win. Golden Glider was able to control her ribbons visibility, from 0 to 100, meaning they could appear invisible to anyone. This would mean if she held the syringe while it was invisible, and her ribbons were as well, then there would be nothing stopping her from using it on him.

"Are we going to do this?" Weather Wizard asked.

"For years, we've fought against the protector of this city, always trying to send him to his grave," Cold began, and everyone moaned, but he continued. "But what if we could do something worse to him?"

"What if we could reveal his identity to the world? What if he turned out to be an ex-criminal, like us?" pausing to let everyone think. "What if we let him destroy himself?"

"That's too philosophical for me, Len," Heat Wave complained.

"But it makes sense," Boomerang said, scratching his chin.

"I don't know Lenny, maybe we shouldn't-" started the Glider before being interrupted by her brother.

"Oh Lisa, don't tell me you have doubts about this now?!" Cold sighed.

"It's just," Glider hesitated. "Lately, I have been thinking of leaving the Rogues. There's just not anything left for me to do other than commit senseless crimes and ruin lives."

Captain Cold took a deep breath and addressed his sister's concern. "Lisa, listen. After this one message, I'll let you off the Rogues for good without any strings. Just finish this one mission, and you can leave."

Everyone else in the room was shocked; never had a Rogue been let go freely off the team, especially one so powerful.

"Snart, you can't just do this now," Mirror Master snarled. "She's a vital part of this team, for goodness sake!"

"Is that it?" Cold jeered. "Or do you just want to have another chance with her?"

"If either of you want me to stay," Glider interrupted, "Then you'll both stay quiet until the mission is over, got it?"

"Yes," they both answered in unison, and sat in their respective seats.

"Then it's settled," Weather Wizard said. "We're going to reveal the man behind the mask, once and for all."


The day had begun with Barry being late, as always, to work. He had left Anna at home in Arendelle, and rushed to his work as a CSI. This time, the case to which he had been called to was a relatively easy one, which he had been able to point out the cause of death just from the visual evidence around him, and the other CSI agent, along with the crime scene cleaner would do the rest. By his estimate, the case would be closed within two months.

Barry's real worry that day was the uneasy tranquility he had felt in Central City. He had recently finalized the purchase of his home in the city, but super crimes had gone down since his return, so much so that it made him feel suspicious. He didn't want Anna to move until he felt the city was secure enough. Which, in fairness, would probably never happen, but he needed all the Rogues in prison, minimum. It scared him to think Anna would live in Central City, as she was still very new to the world he lived in. Even if he left her for one hour in the middle of the city, something bad could happen to her, which he could only shudder at. No, he had to find the Rogues, to see what they were planning, and defeat them.

The problem was, he had searched all over Central City, and not once had he found any clue to their whereabouts. For all he knew, they might not even be in the city. He had never heard of them travelling abroad, so he had quickly discarded that possibility, but he now found himself reconsidering it. However, something would soon come up that would cause him to forget all about the Rogues.

As he walked out of the police department building, he did not expect to see what looked like a blue man rocket into his vision.

Quickly, he looked around, and ran into an alley to change into his suit, and when he returned, the blue man was gone. Barry ran around the city in search of him, until he found a group of people all pointing up to the sky. Looking up, he identified the man and quickly devised a plan to figure out what was going on.

Barry began moving his arms in such a way that he propelled himself like a rocket into the night sky, after the man. The closer he got, the louder the screams became, and it was obvious he was out of control.

"Hey, sir, I'm going to help you down," Barry yelled, but the man could not hear him over his own screams. Barry 'flew' forward, grabbed the man, and moved as fast as he could through the air. He picked out a tall skyscraper in the midst of the city, and landed them both on its roof. They both tumbled onto it, but Barry was up on his feet before the other man had finished tumbling.

The Flash cautiously moved towards the man, who was covered in what looked like blue armor. The tumbling had finally come to an end, and he rose to see the man who had brought him to where they were. He kept twitching, as if something were wrong, but there was nothing the Flash could do.

"Sir, I'm going to try to help you, but you need to stay still and listen to what-" the Flash began, before being interrupted.

"NO!" the man screamed. "I can't stop it!"

Barry entered Flashtime to study the suit that encased the man. It wasn't a suit, really, it was more like an armor. And now, he could see the design in a clearer way. Blue and black, which radiated some small amount of light. But the strangest part of the man's appearance wasn't the armor; it was the insect attached to his back like a backpack. It looked like a scarab to Barry, but he couldn't be sure. And the wings. The insect-like wings. He assumed that they were what let him burst into the air during their first 'confrontation', but he didn't see how the wings could ever help him fly, given how small they were in comparison to his body. For now, he would return to his spot in front of the man and see what he could do.

"What is it?" Barry asked, as best he could without raising any alarm in the man.

