12
Blown Up and Reconfigured
A/N: And here's the other reason as to why this story may move up to a 'M' rating. If you're not comfortable with this sort of thing, I understand, and will give a quick synopsis if needed for you to continue on with the story.
Piano music softly played throughout DeVoe's hideout, coming from the holographic piano projected in thin air. His hands gently swiped over the keys with ease of one who had been playing for a majority of their life. Something he couldn't quite boast about, he'd only learned how to play a few hours before but knew would impress even those of the simplest minds if they were to notice such amazing feats of music.
Not that he put much thought into what simple humans were and weren't able to enjoy what life had to offer. He was so engrossed in his playing that he didn't notice Marlize coming up behind him.
A small smile played across her face, hands clasped in front of her. She stopped just behind him, eyes closed so that she could enjoy the music completely. She swayed a little to the tune then let out a wistful sigh. "Ahh, one of my childhood favorites," she mused. "Schubert's Unfinished Eighth Symphony. So underrated."
"And unfinished," DeVoe agreed. He smirked, lowering his hands to his lap, the holographic piano disappearing the second he placed his hands back on the arms of his floating vehicle. "Until now." He cast a smile to his wife over his shoulder.
"You didn't," Marlize gasped. She took a step toward her husband, watching her husband closely, a small smile pulling at her lips.
DeVoe shrugged. "It was surprisingly simple to extrapolate the remaining movements once I familiarized myself with the body of his works." He turned the vehicle around so that he could look at his wife closely.
"All 600 of his works?"
"I woke up early this morning." DeVoe shrugged once more. Then his voice lowered to a sinister tone. "Do you have an update?" The change of subject was sudden, yet Marlize was able to keep up with her husband.
She moved into 'business mode' as easily as he did, rolling her shoulders back and clasping her hands firmly behind her back. The warmth in her smile faded into a cold, calculated one. "Subject One has been located. He's safe." She tipped her head. "For now." The corner of her lips pulled back a fraction of and inch. "It won't be long until he's locked up in the metahuman wing in Iron Heights. Just as you want." DeVoe smiled. "Then what do we do?"
"Find the others."
"And the Samuroids?"
"We'll dispatch the next one as soon as we can. Firstly, we need to see what it is this…Black Blade, can do."
Cadence looked over her shoulder when she heard the unmistakable sound of a fist beating on the door. How they'd managed to find her so quickly, she wasn't sure. But the hesitation wasn't enough for her to sit back and wait for a bullet to come splintering through the wood and into her forehead. That was the best path of trajectory they could get, her stature was short enough that where a normal man's chest was where the middle of her face would sit.
Could she survive a gun shot to the face? Was her healing fast enough to handle that? She didn't know and that day wasn't one that she wanted to use it figure it out. Nevertheless, she found herself waiting for the pounding fist to come once more. The irritation of the person on the other side wouldn't last too long before action was taken.
Silently, she sidled up to the peep hole and peered through. The warped, fishbowl of an eye looked back at her before she got a glimpse of the ear turning toward her. Then the man stepped back—she didn't recognize him but at least was able to note he had a 90s bowl cut he should've shaved ages ago. When he backed away, she saw four more men with him, all with varying degrees of body types, some lithe and fast, others bigger and would move slower, but stronger. A tough match up against her own small and athletic body. There was always the chance that, powers or no powers, she'd be able to defeat them, but she wasn't so naïve to think that a grown man couldn't best her if the time ever came.
"Break the damn door down," Bowl-Cut demanded, backing away and drawing out a pistol.
Ponytail nodded and moved to the front of the group. His large muscles rippled beneath his jacket as he brought his arm back, ready to use his elbow to knock down the door. Cadence waited, muscles tensing, ready for fight or flight. The second she saw him draw his arm back, she paced backwards, shifted her weight to the balls of her feet, and sprinted forward. The moment his elbow contacted the door, Cadence burst forward and rammed her shoulder into the door, following it with the momentum of her body weight.
The door, which she knew to be flimsy, fell apart at the bolts, allowing her to cling to it and follow its momentum forward and onto Ponytail. Scrambling on her hands and feet, she grabbed the shoulders of the men closes to her—Crew Cut and Buzzed—and used them as leverage to jump up and grab the exposed pipe above her and used it to swing forward and drive her feet into Mullet's chest, driving him back.
In the time it took for him to hit the ground, Cadence had the thought that he'd better a new haircut as no one would take him seriously as a killer with a Mullet. She sprinted around the corner and down the hallway, hearing the footsteps behind her. Turning the corner, another thug came to her, and she quickly side-stepped him, leaping off a furnace to get around him. Another one came around the corner up ahead. She sprinted forward and lowered her head, driving her shoulder into his chest.
She caught him by surprise, could tell from the way his breath spewed from him at once before he sucked back, making a choking sound. The sound only thwarted by the thwacking of his head and back against the wall behind him, seconds before the drywall and plaster gave way, knocking them through to the next room.
Cadence tucked her legs in and landed on her knees, driving them into the man's stomach to cushion her fall. The guy gaped up at her before she brought back her fist and punched him in the face. She scrambled to her feet, running further into the apartment they'd fallen into. Raced through the winding rooms, until she found one that held a window with sunlight streaming through it. The side of the building she was looking for.
She raced between a couple of young men having a conversation, gaping at her when, in a flash, she shot across their living room and leapt out their window. She tucked her arms and legs in to cover her face from the flying glass and twisted her body around as she fell. Reaching out her hands, her palms slammed into the railing of a balcony. The force of her falling velocity against the metal wasn't a match for the rusted metal, which broke off and swung her down toward the window of the apartment beneath her.
