Hello everyone. The week has gone by so fast for me. How's it been for everyone else? Hope you all enjoy what I have cooked up in store for you guys. My co-authors are Brightburn1985 and Bartholomew Henry Allen.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash

Despite the Speed Cannon's completion, the team still wanted to run several tests before actually sending a person through it. One can never be too careful, especially when dealing with something that was only recently discovered.

But it was during one of those tests that Prof. Stein had collapsed. Scans showed his molecular structure becoming unstable. It was due to the Firestorm Matrix that was still within him. Without Ronnie to bond with anymore, Stein's body would go nuclear. The only solution would be to find a replacement.

They had narrowed it down to two candidates. Henry Hewitt and Jefferson Jackson. Hewitt was a scientist, so he would probably be more willing to go along with this if it meant helping society. On the other hand, Jackson was a mechanic, but his records showed him being a rising star on the football field, so he bore the physical attributes of Firestorm.

After Barry gathered a sample of blood from each of them, although unknowingly, the group was willing to overlook it as they didn't have much time before Stein would die.

Both seemed to be compatible with Stein, Jackson more than Hewitt, but it would all depend on whether either was even willing to go along with this. Unlike with their blood, this wouldn't be taken so easily.

Caitlin was assigned to talk with Hewitt, while Barry and Stein would approach Jackson.

Upon meeting, Jackson, Jax, seemed very appealing, but his reluctance to be involved with anything meta related left something to be desired. Not that it wasn't understandable. The accelerator damaged his knee beyond repair, which meant he had to give up on his football dreams that night as well as any dreams of obtaining a football scholarship to university.

In contrast, Hewitt was delighted to be invited. When learning he had the potential to become a superhero, he jumped at the chance and came to STAR Labs as fast as possible.

"Where's Jackson?" Caitlin asked as Barry and Stein returned.

"We just need to give him some time to think it over," Barry answered.

"We don't have time. The battery in the walking stick I made for Stein will only last another day at the most. After that…" Cisco trailed off.

"So let's do it now. Hewitt is willing to do this right now, and it seems that they are getting along really well," Caitlin gestured to Stein and Hewitt who were talking animatedly.

Deciding that they had no choice if they wanted to save Stein's life, Barry nodded his head. "Alright, get the splicer. Let's do this,"

Cisco went to retrieve the splicer which would allow them to merge and separate with total control of their actions. Since Hewitt was in better physical condition, it would be him wearing the splicer. It wouldn't be good if it were Stein's body being the one doing the heroics.

After adjusting the splicer to make sure everything was in place, Hewitt and Stein reached out and touched their fingers together. The physical contact between the two metas caused a small reaction that appeared to be the beginnings of them merging together, but then it stopped.

Waiting a little while to see if something else were to happen, when it became apparent nothing would Stein said, "Again,"

The two let go of each other and brought their hands back, their palms touching each other, as if forcing the both of them to merge. This time, there was no reaction at all. Their DNA must have recognized the two weren't compatible enough. It seems that little extra between Hewitt and Jax was enough of a deciding factor.

"What's happening?" Hewitt asked the group. "Something's supposed to happen, isn't it?"

Cisco sucked in his breath and bit his lower lip, cringing at the fact this happened. "Guess you two aren't as compatible as we thought," Cisco said awkwardly as he took the splicer off Hewitt's chest.

"That's it?" Hewitt asked in utter confusion and disappointment.

"Believe me, no one is as disappointed as I am," Stein sighed in resignation to his fate. Things seemed to be looking up for once.

"Don't be so sure about that," Hewitt growled at him. "Next time, don't raise a person up like that only to let them down."

No one had the heart to follow him as Hewitt left the building. This was a disappointment to them all. Now the fate of Prof. Stein lied in the hands of a man who didn't want anything to do with them.

As Hewitt was riding the elevator down to the exit, he didn't notice the sparks on his hand as he stewed in his bitterness and frustration.

Jax finally decided to come to STAR Labs, but it wasn't under the preconception he thought. Originally, Jax assumed STAR Labs would be able to fix what happened with his knee so he would be able to resume his football career. When he arrived, the team cleared up the misunderstanding that they actually brought him here because he has meta capabilities, or at least the potential to have them.