"I don't know! I found it somewhere and I took it and it latched on to me!" the man yelled. Interestingly enough, the voice of the man was perfectly understandable, as if there was nothing covering his entire face.

"Have you tried removing it?" Barry thought.

"Of course I have!" the man yelled back. "Why do you think I'm out of control? I can't get it off!"

"Okay, I need you to stay as still as you can. I'm going to try to take it from you. Can you stay still?" Barry asked the man.

"I'll try," the man said, through what sounded like gritted teeth.

When Barry reached the man, he took a look at the bug, and then attempted to just take it off. It wouldn't budge, even with all of his strength. Which left him to try and vibrate it out. It slowly began working, but as he took a closer look, he could notice the man's flesh was being ripped off of his body with the bug, and Barry quickly put the bug back in its place. He knew the man would most definitely cry out in pain once he came out of his heightened perception.

"Ow!" the man hollered, as the signals from his back reached his brain. "You didn't help!"

"I know, I know," Flash tried. "Look, it's not coming off for now, so I suggest-"

"No, you've done enough," the man hissed, as he took off, seemingly in control now. Barry knew chasing the man would only make him angrier, and so he returned home, to tell his story.


"Barry!" Anna squealed as the door opened. She was seated on the couch, waiting anxiously for him when she heard the creak of the door's hinges. Even the door was excited for his return.

"Anna!" he smiled, as he ran to her. He hugged her and spun her around, ending the ride by giving her a kiss.

"It's been a long time without you," she giggled. "Why were you out so long?"

"Well, do I have a story to tell you," he promised, as Elsa joined them as well from upstairs. "Hey."

"Hi," she quickly responded while turning red, a detail that flew over the pair's heads. She hadn't expected Barry to appear so late in the night.

"Come on, I've got a story to tell you both," he grinned, as he found himself sitting on the couch.

"I was leaving work today, where I had already been working overtime, when I saw this man shoot into the sky above me," he began.

"Who was he?" Elsa asked, curiously.

"Is Superman back?" Anna asked eagerly, to which Barry shook his head.

"I chased the guy down, until I tackled him onto the roof of a skyscraper," he continued. "That's where I interrogated him as best as I could."

"What did he say?" came the question from Anna.

"Well, he wore a black and blue 'suit', but he wasn't in control," Barry answered. "I tried helping him, but he refused my help, and he took off and left."

"So you just let him escape,?" Anna asked, confused.

"Well yeah," he told her. "Would you like to be followed by some guy you've never met before?"

"No," she laughed. "But have you ever seen him before?"

"No," Barry said, as he thought. "He's new around here. I think I ought to keep an eye on him, or he might be a problem in the future. He seemed very angry when I tried talking to him."

"Will you need any help finding him?" Elsa spoke. "I can help you, if you need it."

"No, I don't think so," he chuckled, and began pondering. "But his voice, I feel as if I've heard it somewhere before."

"Really?" Anna said, as she began thinking herself. "One of your supervillains, maybe?"

"I doubt it," he said. "In any case, it just seemed strange that the man seems familiar."

"Well, are you going to track him down?" Elsa asked.

"I think I'll leave him alone for now, but if he proves to be a problem, I'll make sure he's taken care of," Barry assured. "If I need help, I'll make sure to ask you. And actually, I'll need your help on something soon."

"What's that, Barry?" Anna asked.

"The Rogues have been gone for some time, and I'm starting to feel suspicious," Barry admitted. "I want you to move into the house in Central City, but I don't think you'd be safe there. Not with crime on the low."

"But isn't that a good thing?" she said, confused.

"Under normal circumstances, yeah," he responded. "But these aren't normal circumstances. Central City has the most clever criminals anywhere, and if they haven't committed any major crimes in the past month, then I know for sure they're up to something big. Bigger than usual. And that's a Flash fact."

Both sisters rolled their eyes at his corny joke, but kept their attention on him.

"And if I can't feel safe, then I know you won't, Anna," he finished.

After beaming from side to side, Anna asked, "So what will you do, Barry?"

"I'm planning on taking Elsa to the city to help me try and locate the Rogues," he explained. "That way, we can throw them in prison where they won't be able to hurt you."

"But you've said before you can't find them," Elsa pointed out. "How will I help you?"

"I'm not sure," he shrugged. "But I can find a way for you to help. You need the practice anyways."

"Well, alright," Elsa smiled, as she tucked a curl of hair back.

"Well then, that's settled," Anna declared. "Who wants to eat?"


The trio had their dinner, and as everyone in the house had settled, Barry and Anna were getting ready go to bed. Barry was already in bed, while Anna was finishing with brushing her teeth.

"Hey, Anna, dear, I was thinking, maybe-" he began telling her, when she cut him off.