She let go and swung forward into the apartment, where she landed on her feet and kept running, tossing a quick, "Hi," to the little kids that sat inside, watching TV.
They greeted her cheerfully in response, "Hi, Cadence!" not looking away from the TV. Cadence made her way from the apartment and to the building's stairwell, leaping over the railing from one landing to another, making the men that raced up the stairs to do a double-take, looking at her in surprise as she flew by. Landing, Cadence whipped around and flung herself down the side of the railing, kicking another man in the face, evading every grab toward her while she made her way down the flights of stairs.
Finally, she made it to a landing with only one door that'd lead her to safety. She pumped the safety bar and punched through to an empty hallway…empty except for the thudding footsteps behind her and the small group of men that raced directly toward her.
"How many men does this guy have?" she mumbled under her breath, watching them come closer. It was an ironic question, she knew. Criminals always had wave after wave of disposable men to keep the police as far from them as possible.
"Get her!" The man in front of her yelled.
Cadence gritted her teeth. Sensed the body temperature of the man behind her, about to reach out and grab her ponytail and yank her to a jolting stop. Quickly, she threw herself aside and out the open window directly to her right, barely missing the fingers scrabbling toward her. She flipped sideways through the air, landing in a crouch to relieve the sting of pain from her feet up to her knees. Immediately, the door behind her pumped open, the breeze of the door flying open mixed with the fall breeze around her.
Damn it, Cadence looked around her surroundings. She was closer to the ground, but still not close enough from the new rooftop she now stood atop of. There weren't many places in Central City that had apartment buildings so close, but it at least gave her leeway to use her gymnastics background to throw into her parkour moves to aid in her getaway.
Lowering herself to her stomach, she scrambled through the closest open window and across the bed of a young couple who screamed in terror at her appearance then of the appearance of the men chasing her. Thankfully, the layouts of the apartment were similar in that she navigated her way through each of them with ease. Her chest heaved, heart pounding against her ribcage painfully while she worked as hard as she could to get away.
Running blindly, she found herself running through another door…to thin air in front of her. Nothing but the end of a metal frame and a long drop below. She certainly wasn't going to be able to stop in time. So, she continued her full pelt forward, lifted foot up to the railing as if she were to do a wall climb, flipped herself backwards and up—simultaneously—and landed on the same structure right above her. She turned and raced up the stairs, jerking her head back just before the opening door smacked her in her sinuses. It would've been painful enough, but a good blow into her nose would've knocked the cartilage further back than she would've liked.
Probably would've had the chance to kill her if she couldn't quickly heal.
Cadence stepped back, evaded the elbow that was throw to her face, punched Ponytail directly in the throat, and threw him over the side of the external stairwell before racing into the space he'd previously occupied. Looks like I'm going up. She continued to run, moving to any place that was safe enough for her to continue her path, taking on anyone who got in her way with ease.
Finally, she made it to the roof top, climbing pipes to get higher and further away from the men chasing her. She raced towards the slope in the roof and leap off, sticking out her foot so she could slide down it, rolling onto her shoulders when she reached the end of the slope. She ran and ran, using everything in her way, trash cans and random pieces of furniture to leap over and knock back and trip up the others. Engaging in quick—but fierce—hand to hand combat for anyone who managed to come too close.
A humiliating defeat with how quickly she made work of them, sharp elbows into the sternum and neck felled them like trees. And yet, there seemed to be more and more of them coming as the seconds passed. A wave of men trying to take down what—they thought—was a poor defenseless woman. They learned that lesson the hard way as she managed to take every one down with ease.
From rooftop to rooftop she went, until there was a large gap between the one she was on and the one in front her. A gap large enough to cause certain death if she mis-timed her jump. She looked over her shoulder, at the group that came after her, and made her decision. It was a quick calculation of her speed, the distance, and how many steps she'd need it to clear herself to the other side.
The quickest calculation she'd made her in life.
In a split second, gravel spraying form beneath her feet, Cadence ran straight toward the end of the roof top. She planted her foot on the ledge and pushed herself up and out at the same time. The wind blew by her as her arms and legs wind milled through the air. The edge of the roof loomed closer and closer, for a second, Cadence thought, with horror, that she'd miscalculated. That she was about to slam chest first into the side of the building which could most certainly crush her sternum, her ribs, and the force of her abrupt stop cause her heart to shoot forward and sever itself from the arteries leading to it.
She'd die a horrifically painful death, save for her crashing to the ground and cracking her skull open. But, at the last second, Cadence brought her arms in and made it so that she gave herself an extra turn and cleared the side of the roof. She turned and rolled across her shoulders, coming to a stop in a kneeling crouch.
Breathing heavily, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked back at the roof behind her. At the small-ish crowd of faces that stared back at her, knowing they were unable to make the same jump. A grin came to Cadence's face, she stood and drew her arm across her forehead, removing the sweat and grime that covered her.
She brought up her free hand to the communication piece nestled in her ear. "Stop the simulation," she said. In seconds, the Central City skyline melted away to return to the empty simulation room of STAR Labs. She placed her hands on her hips an turned back to Cisco, who sat at the control panel, watching her. She lifted her chin toward him.
"Well?"
He shook his head. "I think you kicked ass like always," he replied as she walked closer. "But I didn't really see anything." He grabbed a towel and tossed it toward her. He noticed her frown of frustration and shook his head, curls bouncing as he did so. "I'm sorry, Cade, but there wasn't anything there that would've given a good vantage point of where this shooter would've come from. And Sally didn't get it either."
Cadence let out a quit sigh, gently closing her eyes. She pursed her lips. "A sniper tried to take me and Barry out and we can't get anything?" Her eyebrows shot upwards, pinching together to show her displeasure. "We've been trying this for days now."