"We need you to merge with Prof. Stein. You are the only one who can save him now," Caitlin said.

"Wait a minute, this is crazy. You're saying I'm like one of those metahumans I keep hearing about on the news?" Jax asked.

"Yeah," Cisco confirmed. "You have the same meta potential as Prof. Stein over there. The ability of combustion, not to mention you can fly which is pretty sweet,"

"You can do all of that?" Jax asked the professor.

"Only in times when I have merged with a partner," Stein said.

"And you want me to be this partner?" Jax asked.

Everyone nodded as they waited for his reaction upon the revelation. They weren't sure what they expected, but laughing was pretty low on the list.

"You're all joking me right?" Jax laughed it off. Upon seeing their serious expressions, Jax immediately sobered up. "You're not joking?"

"We couldn't be more serious," Stein said.

"No." Jax said. "No, I'm not doing this. I like how my life is. I'm not going to change it. I need to stay and help take care of my mom,"

"Jax wait," Barry called out to him, but Jax wasn't listening anymore as he was making his way to the exit.

"Well what are we going to do now?" Cisco asked as they stared solemnly at the professor. Jax was their last hope and they probably wouldn't be able to find another candidate fast enough.

"That kid is unbelievable," Caitlin said.

"Caitlin, don't go there. You don't know him, you don't know what he's been through," Barry lightly scolded her.

"He gave up the chance to be a superhero. Who does that? Barry you didn't hesitate when people needed you despite everything I said to you," Caitlin said.

"Jax isn't me. He has his own opinions and views of the world. We can't force him to do this," Barry said.

"Cisco, would you want to be a superhero?" Caitlin addressed the engineer.

"The chance to have powers? Sign me up," Cisco said, a little awkwardly. And the way he was pulling on his ear raised alarms in Barry's head that there was something going on with him, but Barry decided to address it at a later date, there was something more important at the moment.

Caitlin gestured to Cisco, emphasizing her point. "This just proves Jax doesn't have what it takes for these powers,"

Caitlin started walking to the exit. "Where are you going, Ms. Frosty?" Barry called out to her.

"To get Hewitt back Fleet Feet. We have to try with him again," Caitlin responded.

Caitlin actually decided to put off meeting Hewitt a second time tomorrow. It had been a stressful day with Stein possibly dying and their only possibilities either not working out or outright refusing to help. She needed to take a breath before doing anything else.

Thank god she did because the next day it was revealed something had destroyed the lab Hewitt was working out of, and the destruction reminded everyone of the scorch marks caused by Firestorm.

Since Firestorm was currently only half as strong and out of commission, the only possibility was this was Hewitt's doing. "The attempted merge between Hewitt and Stein must have activated Hewitt's dormant meta abilities,"

"That's not good. Especially if what half is true in his police record," Cisco commented.

"Police record? I didn't find a police record," Caitlin said, confused.

"Of course you didn't. It was sealed. But your boy hacked in. Who is the best hacker in the world?" Cisco asked.

"Felicity Smoak," Barry and Caitlin both said at the same time. At the sound of their voices speaking at the same time, they both turned to each other. On the one hand, it was funny teasing Cisco. On the other, they hated how they were doing things together and the fact they were still staring at each other with no indication of looking away.

Luckily it seemed Cisco was oblivious of their silent interaction and managed to pull them away with his voice. "Yo, that's not friendship," Cisco said, a little hurt, but he knew they were just teasing him.

Regardless, Cisco pulled up what was within the sealed record. "Looks like Hewitt has been charged with multiple accounts of assault and battery. Court issued mandatory anger management counselling,"

"He seemed like such a nice guy," Caitlin commented, shocked at how much she didn't know what was behind that smile of his.

"Well, what do we do about him?" Barry asked.

"We're going to have to find him. Maybe we can talk him down," Caitlin said.

"If Hewitt's powers are anything like Firestorm, we're gonna need some help," Barry commented. "Think you're up for it?" Barry addressed Caitlin. Having an ice meta deal with their troublesome fire meta would be helpful.