"No!" she said, as fast as she could, while spitting out what was in her mouth. "I mean, what were you about to say?"

"I was going to say..." Barry treaded carefully, trying to unravel what she had just said. "What did you mean, 'no'?"

"Nothing," she responded quickly. "Why?"

"Come on, Anna, I know you better than that," he sighed. "What did you think I was going to say?"

"You're going to laugh at me if I tell you," she said, discouraged.

"When have I ever laughed at you?" he reminded her, which made her smile for a moment.

"Okay," she said, now with more confidence. "I thought you were going to say we should, break up."

"Oh come on, Anna," he said, now irritated, and a wave of sadness crept over her. "Why do you doubt me, when I have been nothing but loyal?"

"I know, but," she whimpered, as she looked at him through the door. "I don't want to be left alone again."

"Anna, come here," Barry said, the irritation completely gone from his voice. As she sat next to him in bed, he took a deep breath before letting her speak.

"When I finally reunited with my sister, the day I met you," she began, "I was so ecstatic and full of joy to be with her again. We had a bond before, and I was really looking to find it again."

"And then, I went too far, and ruined any chance I had," she said, while tears formed in her eyes, and Barry put his arms around her. "I lost her again."

"And you're afraid of losing me," Barry realized, as he embraced her. "Afraid I'm not what you think I am."

"Yes," she said, nodding.

"Anna, I couldn't ever leave you," he said softly. "If I did, I'd be the one lost."

She snorted, thinking he was just saying that to make her feel better, when he followed up his statement with, "No, seriously. Remember what I did when I thought I had lost you to the yellow man?"

And she thought back to the time when he had thought she had died. The reason Arendelle was living in the future was because of his actions. He had lost it, lost control, and that led to the destruction of Arendelle.

"I couldn't live without you," he said, running his hand through her hair, and she smiled.

"Well, what were you going to say then?" she asked, feeling better.

He grinned. "I was going to invite you to come by tomorrow, along with Elsa, to Central City. I can't let you anywhere near me, but you can spend the day there."

"Really, Barry?!" she gushed. "I'd love to!"

"Well, then you're coming with me tomorrow," he told her. "And if we have time, then we can, hopefully, go to our future home."

"Oh, I can't wait Barry!" she exclaimed, as she lay down, now relaxed, ready to go to sleep.

But while she drifted off, he stayed up, thinking about their exchange they had just had. He thought it crazy she though he could cheat on her. At first he supposed there were a lot more cheaters back then, but men have always been men, and either way, she didn't have much experience with people in general, so she couldn't know.

He also thought back to when the prince had 'tried' his luck with her. But if Barry could barely see the scheme the prince was concocting, then surely Anna couldn't see it.

His final thought revolved around the time Anna had thought he was cheating on her. When he had run into the reporter, and she had thought he was up to something. But that couldn't be it either. He had already clarified that matter with her, so what had driven her to believe he could cheat? In the end, he ended up deciding it was just an insecurity of hers, which was the easiest answer to come up with.

His arms never left her while they slept.


"Elsa, I have news for you!" yelled Anna, as she burst into her sister's room the next morning. "I'm going with you!"

"What?" Elsa asked, in confusion, as she emerged from the closet, just having finished dressing. "Why?"

"Barry let me know yesterday that he's bringing me along today!" she said cheerfully, and then added, "and that he could never cheat!"

"Oh, wow," Elsa said, doing her best to hide her true emotions. "What are you going to do while we look for the Rogues?"

"I don't know," Anna said dreamily. "All I know is Barry has put all his trust into me, knowing I could never hurt him."

"Well, he is a lot faster than you," Elsa said, thinking. "I don't think you could hurt him if you tried."

"Not like that, Elsa," Anna replied. "I meant cheating on him."

"So he trusts you," Elsa said, while she used her ice magic to clean the room.

"That's what I said," Anna responded, as she watched. "Anyways, I just wanted you to know, since I'm leaving now."

"He's taking you already?" she said, surprised.

"Yup!" Anna said. "He's letting me know what I should do while you two fight crime, or whatever it is you'll do."

"Alright, then," Elsa said, as she stood taller. Anna ran out of the room, headed down.

At first, Elsa had believed Anna would be going with Barry and her, which really killed her mood. Because the truth was, she was hoping to have time with him alone.

But why? The man was practically married, and had no romantic interest in her. He was much too in love with her sister to even notice her. All it must have been was the hurt she felt from leaving Bruce that made her feel something for Barry. So why couldn't she shake the feeling off? Why did it feel so real?

When she had made her way downstairs, she waited for a moment, lost in her thoughts, when a gust of wind filled the house, and the Flash appeared right in front of her.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, warmly.