"I know, but that doesn't mean we can give up."
"I'm not giving up. I'm just starting to question whether or not we should really be afraid that technology is about to take over all of our jobs." She grinned, seeing the offended expression on Cisco's face as she perched on the end of the computer desk, crossing her legs at the knee. "Sorry, Cisco, did I hit a nerve?"
Cisco made a squeaking sound of surprise, pressing his hand to his chest. He slowly blinked, bringing his head back to look at her clearly. "Did you strike a nerve?" He cleared his throat and spoke firmly but seriously. "You decide to besmirch my love for technology and sciences and what is going to happen with the future, and you think you didn't strike a nerve?" He gently stroked the keyboards in front of him. "It's alright, she didn't mean it." Cadence giggled quietly to herself, she reached down to open the candy cabinet and cried out when he reached out his hand and smacked it against hers.
"Ow!" Cadence brought her hand back to her lap, rubbing it soothingly.
Cisco rolled his eyes. "You have super-strength, that couldn't possibly have hurt."
"Probably hurt a lot less than a bullet through my forehead," she remarked, shooing his hand away and opened the drawer. She pulled out a package of Smarties and popped one into her mouth. She chewed slowly, face screwing up against the chalky flavor. "You need to get new candy."
"You need to stop eating my candy or buy some yourself," Cisco replied. He snatched the candy from her and threw it back into the cabinet. He gave a humorless smile, only one side of his mouth turn up. "How many parts of the city have we looked at so far?"
Cadence ran a hand through her hair, thinking. "Seaside, Downtown, Business District…"
"So, basically, every place in the city that we've ever fought any of the homicidal maniacs that we've come across over the past three years." Cisco bobbed his head back and forth. "Some solid choices. But not close enough to STAR Labs to have put you guys as a target." He lifted his finger. "Plus, we also have to figure out why they targeted you."
"Because it'd be too easy for us to have normal lives?"
"No, no, think about it." Cisco leaned back in his seat, looking at the ceiling. He used his feet to gently push himself in a circle. "These guys had to have been close enough to use that sniper shoot to try and get you two. But…they only shot once, stopping once they saw they didn't reach you. It's possible that they didn't know you were a metas."
"But they do now," Cadence pointed out with growing dread.
Cisco pointed at her. "That's correct, my friend. So, if they didn't know you were metas before…they could be after you for your money?" At her snort, he started spinning faster. "Hey! Together you can be the Beyoncé and Jay-Z of the meta world with how much money you guys bring in. I mean, yeah, it sucks that it's all inheritance and I only wish that my parents could kick the bucket so I can get some of that sweet, sweet satisfaction."
"Okay, so they want our money," Cadence said slowly. "But then why would they decide to do it so publicly?" She worked it over as she spoke. "They know we're getting married; the announcement was out in the newspaper. They know all about Barry because of what happened with his mom and dad. They've mentioned my parents' business, so that goes without saying." She bobbed her head. "Yeah, I guess it could be for the money."
"You sound like you don't believe it."
"Only because I don't quite believe that this wouldn't be because we're metas. Which his even more worrying," she admitted.
Cisco waved a hand. "Enlighten me."
"Our meta-database was stolen and put in Amunet's Black Market. Anyone could have that information on us. It might be out on the deep web where anyone can find it."
"You mean the Dark Web," Cisco interrupted her. "And it's not there, I already looked." Cadence's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Hey, we computer nerds have a lot of time on our hands while we're waiting for certain results to come back on our tests. And you best believe I know how to peer around some VPNs and firewalls. You know how your boys does it!"
"And can my boy figure out the ballistics of the bullet to trace it back to the gun used?"
"Ummm. Aren't you the one in the CCPD? Shouldn't you know how to do that?" Cadence reached over, grabbed the arm of Cisco's chair and gave it an almighty spin. Cisco grasped the arms of the chair and screamed at the tops of his lungs, it mixed along with Cadence's laughter as he was flung around until he flew out of the chair and hit the floor. Cisco lay sprawled on the ground, staring up at the ceiling before rolling to his side, placing a hand over his mouth.
"You're mean," Cisco moaned. He heaved, cheeks blowing up. "I know you've got that sweet disposition going on, but you're evil in a tiny package." He pushed himself up as Cadence went and grabbed his hand, easily hauling him to his feet. "Did you really have to do that? What kind of a leader are you? Barry wouldn't do this to me!"
Cadence's smile wilted ever so slightly. She couldn't help it, worked hard to keep it up. If Cisco noticed, he didn't say anything. Instead, he heaved himself back into his seat, still looking green around the gills. "You think you can try another sweep of the city? See if there's anything we missed from the footage. Any other camera angles. Any other roads we may have missed."
"Roads?" Cisco barked. "Where we're going, we don't need roads!"
Cadence tilted her head, blinking blankly back at him. "Star Wars?" She guessed. Cisco looked back at her with wide eyes. Even wider than anything she'd ever seen him do before. He even started to shake, face going pale. "What?"
"How…how can you…how?" Cisco stammered. He placed his chin in his hands and stared at her. "I think we have to stop being friends. I don't…have you never seen Back to The Future?"
"Uh, because I actually had a life in High School?"
"Oh, and at the end of the year were you nominated 'Biggest Bitch'?"
Cadence gave him a look, shooting him the middle finger, then jumped when there was a gust of air that blew through the control room. She looked over to see Barry skid to a stop, a large grin on his face. He removed his cowl and beamed at the two. "I stopped three car jackings, a drug deal, a robbery," his smile faded slightly, "And rescued about four cats from the trees."
"That's all you found on patrol?" Cisco asked.