"If it comes down to it, I'll help however I can," Caitlin agreed.

At that moment, Prof. Stein started coughing erratically and his hand on the cane started trembling, obviously about to give out. Barry rushed forward before Stein could fall to the ground.

"Quick, put him in the medical bay. I need to look over his condition," Caitlin called to him.

Cisco picked up the cane and opened it up to inspect the battery. "This thing's run out of juice. We don't have anymore time,"

"Prof. Stein, just hold on a little longer," Barry said.

Once Stein had been stabilized and sleeping peacefully, everyone took a step back. Stein was running a fever of over 150 degrees, but that was normal considering his powers.

Cisco went to the monitor, trying to find where Hewitt could be, while Caitlin took a walk in the halls trying to clear her mind. Barry decided to follow her.

"What's going through your mind Ms. Frosty?" Barry asked her.

"Nothing that concerns you Fleet Feet," Caitlin glared at him in response.

"Look, I know with everything going on, things seem really hard right now," Barry said.

Caitlin scoffed at him. "What do you know about hardships? Everything seems to be handed to you on a silver plate,"

Barry sighed. It didn't look like he was going to get her to talk. He decided to try a different angle. "Why were you so insistent on Hewitt being Firestorm?"

"He seemed like the safe choice. I felt I could rely on the fact he wanted to do this," Caitlin said.

"But it didn't work out. Even when we saw the Firestorm Matrix reject Hewitt, you were still so insistent that he needed to be the right choice. Jax is our only option right now. That's who we need to convince to do this," Barry said.

"I know. I don't understand why this was so hard for me. Hewitt seemed like a great person, but even when I knew he was no longer an option, I don't know why I didn't accept that," Caitlin admitted.

"Sometimes, there are great possibilities right in front of our eyes, but we don't see them because we choose not to. I think we need to be open to the idea of exploring something new," Barry said, remembering something similar Joe said to him once.

"I didn't know that you are quite a philosopher yourself, Fleet Feet." She teased after thinking about what he said.

"Something Joe said to me once, Ms. Frosty. I think he was trying to give me the courage to ask Becky Cooper to my school dance," Barry said.

"Well that explains it," Caitlin chuckled. "But I think you have the right idea,"

Caitlin stood in front of the repair shop where Jax worked with Barry on her side, he insisted on coming there with her. He put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile to calm her nerves, knowing she was probably nervous. She had to admit, he can be pretty encouraging when he can.

"Get your hands off of me, Fleet Feet. Your hand might be really dirty, you'll ruin my clothes." She said to him while stepping away from him, though her words didn't have any venom in them, rather it was fondness.

"My hands are pretty clean, thank you very much, Ms. Frosty." He grinned, knowing fully well that she was just teasing him.

They both laughed, this is one of the moments that Barry could see why he married her in the future but he can't feel this way towards her. He shouldn't. He's still getting over his mom's death again and she was still mourning the death of Ronnie, although she's rebounding Jay.

"So, shall we get inside, Fleet Feet?"

"Yes, we shall, Ms. Frosty."

They both entered the shop to find Jax working under a car while Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On is still playing.

"Is that your favourite song or what?" Barry asked the mechanic, announcing their presence.

"Speak for yourself, Fleet Feet. Your favourite song is Poker Face." Caitlin teased, making Barry's face flush.

"Hey! At least it's not Summer Nights." Barry retorted, now it's Caitlin who flushed red from the teasing.

"Are you just gonna stand there and flirt with each other all day?" Jax asked the two meta.

"What? We're not flirting. That-that's just us bantering. A not-so-friendly banter that is." Barry tried to explain but he was stuttering.

"Yeah, me and this idiot are not happening. Not in a million years." Caitlin confirmed, but Jax didn't buy it.

"Really, huh? Could've fooled me?" He still looked at the both of them in a weird way.

"That's not important right now," Barry said, trying to lead the conversation away from the prospect of him dating Caitlin. "The reason we came here is that we needed to talk with you,"

"If this is about me merging with Grey, you can forget about it. I've already told you I'm not interested," Jax said.

"Look, if you do this, you'll be saving his life, and be getting powers out of this in the process," Caitlin said, trying to convince him.