And it was moments like these that made her forget about everything, even Batman, and just focus on the moment. There he was, a solution to all her problems. She didn't know what it was about him that made her unsteady. Maybe it was his chivalrous nature, or just his good character.

In reality, it was the fact that her sister had found the perfect man, while she had found an annoying, rude, and brutish man. What had she done wrong?

"Yes," she stammered. "I'm ready."

As soon as she replied, she saw him disappear from her vision, and she smiled, as she pressed the teleporter's button.

Once she had reached their destination, a dark alleyway, he informed her of the plan.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do," Barry began. "You're going to pretend to fight me."

"What?" she said, perplexed at what he had said.

"If we pretend to fight, then it might bring the Rogues out of hiding to observe," he explained. "That way, I can pretend to fight you, while I scour the city for them."

"Are you sure?" Elsa said, her voice full of doubt.

"Searching for them has proved they've hidden themselves far too well. We need to play them," he said.

"Well, okay," she said. "Where?"

He whispered the location to her and once he did, he disappeared from her vision. She ran into the main streets, and followed his directions to Central Park, where he was helping citizens. She set off an icy blast in his direction, which he immediately noticed , and used his rotating arms to turn it into warm water.

Barry knew he would need to keep the game going for quite some time, or else the Rogues wouldn't come out. It was now or never.


In the Rogues' hideout, Captain Cold was finalizing the little drug in the syringe meant for the Flash, which would leave him disoriented for several minutes, giving the Rogues enough time to take photographs of the man behind the mask, and leave.

He was doing this while Heat Wave was watching the television, and suddenly, the blazing man shouted Cold's name to get his attention.

"Len!" he yelled. "We've got a window!"

The leader of the Rogues went over to where Heat Wave was sitting, and saw live coverage of the fight between the Flash, but interestingly enough, the new 'hero' who had emerged as his sort of sidekick. The woman they called Elsa, was now going against the Flash.

"Perfect!" he said. As he moved around the hideout, he gave instructions to each member, and finally came to his sister.

"Lisa, if you fail, the entire plan falls apart," he said seriously. "You know what to do, right?"

"Yes," she said, as she rolled her eyes. "Convince him I want to leave the Rogues, then stab him in the back."

"Indeed," Cold smiled. "Then we're all ready!"

All of the Rogues were surrounding their leader, all geared up and ready to begin the assault on the Flash.

"Before we head out, though, I'm going to go in first, as a distraction to him," Cold announced. "Besides, I want to have a go at the new ice themed villain."

Captain Cold stepped into one of the mirrors, and emerged on the street in front of Central Park, where the 'battle' was taking place. He took a look at the woman fighting the Flash, and aimed with his cold gun. But before he could press the trigger, his weapon was knocked out of his hand by an invisible force. He knew he had been spotted by the Flash, and then he realized it was a trap.

"Where are your Rogues?" the Flash asked, as he materialized out of seemingly thin air in front of the Captain, scaring him. "Where have you been hiding?"

"It's a trap!" Cold yelled into his comms. "Don't come out here!"

"I'm going to say it once more, Leonard," the Flash said. "Where are the rest of the Rogues?"

"9423," Cold responded.

"What?" the Flash said, confused, until he realized it was a distraction.

"You'll never know," Cold sneered. The Flash frowned, and took him to a nearby police officer who had been watching the entire encounter.

"Take him in officer," the Flash said, handing the officer the cold gun he had thrown away.

"You'll never find us, Flash! And one day, we'll beat you!" Leonard shouted, as he was taken away.

Barry walked back towards Elsa, who had been waiting patiently for him.

"That was a bust," he sighed.

"At least you captured one of them," she shrugged.

"They still have their team, though," he pointed out. "They can still hurt people."

"Well, it wasn't all a waste," she said, trying to uplift him. "I had another chance to test my powers. This time on you."

"With the way you fought me, you'll be joining the Justice League," he joked, and she smiled.

"You think I could?" Elsa asked.

"Honestly, I do," he replied, and she began to blush.

Neither knew what to say, until Barry spoke up. "I think it's time we get going."

"Yeah," she responded. "Thanks, Barry."

"For what?" he said.

"For helping me find my true path," Elsa responded, shyly. She turned around, and pressed the teleporter, making her vanish, leaving Barry smiling.

Elsa and the Flash were just standing in the middle of the park, where people had been watching from a distance, and a photographer had been snapping pictures of the ordeal. As soon as he noticed everyone staring, he quickly saluted and ran off, to find Anna.

He had told her to spend her day visiting whatever place she wanted to in the city, and he eventually found her inside a mall. But she wasn't looking at clothes, or even in a store. She was outside of a store, staring at a lot of television monitors. From a distance, she appeared shocked and appalled, and as he neared the televisions, he could understand why.

The same headline was on each monitor, reading, Flash's New Mistress?.