"That's all. Nothing meta related, not even anti-meta protests." He placed his hands on his hips. "'Nothing about the new meta, either. Things have been quiet, no tech issues. We've interviewed the witnesses again and got nothing. I think we're at an end pass on this one."
"Until all the technology decides to rise up and take us over," Cadence said, shooting Cisco a glance. He glared at her in response. "All right, well, at least we've got the city looked over before we did our training tonight."
"Oh, I cancelled that," Barry piped up with a wave of his hand. "You don't have to worry about that."
Cadence blinked in surprise. "You cancelled it?" She repeated. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Cisco grimace, shifting his head down to stare at the computer screen in front of him. She saw his hands tighten on the arms of the chair and raise himself a little, as if he was stuck between staying or leaving. He looked as if he were about to hatch an egg.
She felt his body temperature rise from where he saw. Wondering what to do.
"Yeah, I mean, we don't need it. Right?" He looked to Cisco for help, who smiled weakly. Barry turned back to Cadence, his eyes searching hers. "I'm back and I just did a patrol of the city, everything's fine. And if something did happen, we can quickly run out there and figure things out."
Cadence reached up and rubbed her forehead. "We needed that training, Barry. Not just for us, but for Brady and Leah. We need to make sure that they're back up to speed…that we're all back up to speed and know to work as a team again."
"We are a team," Barry insisted with an encouraging grin. Then, after a second, it faded. "Well, almost. If Caitlin were here, then we'd really be a team again." He paused and bobbed his head back and forth. "And if we had another Wells in here. But I think we can go a year without that." Cadence took in a deep breath through her nose. "Anyway, I think we should take a night off and just enjoy the fact that everything's going back to normal."
"You mean like the victims of the speed force lightning who're in the hospital?"
"It would've been a lot worse if I didn't go," Barry reminded her. "Just like…things here if I didn't get out."
"He had a point," Cisco murmured.
Cadence ignored him.
"You wouldn't have had to have gotten out if you didn't go in, in the first place," Cadence interrupted. Silence stretched over the control room. Cadence sighed and took a step back, running a hand over her face. "But that was all because of Savitar, anyway."
Barry pressed his lips together. He placed his hands on his hips, lowered his head, then asked quietly. "Don't you mean that's my fault?" He asked. "Savitar wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for me creating Flashpoint."
"No one can blame you for that, Bare," Cisco said quietly. He stood, pushing back his seat. He winced, rubbing his tailbone, where it had come in painful contact against the floor. "If it happened to any of the rest of us, we would've done the same thing." He looked to Cadence and said, "I'm going to take another look through the cameras to see if we can find anything about this new meta…and to see who tried to take you two out."
''Okay, thanks."
Cisco started to leave the control room then turned back to Cadence. He looked to Barry, then to her and said, "Maybe you should take this night off, Cade. Just to relieve from stress. We've been working ourselves to the bone while Barry's been gone, just…try to blow off some steam or something okay?" He turned to leave, then turned back to her. "But don't blow off any of that steam in here, I only just replaced all the instruments you melted." He turned his hand into a 'V' pointed at his eyes, then pointed them at her. "I'm watching you." And he left.
Cadence ran a hand through her hair, watching as Barry whooshed out of sight to chance back into his street clothes. He came back with a bag over his shoulder. He looked at her earnestly, with a semi-wounded puppy expression that only Barry Allen could master. "Are you ready to go?" He asked.
"Yeah." Cadence nodded.
Maybe Cisco was right, maybe it was a good idea to get some time off. She couldn't' remember the last time she'd had 'off' in the last six months. When she wasn't at work, she was raising Brady, when she wasn't raising Brady she was training him and Leah, when she wasn't training, she was at her Zumba classes, when she wasn't at Zumba classes she was socializing, and when she wasn't socializing, she was at work.
Over and over.
A night in couldn't be too bad.
Was probably something she really needed.
The two went back to their apartment. Barry dropped his bag by the front door and leaned over to the amphibian bowl that sat just by the front door. He peered into it, gently tapping on the glass. "McSnurtle is looking pretty good," he remarked.
"Yeah, Brady's been taking his job of feeding him very seriously," Cadence agreed, flipping through the mail that'd been slipped beneath their door. Invoices and more invoices for photographers and caterers. She put them aside to the growing pile on her side of the dining table, then flipped through the rest. "He's really trying to prove that he can have his own pet." She dropped to the couch, rubbing her temples.
"Tell him I said 'thanks," Barry replied. He gently stroked McSnurtle's back then looked to her. "Are you hungry?"
Cadence laughed. "What kind of question is that?" She burned nearly as many calories as he did on a good day. Even more when she actively used her powers in a lengthy battle. The nearby Big Belly Burgers had started to refuse to sell to them due to how many things they'd order at once. And, within the last six months, she and Brady had been kicked out of a buffet for allegedly 'taking advantage of the all you can eat promotion'.
Barry laughed. "Pad See Ew?" he offered.
"Please."
It was whisked back in front of her within seconds. Cadence drew her legs up and turned, resting them in Barry's lap as he spooned out portions for them. Making sure to leave some for Brady for when he got back later that day. She grabbed the remote and turned it to ESPN, frowning when Barry made a low groaning sound in his throat.
"I think you're the only guy I know who doesn't want to watch sports," Cadence remarked.
"It's not that," he defended himself, slurping some noodles into his mouth. "The Diamonds haven't been playing well lately. I can't watch another slaughter." He shrugged. "I'm actually starting to think I'm a jinx. Since I got back they've started losing. I've looked up the stats."
Cadence snorted. "I don't think your presence or lack thereof is affecting them."