"Not interested. I like how my life is right now. I'm not doing anything that could disrupt it," Jax stated.

"I looked at your school records Jax. Your grades were good enough to get you into any college you wanted, but you didn't. Instead you're wasting away here. Why is that?" Caitlin asked.

"You want to know why? My mom and I aren't that well off. If I wanted to go to college, I needed a scholarship. Football was going to be my way in, but after the accelerator exploded, I busted my knee and the calls stopped coming in," Jax explained.

"We can't promise you everything you lost, but all we can give you is a new purpose. You can help people, starting with Prof. Stein," Barry said.

"And what if I don't want that? No offence, I'm sure Grey is a great guy, but I don't know him. Why should I uproot my life for him?" Jax asked.

"Sometimes, people don't get the choice to be the hero. Sometimes you need to answer the call of duty because there's no one else that will. Because it's the right thing to do," Barry said.

"My husband, Ronnie," Caitlin started to say.

"You have a husband?" Jax interrupted her, shocked. With the way these two were interacting, he would have thought they would be married.

"Had," Caitlin corrected him. "He used to be the person Stein would merge with, but he died when he flew up into the black hole, trying to close it,"

"That flaming man on the news," Jax remembered hearing about that. "That was him?"

"Yeah. He was a hero that day, because there was no one else that could." Caitlin said. "We're not asking you to do this to become a hero, we're asking you to do this because you are the only one who can save Prof. Stein,"

"Well isn't that touching," a voice called out behind them.

Turning around, they saw Henry Hewitt strolling towards them with his flames encircling him menacingly. He fired a warning shot at them that burned several tires. It was clear he was here, either to get rid of Jax, or to convince the two STAR Labs employees to bring him back to Stein.

Either way, they needed to get out of there as fast as possible.

Without thinking, Barry sped himself, Caitlin, and Jax away to STAR Labs. They needed to stop Hewitt but Prof. Stein's life is the more pressing matter right now.

Jax was shocked. He was just standing with Barry and Caitlin, the next minute, he's standing at the Cortex once again with Caitlin, who has the same expression as him and an exhausted Barry. He pieced the pieces inside of his head. Barry is The Flash.

"You're The Flash?" Jax asked in awe.

"Yeah." The red clad speedster replied. "Now, I know that you don't want to be a hero but Prof. Stein needs you. But if you accept our offer, you would be constantly linked to Prof. Stein. What do you say?"

"I say let's save Grey." Jax replied, surprising all of them, even himself.

"I'll get the splicer." Cisco said before disappearing into his lab.

"And I'll get Prof. Stein ready." Caitlin left too, leaving Barry and Jax to themselves.

"Thank you so much for doing this. You have no idea how much this means to us," Barry thanked Jax.

"Hey, no problem. I'm just doing what you told me. Saving people, one person at a time. Grey's just the first one," Jax said. "So what's going on between you and the doctor?"

Barry groaned. Another one. "Why does everyone always assume Cait and I are in a relationship?"

"Because you say things like that. You call her Cait," Jax pointed out.

"Lots of people call Ms. Frosty Cait. That's nothing special," Barry said.

"How many people call her Ms. Frosty?" Jax questioned.

Barry shrugged. "Just me,"

"And you don't know why people think you're a couple?"

"She called me Fleet Feet. I had to think of something,"

Jax just face-palmed. These two had nicknames for each other. How dense can these people be?

A loud siren came on the system, alerting the group to a meta sighting. Cisco rushed to the computer to check what it was. "We've got trouble. Our little rejected Firestorm Matrix is wreaking havoc. We need to get a move on,"

"Even against a deficient Firestorm, I'm not sure I'll be able to safely handle this. I could really use Caitlin's help on this," Barry said.

"Let me just get changed. Can't go out fighting villains in my doctor uniform," Caitlin said, leaving the room.

"While she's busy getting ready, we can get Jax to merge with Stein right now. Having Firestorm with us will really help," Barry said. "Do you have the splicer ready?"

"I got it right here. Just wake up the professor and I'll get Jax prepped," Cisco said, holding up the splicer in his hand.

Barry walked over to the bed and lightly shook Stein awake. "Professor wake up,"

"Five more minutes Clarissa," Stein mumbled, obviously a little delirious due to his weakening state.

"Professor I need you to get up right now. Jax is here," Barry said, grabbing Stein's glasses off the table.

At the mention of Jax's name, Stein began to wake up, now aware of his surroundings. "Jax?"

Barry nodded in confirmation. "We're going to save you," Barry began to help Stein out of bed and offered himself as support in order for Stein to walk out to the Cortex.

"So here's the shortened version of it. Put this on, touch Stein, and the two of you should merge," Cisco said, pressing the splicer into Jax's chest.

"You came back," Stein said in amazement. Stein thought they scared him off after the talk of giving up his life to save Stein's.

"It's like my coach always said to me. Never leave a man behind," Jax smiled at him.

With that, the two reached out to each other and the transformation was instantaneous. The two were engulfed in a storm of flames and when they receded showed Jax with flames emitting from his head and hands and his eyes were now pure white.

"Jax?" Barry asked tentatively. "Is Prof. Stein…?"

"How will I know?" Jax asked before pausing for a moment, obviously hearing Stein's voice in his head. "So I get Grey as my co-pilot?"

"Alright, we're just waiting on Caitlin," Barry said.

"Well wait no further," a feminine voice sounded behind them as they all turned to see who it was.

As soon as Barry saw her, he froze. Not literally. She looked… different. It wasn't strange for him to see her transformed state after their many mock battles. He had grown accustomed to seeing Caitlin with white hair, blue lips, and glowing eyes. It wasn't until now that he realized he never saw her in her hero uniform.

The suit was more of a dress that was made to be able to allow her the freedom to move and fight. It was a sleeveless dark blue dress that bordered on black. To cover her arms she wore long leather gloves that left only her shoulders exposed. The dress had little sparkles with a giant snowflake on her centre. Barry tried not to look directly at it because it was also where her… assets were.

Barry mentally slapped himself before drool started pouring out of his mouth. Barry cursed the fact that these suits had to be form fitting. It just wasn't fair.

"Well?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow at the silence. "Where are we going?"

The three heroes made it to the scene which was the football field where Jax was initially injured. Henry Hewitt was using his powers to draw the energy out of the lights and systems into himself, making him more powerful.

"Cisco!" Barry shouted into his comms. "Cut the power to the lights so he can't obtain any more power."

"On it," they heard Cisco respond.

Soon the entire field went dark with only the two fire metas as their constant sources of light. Barry sped down to the field to grab any stragglers that had been left behind and carried them to a safer location. Somewhere that didn't contain an angry, unstable fire metahuman.

When Barry returned, he saw Caitlin fire a stream of ice to cool off Hewitt. Hewitt responded by firing his own flames to intercept them. The two collided, but the ice managed to overpower the flames in the end.

Caitlin's powers weren't actually ice or cold. Her powers worked as the opposite of flames. Instead of producing heat like Jax or Hewitt, she absorbed the heat into herself leaving ice and frost as a product. She was just able to control it to the degree that she could leave behind ice structures to fit her liking. Add in the fact that she had been using these powers for the past two years while Hewitt had only had his own for a mere few days just meant Caitlin had the advantage over him.

The blast of ice managed to make direct contact with Hewitt, but the second Caitlin let up, Hewitt melted right through any of the ice particles left on him.

Jax decided to try his luck by firing his flames at him. Being a complete Firestorm Matrix, he should have the natural advantage over him.

When Hewitt saw Firestorm hovering in the air above him, an inferno of rage sparked in his eyes. He fired his own blast of flames, even larger than the one before.

Despite having the natural advantage, Jax was overpowered due to the few days of experience Hewitt had over him.

"Stein! You chose him over me?" Hewitt glowered. "That's who I'm supposed to be! I should have the Firestorm Matrix,"

As his rage increased, the three heroes noticed how his flames increased as well.

Barry ran to make sure Jax was okay. "You good?"