"I mean, morale may've been low since the Flash has been gone." He gestured toward the TV screen as the baseball game started up once more. "They've got a special Flash-Diamonds jersey. I mean something to these people."
"Right, and Captain Singh knows we're Flash and Flare." Cadence laughed, brushing her hair behind her ear, tucking her carton of food close to her chest as she settled into the couch. "The Diamonds are losing because the Diamonds suck."
Barry looked at her out the corner of his narrowed eyes. "Don't tell me you think the Meteors are the better team."
"Root, root for the home team," Cadence sing-song, wiggling back and forth to the tune of the song. Now it was Barry's turn to snort. She lifted her foot, nudging him in the side. "Even their batting average is better, and they lost nearly every game last year."
"You're exaggerating."
"They've got a pinch hitter from the St. Louis Cardinals and…" She waved a hand. "You don't want to know what I think about that."
"The Cardinals aren't that bad—"
"—They're cheaters!" Cadence exploded, violently jabbing her finger towards the TV. Barry laughed at her sudden outburst. "You can't tell me you don't think hacking the Astros wasn't cheating. And all they got was being stripped of their picks in the draft? Please!" Barry laughed harder. Cadence looked at him, smiling a little. "What's so funny?"
"Remember our first date?" He asked. Then amended, "Our first actual date, not the one the Reverse-Flash ruined. Where we were arguing over the Miners and the Generals?"
Cadence laughed. "Yeah." She pointed at him with her chopsticks. "You're still wrong."
"About Keystone beating them both?"
"Oh, no, we're still going to get creamed. I just meant that you were wrong about the Miners winning. Like, you were actually wrong." She waved a hand. "There was a lot of stuff going on with Savitar and all that, but they lost badly."
"Yeah, I tried not to think about that while we tried not to get killed." Barry finished his plate and quickly inhaled another one before splitting up the dessert between them. He finished half of it, grabbed the remote and changed the channel. All of a sudden the images on screen started to move faster than the speed of light. "D'you mind, I have to catch up on Game of Thrones so Cisco and I can talk about it."
"Yes, I mind," Cadence groaned. "This gives me a headache! Brady, Connor, and I couldn't figure out how to turn it off and wasn't sure if we were watching The Bachelor or American Horror Story." She paused. "There's not much of a difference between either but…" she trailed off, laughing to herself.
"Well, it shouldn't take more than five minutes to finish," Brady remarked. "After that, you can watch whatever you want."
"No, no, go ahead." Cadence reached over the couch and grabbed a large binder that was stuffed to the brim from underneath the coffee table. She dropped it into her lap and ran her fingertip over the front, of a multitude of wedding venues, flower arrangements, and dresses shoved into the sleeve on the front. Most of them being pictures she'd cut out of magazines recently, while others had been collected over the years. "Besides, I've got to look over our neglected wedding plans. Mom's been asking me for an update and I've been putting her off. And there's all of the invoices that are staking up." Cadence shook her head. "It's going to take me forever."
Barry waved a hand. "Oh, I already finished."
Cadence's grasp tightened on her binder. Her head whipped up to study the side of Barry's face. "What?"
"Yeah." He nodded, eyes still on the flickering images onscreen. "I locked in a caterer, I got you your favorite flowers, I put a deposit on a venue with an amazing view. And I got that seven-tier raspberry chocolate cake."
"Wow, looks like you've got everything covered," Cadence said.
"So my lovely fiancée can remain stress free." He gave her a warm smile.
Cadence drummed her fingers on the front of the binder, pressing a little harder as each second passed. "Just one thing."
"What's that?"
"Conner's allergic to raspberries."
Barry hummed. His eyebrows came together as he took in her words. He hummed, shoulders slumping. "Okay. Well, the order wasn't put in too long ago, we can change it to something else. Maybe chocolate coffee?"
"What kid do you know likes coffee? Especially in a cake."
"So Brady's allergic to strawberries, Conner's allergic to raspberries." Barry counted off on his fingers, mouthing the words to him a few times, obviously trying to remember. He squeezed an eye shut, looking at her. "Are you allergic to anything, too?"
"I thought you knew everything about me," Cadence said flatly.
Barry looked at her for a moment. "I know you're mad at me," he said. Cadence pursed her lips. "I knew it. You're mad." He lifted the remote and turned off the TV. Turned to face her completely while she pulled her legs from his lap and dropped them to the floor. "Is this about the car thing? I already said I was sorry."
Cadence tried to keep her temper under control. But the second he mentioned her being mad, she felt it flow through her in, like molten lava rushing through to make it up through a volcano. Then again, how much longer was she able to hold back six months' worth of grief that she hadn't really been able to express before. Crying every now and then was one thing, being able to talk about it was a completely other thing.
She started off as calmly as she could, but heard the bite in her voice as she spoke. "It's not just about what happened with Chief Paulson and Alicia, Barry." Though that was a big part of it. Had it not been for Brady, they could've been killed. Something that clearly hadn't gotten past Brady as he was quick to report to her that morning that Alicia had been in class and, apart from being a little quieter than usual, was being herself. "You cancelled training without asking me! Without talking to me about it! When we need this training to get back to being a team."
"We are a team," Barry replied, desperation coming to his tone. He still smiled a little, though it was a confused smile. A smile plastered on his face as he tried to figure out what was going on and how everything blew up in his face within seconds of an innocent question being posed. "We don't need extended training sessions to be a team." He held up his hands. "I admit, it was my fault that I didn't listen to you about the car thing. I was just—"
"—Excited?" Cadence broke in. She got up from the couch and started to pace, unable to hold still. With as much enthusiastic energy she typically had, an off-shoot from her days as a cheerleader, Cadence was almost never able to hold still. This time that energy was going into her words rather than her movements. "Yeah, you mentioned that before."