"I used to be a quarterback," Jax dismissed his concerns. "I know how to take a hit,"

"Guys, cutting the power didn't help. It's like the angrier he gets the more powerful he becomes,"

"That's it!" Caitlin exclaimed. "The more powerful he becomes, the more unstable he should be. We need to make him angrier and he should blow his fuse,"

"Up for a game of 'Catch Me If You Can?'" Barry asked Jax.

"I'm always up for a good game," Jax responded.

"Hey Hewitt. What do you think you're doing?" Barry yelled at the man, running right up to him but making sure to maintain a distance so he would be safe from the heat. "It's such a waste of power,"

Hewitt growled in anger as he shot another blast of fire, this time trying to keep up with the speedster.

"Uh-oh. You missed. You need some practise doctor," Barry antagonized the angry meta.

"No wonder you didn't make the cut if that's how you fight," Jax teased him.

Hewitt grunted in frustration. In his distracted state, he didn't notice the ice meta directly behind him. Which she shot another blast of ice into his back causing him to stumble.

"No need for such a cold shoulder doctor. Nobody needs you anymore," Caitlin laughed at him.

Soon all three of them were openly laughing at the meta, which made Hewitt even madder which is exactly what they were aiming for.

Shaking in anger, Hewitt yelled in frustration, letting go all of his power at once. Both Caitlin and Jax were able to easily withstand the blast, whilst Barry ran to a safe distance to avoid a nasty burn.

Once the explosion was over they saw in the middle of the field the unconscious body of Henry Hewitt. Looked like he finally ran out of juice.

"What are you still doing here?" Barry asked from the entrance of the Cortex. "We are going to a bar tonight, you coming?"

"I'm just updating the information we have about Firestorm. You should go, I'll catch up later." The ice meta replied before turning back to her work.

"I know that it's hard for you to see Ronnie be replaced. I know that you are still hurting over him because if I'm gonna be honest, I'm still getting over…" Barry trailed off as he remembered the night his mom died, the night where he couldn't save her.

"What are you on about, Fleet Feet?"

"I just don't want you to be alone Ms. Frosty."

"Well no offense, but you are the last person I would want with me right now," Caitlin turned her back towards him again.

Caitlin soon changed the image on the screen depicting Firestorm consisting of Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein to Jefferson Jackson and Martin Stein.

After doing so, Caitlin just stared at the screen for a moment longer. Barry felt that he was intruding on a private moment for her so he decided to leave her alone for the time being.

On the way to the bar, Barry stopped right outside of Jitters because he caught sight of a certain woman who was enraptured in her folders. The sight of Patty so dedicated to her work brought a smile to Barry's face.

After having that talk with Caitlin, it gave him a bit of confidence that he sorely needed when it came to Patty. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he began strolling towards the entrance of Jitters with the full intention of asking Patty to go out with him.

Before he could however, a giant hand swooped in and grabbed him, lifting Barry up into the air and squeezing the life out of him.

The massive hand turned Barry around so he was now face to face with the person who grabbed him. It was a shark. A giant, walking shark.

"Flash," the creature growled. "Zoom wants you dead,"

Barry had no idea how the shark meta knew he was The Flash. He wasn't in his hero outfit and he hadn't been using his powers. He was actually walking instead of running because he wanted the time to think. Regardless he needed to get out of this shark's grip or else he would black out.

Before Barry could start vibrating to phase out of the shark's grip, it immediately loosened and the shark body collapsed forward.

Once Barry was able to catch his breath after being almost choked to death, he took a look at his savior. The hooded figure was wearing all black and was pointing a smoking gun at the collapsed body. The person tried to make a break for it, but Barry ran forward with his speed and managed to easily catch up to him and removed his hood at the same time.

Once the hood was off, the figure was revealed to be, "Harrison Wells?" Barry gasped in shock.

Firestorm is back. Not that we'll be seeing much of him, but Harry Wells has arrived. And we've got another person clamouring for Barry and Caitlin to get together.

Barry has finally acknowledged that Caitlin is a very beautiful woman. But he's still pining after Patty. They're both so oblivious, sometimes it's funny. Other times it's just so frustrating, but I have a plan I am sticking to.

Hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter. If you have something you want to ask, go ahead, leave a comment or PM me. I'm always open to questioning. Stay safe everyone.