"I didn't think cancelling training was a big deal."
Cadence jabbed at the binder on the floor with her index finger. Even from her angle, she could see a shimmer just above her fingertip, the tell-tale shimmer that a fire was about to burn above the appendage. "And you made all these wedding plans and didn't consult me on them, either! If you didn't say anything, you could've killed Connor."
'I was trying to be a good fiancé!" Barry stood as well. Spread his arms. Pleaded. "I'd think most brides would be happy that their future spouse cared about the wedding. And wanting to be a good father—step-father—to a young boy that's coming into the relationship. That is a good thing, right?"
"It is if we're on the same page."
Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess our wires have bene crossed a few times lately."
"Lately?"
Their wires had been crossed almost everywhere. When they went out into the field, it was hard work. Harder than it should have been. Cadence had fallen into her role as the leader in Barry's absence and still worked that way when they were handling something together. Whereas Barry continued to run in and get things done as quickly as possible. There were a few missions they'd come back from lately that had the rest of Team Flash looking everywhere but at the two, knowing how much they—lightly—bickered over what to do and who to use to stop the danger.
And while Barry didn't say anything, she knew he was dealing with the power struggle as well, his awkward response to Wally's following Cadence's suggestion rather than his aside.
"But I don't think that's brings us to a level of a crisis. I mean, you and I? We're the gold standard."
Cadence snorted. "You can say that with a straight face?"
Finally, Barry frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You left!" Cadence finally exploded. Her voice came with so much vehemence that it made Barry take a step back. "You left all of us! To figure out what to do after you were gone! It's like the football team losing the quarterback without a backup! What does a team do after that?"
"You told me to leave!" Barry shot back.
"Of course I did! Did you see how many people were getting hurt because of the lightning being thrown around?" The fear that'd filled her chest was palpable as she watched the lightning storm brew around the apartment. Winced each time the window became illuminated with each lightning bolt. Could still feel the wooden floor rumbling under foot with each accompanying boom of thunder. Could still see the red and yellow lightning fry everything in its path, lightning it up in seconds before leaving it a burning husk.
Remembered it all, remembered Barry walking into the Speed Force after and, unfortunately, remembered all their loses since he'd left.
"You're mad about that?"
"I'm not mad that you left, I'm not mad that you left me." He looked relieved. It was crushed when she said, "I'm mad that you come back and you're acting like everything is exactly the same! But it's not! We're not the same people, Barry. We're not the same team. If we were, I'm sure we would've killed each other by now." She paused. "At least Cisco and I would've."
"I know that!" Barry cried back. "I know everything's not the same. Six months have passed, Cade. I've come back to a city that's moved on without me! Without the Flash! I missed everything! I missed, I missed our wedding plans! I missed people responding to it! I missed Joe and Cecile's relationship getting stronger. I missed Iris's newspaper articles starting to get awards!" He started to pace. "I missed Wally handling things on his own! I missed training Brady and Leah, and Cisco and Wally. I missed Brady starting school. I missed going to get school supplies with him and helping him with projects and…and being there for him. And you! And I'm sorry, okay! I'm sorry." He opened and closed his mouth a few times. "And I don't know what else to do other than pretend everything is oaky. So tell me, what else do you want me to do?"
"For starters, you can stop acting like all of this is on you! This isn't about you, Barry! It's not even about us, it's about everything! The team, Central City! Meta-humans are going into hiding now more than ever because of Lex Luthor and you're acting like everything is fine! You won't even tell us what happened when you in the Speed Force!"
"Because I can't" His voice broke with emotion. "I can't say what's been going on. Every time I try…gibberish comes out. Something happened to me in the Speed Force, I…I can't even begin to imagine telling you what it was! It was a prison, just like Wally and Jay said. Only that I was stuck in there longer than they were and when I come back out things have changed and it's like none of you care."
"If we didn't care, we wouldn't have tried so hard to get you out."
"You didn't try to get me out until Cisco mentioned he knew a way how."
"You kept telling me to move forward," Cadence reminded him. Her eyes narrowed. "To keep running. And I did that. And it sucked, but I kept moving forward. Because I knew you wanted me to. Did you think I would just sit back and let things happen? I had a city to keep safe and I worked hard at it."
"Worked hard not to think about me, you mean?"
"What does that mean?"
"It means, Cade, that you've barely looked at me since I got back!" Cadence's eyes shifted. Had it really been that obvious? It wasn't like he could expect things to get straight back to normal after they'd gotten used to him being gone? How easily were they supposed to get used to it when he was back? They had to structure their lives around it as they had to structure their lives over him when he was gone. Nevertheless, she worked to keep a straight face. "It's like you don't even love me anymore."
"Excuse me?"
"You hardly talk to me and when you do, it's like you're treating me like I'm a child. Like I can't do anything right and I have to be watched all the time."
"Well, you did almost get Chief Paulson and Alicia killed."
"I already apologized for that!"
"You didn't apologize, you blew it off! You acted like nothing happened. Just like you're acting with all of this!" Cadence and Barry were in each other's faces by that point, shouting at the top of their lungs. "But things happened while you were gone, Barry! And we're all still dealing with it!"
The two stood close to each other, anger and frustration palpable in their stances and within their powers showing off around them. Steam poured from Cadence's ears, milling around them, the outside temperature matching the internal temperature of their argument. The internal temperature of what they'd been holding back. Lightning crackled at Barry's fingertips. Together a storm would've brewed through the apartment.
Their eyes bored into each other, waiting for each other to be the first to step past the fracture between them, sooth the friction that had been there longer than either of them had noticed. Nevertheless, they were still a unified front. Because they moved at the same time, the same thing on their minds.
Their lips crashed against each other's in a powerful kiss, much more so than their reunion one. That one had been tender and desperate, excitement that they were able to finally, finally see each other again. Where Cadence saw her fiancé for the first time in six months and was more excited than excited while Barry was able to see the love of his life without having to then see her die over and over again. This kiss was different. There was much more passion than this time around, pent up anger, frustration, misery, and tension that hadn't had been spoken before then.
Cadence couldn't help but smile, feeling the familiar tingle of their powers joining together when he grasped her neck, parting his lips to take in a shuddering breath before their lips crashed together once more. Whatever was broken between them was slowly mending, the spark between their fingertips the sure sign. Much stronger than it had been before, a lifeline, the lightning rod that grounded them. Barry tightened his grasp against her neck, desperate to hold on. Anchored himself to her, holding on as tightly as he had when she took him out of the Speed Force. She was his lightning rod and always would be.
There was a second where the world zoomed around her, where Cadence became disoriented, delirious with the kisses they traded, grasping desperately to him, feeling him, had to know he was there. It took a second before she realized he'd raced them from the living room and up to their bedroom. She could only focus on the way he felt against her, how right it was.
How much of an empty void it filled.
Hands cradling her neck, Barry pressed her back to the wall of their bedroom, kicking off his shoes as he did so. His fingers descended the back of her neck, smoothing down her shoulders and arms to curl around her waist, pulling her flush against him, all the while Cadence clutched tightly to him, allowing herself to be drowned in his kisses, of the rough merges that bruised her lips.
She grasped his elbows before using her enhanced strength to turn them around, backing towards the bed until they fell into it. Though the speed of their kisses petered out, their lips worked over each other's massaging gently as they relaxed against each other. Became used to each other being there again, holding tightly to ensure they wouldn't disappear but gentle enough to show the love they still held for each other.
Cadence's hands rested on Barry's chest, smoothing her fingers over the fabric that kept his chest from her. Something that barely remained as she burned it within seconds, making him yelp in surprise before she pulled him back to her, smothering his cry of surprise with another kiss and a swipe of her tongue over his lips. She barely concentrated on it, her senses flooded by the barrage of kisses they shared, drowning in all her senses, enhancing every touch, every stroke against her skin that sent goosebumps shoot up and down her spine.
Every now and then his lips would leave hers to blaze a path down her neck, from her earlobe to her chest before finding its way back to her lips. Cadence parted her lips letting his moans become engulfed by her mouth. She didn't need to work hard to match his eagerness to be as close as possible to him. He was home. He was there. He was hers. There was nothing that would break them apart again.
Nothing that she'd allow to do so.
She responded to his touch, slowly yet surely losing control on her powers as she did so, the warming temperature of the room causing sweat to appear over their skin. Their smooth movements turning clumsy, moving over their slick, sweaty skin, exposed as they rapidly removed each other's clothes, desperate to be as close to each other as possible. Until Barry found himself at an end pass, hand desperately spidering up her back.
Cadence chuckled. "You've been gone in the Speed Force so long that you can't figure out how to open a bra?"
Barry lifted his head and glared at her. In a flash, he rid her of the offending object and pulled her back into his arms, burying his face into her neck, breathing deeply to take in her scent. Cadence drew her fingertip down the lightning infused scar on his chest, it seemed to glow beneath his skin from her touch. She traced his stomach, leaving a burning trail around each of his abs before drawing a figure eight around his bellybutton.
Within seconds, Barry started to rapidly vibrate, the sensation beneath her hands making Cadence burst out into hysterical laughter that was only cut off when Barry—with an expression that was a mixture of embarrassment and disgruntlement that always appeared when she teased him for it—shifted his hand and surprised her, slipping his fingers into her.
"Barry," Cadence groaned, grasping his shoulders tightly before moving to drag down Barry's back, creating wounds that instantly healed amongst his twisting fingers within her.
She rested her forehead against his shoulder, holding him as tightly as she could, but didn't lose control, knew how easy it would've been to crush him if she were to lose control. Just as she'd done before, the reminder haunting her more than any of the deaths she'd been contracted her. No, she was in control this time, in as much as she could be from how good he was making her feel.
Six months in the Speed Force had done nothing to what he was able to do to her. Cadence pinned her legs together when she reached her peak, keeping his hand from moving any further. Barry looked at her in confusion before she placed her foot on his chest, pushing him back from her, used a flick to knock him over then climbed atop of him, smothering him with an even more passionate kiss. Once. Twice. Three times. Desperate to let everything out. Her nails raked over his thigs when she grabbed the waistband of his underwear and practically ripped them down.
Barry gaped up at her, watched as her orange-red eyes—which would've been demonic in any other scenario—roved over his body, making fire set up camp in his chest before burning through the rest of his body. Ragged breaths escaped her lips, only stopping between each kiss up his hips, his stomach, his chest, being sure to trace the length of his scar, up his neck, where she grabbed his jaw in her hand and turned his head aside, dragging her tongue along the shell of his ear. Barry felt a crick in his neck when she forced his head back and smothered him in more kisses, laying down to mold her body against his, throwing her leg around his waist to straddle him.
Cadence grasped his face once more; fingers digging into his cheeks. Her eyes bore into his. "Don't you ever leave again," she murmured, all but growled. "Promise."
A demand, not a question.
Barry nodded, wet his lips with his tongue. "Promise," he said hoarsely, then gasped, feeling her sink onto him. A wince of passion swept across his face, accompanying the groan he couldn't hold back, eyes fluttering shut. Cadence leaned down so her face hovered over his, her hair a curtain around his face, hot breath washing over him. They watched each other for a few moments, her rolling hips made his body undulate against the springs of the bed. Before he reached up and grabbed her, palms sliding down her sweat-slicked skin and before resting on her bare hips. His lower body arched, moving along with her riding him.
He reached up and tangled his hand into her hair, pulling her head back until her chin was raised, forcing her to look down at him. She rolled her hips harder, clenching her jaw. He moved against her, making himself fill her with each thrust forward, painfully grasping her hip with his free hand, holding her firmly, digging his fingers into her skin and bone. Cadence pressed one hand down to Barry's chest, fingers splaying across his skin, the other painfully grasping his bent knee, steadying herself.
She grinded over his lap, rolling his hips, riding him hard. Her eyes shut at the same time as Barry's. "Cade," he murmured, grunted, moaned until his passion unleased inside her. She aggressively continued to ride him until she came hard, quaking around him, collapsing against his chest.
Their heavy breathing slowly petered out, Cadence rolled off him and onto her side, pulling their blankets tight around her. Now that the passion had subside, a chill blew over her sweaty skin. Barry shifted under the sheets next to her, dropping his head back to his pillow, stared up at the ceiling. The scar on his chest no longer glowed, but rose and fell with each of his breaths. The bruises on each of their skin slowly healed.
Just as their wounds healed.
The fracture closed.
Barry was the first to break the silence, his voice small, as if afraid she'd lash out once more. "I don't know why I thought we didn't have to talk about what happened," he murmured, drawing circles on her bare back. "You were happy I was back."
"I am happy," Cadence said. It wasn't and admission. It wasn't something she worked to hide. It was something she waited six long months for. Everything else, somehow, had shadowed it's importance of that. "You're everything to me."
Barry nodded. "Other than Brady."
"Other than Brady," she agreed with a smile. Then she leaned up, resting her cheek in an upraised palm. She looked down at Barry, gently stroking his chest with her free hand. "It was hard," she admitted. "I had to explain why everyone had a save the date but no invitation." Barry hummed. "I had to lie about why you were gone. And the looks people gave me because they knew it wasn't true?" Her eyes narrowed, pain blooming in her chest as she, finally, admitted the true source of her anger. "It was like they weren't seeing me, they were seeing the pregnant me. I got the same looks of pity and disgust that I got when people found out I was pregnant. And, believe me, it's not a good feeling. I'm twenty…" she trailed off, thinking. "Something,"—Barry chuckled—"and it was like they turned me back into the same sixteen year old girl who was kicked out of school, shamed, ridiculed, and made a point of what other girls shouldn't be. And it made them wonder what they thought about us, and me."
Barry reached up a hand, stroking Cadence's fallen hair out of her face and behind her ear. "It's not like I wanted to leave you all. You know that. I had to put on a brave face for everyone but it killed me." He swallowed hard. "And I was afraid. I was afraid you'd tell me to stay and I wouldn't have been strong enough not to."
A sad smile came to Cadence's face. "I wouldn't have done that." She wouldn't have been able to live with herself had she been so selfish. So, right from the very beginning, she told him to go. He had to. It was one thing to want to keep her son safe, it was another to know her fiancé was as much of a hero and try to hold him back. When things were that dangerous? She'd just as soon through herself into the Speed Force even if it would've torn her apart and thrown her back out, than have him sacrifice himself.
"I know."
"But you didn't ask. How would you know if you don't ask? You know I'm there for you. Especially when everything seems lost, but you have to let me."
Barry shook his head. Looked toward the ceiling. "Sometimes it's not about us or the team," he explained. "Sometimes the weight of the whole city falls on my shoulders." He shook his head harder. "Not sometimes, all the time." He brought his hand back to rest behind his head. Tightened his grasp on his hair. "And it's up to me to carry it. I'm the Flash."
"That's what you don't get, Barry." Cadence made sure he was looking at her, paying attention. "What does the sign say when you come into Central City?" She didn't wait for his response. "Home of The Flash and Flare." She lifted her left hand, wiggling her ring finger. "When i put this ring on my finger it wasn't about you or me anymore. It was never about you. It was about us. Because I'm your partner Barry. I always have been. And I always will be. This isn't your burden to bear. It's ours. It's the team's."
"I know," Barry replied. His voice was quiet again. "I know that now." He smiled. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
She placed a sweet kiss on his lips and snuggled against him, resting her head on his chest. Barry wrapped his arms around her and held her as tightly as she held him.
Daring anything to tear them apart again.
A/N: Well, that was a nice chapter for Barry and Cadence, they got through a lot of angst and problems that had been bubbling up through the first eleven chapters of the story. I also really enjoy writing Cadence's and Cisco's friendship in this season and how it is compared to the previous seasons. Next chapter is filled with a lot of action. And, DarkHelm, it starts off Black Blade's and Brady's story plot so I hope I do Black Blade justice for you.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I certainly did while writing it and reading it all over again. Please let me know what you think! :)
Cheers,
-Riles
Review Replies
Ethan: Nothing's going to happen to Maya. I've already killed off Kent (which I regret, honestly), I can't have Maya go, too. Just as the same, nothing will happen with Harrison or Tess. Maya will always be part of Cadence's and Brady's life. It wasn't just that she had breakfast plans with Mallory, it was that she was going to see Frankie's foster parents as well. If he knew what she was going to do, he would've stopped her. The part with Brady and Bronze Tiger was all the way back from Flash Fire. A good way to show how much he's grown since story 1/season 1. But now, he's really struggling with his human part and meta part. Chief Paulson's and Alicia's relationship is interesting and will be seen more as the story goes on.
