19

Mutual Suspicions


Caitlin was more than worried when she went back to STAR Labs. Her first day back in a place that had been her whole life for years. That had been her whole life even before metahumans happened. It was where she first, truly got out from under her mother's thumb, where she was able to branch out and study things she was passionate about.

It was where she met some of her best friends; Cisco and Ronnie, and eventually Barry and Cadence. It was where she had the best mentorship she could ever possibly receive from anywhere else. Had met the best person in the industry within Harrison Wells and had her own experiments, studies, and papers go above and beyond what she thought they could because of it.

STAR Labs was her home.

But it was always hard going back home again, when there was so much that kept her away. Absence really did make the heart grow fonder, but there was nothing that could prepare her for what felt like fist day jitters.

She had tried to kill them all.

That wasn't you, Caitlin reminded herself, tipping her head back to rest against the wall of the elevator behind her. She sighed through her nose, looking at the light in the ceiling. That was Killer Frost. She snorted, shaking her head at her own thoughts. Her ow naïve thoughts. Not like the other part of her, who could come out at a moment's notice, was something she could pass it off on. What an excuse.

"That wasn't me, that was the evil part of me."

Caitlin lowered her chin, shook out her hands as the elevator doors opened to the main level of the laboratories they operated out of. The Cortex. She wrung her hands together, walking through to the Cortex, her heels clacking against the ground, announcing her arrival as she went. She took in a deep breath, expecting to see the entire team waiting for her, demanding answers, ready to pepper her with questions.

But she only found Cisco in his seat, leaning over his computer screen, watching…something. Caitlin walked up behind him, and smiled when she saw he was watching one of those documentaries about Star Trek on Netflix. It made her smile, knowing that so much time had passed and he still hadn't changed. Especially his eating habits, considering he was, at the moment, chewing away on handfuls of Peanut M&Ms.

"I thought you were into Twizzlers," Caitlin remarked, standing behind him, folding her arms over her chest. She couldn't help the fond smile that came to her lips.

"I am," Cisco mumbled, still watching the screen. "But I started to get tired of drool dropping to my shirt." He shook his head, lifting a finger in the air to wiggle it. "You can't use it as a straw." Then he blinked and turned to look at her. He leaned back in his seat and stared at her. He paused for a fraction of a second, then smiled.

Caitlin smiled back. "Hey," She greeted quietly.

"Hey," Cisco replied, just as quiet. He stood. "Hey, hi." He opened his arms and Caitlin, gratefully, stepped into them, hugging him as tightly as he hugged her. She lowered her chin, resting her forehead on his shoulder, relaxing. Felt all her worries and fears melt away as she hugged her best friend, whom she hadn't realized how much she missed while she'd been gone. It was like she was whole again, finally back with her family. "I can't believe you're here."

"I can't believe it, either," Caitlin agreed. She pulled back and looked around. "It's so weird to be back here."

"I didn't think Cade would let you back, honestly," Cisco said. He stepped back, bringing up a hand to run through his hair. That, Caitlin noticed, he'd grown out even longer since the last time she'd seen him. A month ago, by that point. It was hard to believe Barry had already been back for almost a month by that point. Central City had changed so much in that time, she was surprised to find that STAR Labs hadn't. "Not that she makes the decisions for all of us…well, she kind of does, being team lead and all."

"Don't blame her for this," Caitlin said quietly. She lowered her gaze, watching her movements as she traced circles on the edge of the table beside her. "I was the one who wanted to stay away. Because of…" she took a deep breath. "Because of Killer Frost. I don't blame her for not wanting me back in here."

"You aren't Killer Frost anymore," Cisco reminded her. He took Caitlin by the shoulders, gently shaking her. Caitlin smiled a little, forced herself to look Cisco in the eye. He looked back at her, eyebrows coming together. "Or, at least, you haven't been her…" His eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you…are you still her? Is she still you?"

"I don't…I'm not sure…there's a lot that's been going on, Cisco. And it's why I was so…scared to come back."

"So, why did you?"

"Because I missed you," Caitlin said honestly. "I missed all of you guys. STAR Labs is my home. I felt like I had nothing when I wasn't…using everything in my power to help the people of the city. I guess I'm hardwired that way…to feel and care about other people. Not to be so cold and unfeeling as my mom or as…" she tipped her head to the side, indicating Killer Frost. "Her."

"You're not her, Caitlin, you never have been. You've always had a home here. You just needed some time to figure things out." Cisco then held up his hands, palms out, and chuckled. "And, you know, you tried to kill all of us. I'm sure that's not easy to get over." Caitlin nodded. "But I've gotten over it." She looked at him hopefully. "I've been over it. I just wanted my best friend back. Why do you think I kept tabs on you for so long?"

"I don't know." Caitlin rolled her eyes. "To test out some sort of new technology?"

There was a brief moment of silence, which gave Cisco the time to reach up and scratch the back of his head. He flashed a sheepish smile. "Well…I did increase the output of the scanner that was to test for your cold signatures," he said slowly. "And, used some of Cade's tracking prowess to find you."

"I wasn't that hard to find." Caitlin shrugged. "I wasn't really hiding."

"Yeah, just working at a bar. A coffee shop I could see, but not a bar." Caitlin shrugged again. "It's good to have you back, Caitlin."

"It's good to be back," Caitlin replied honestly. She let out a long sigh, turning toward the Medical Bay. "I guess I better get started on catching up on everything I've missed while I've been gone. I'm sure there's a lot of things you're dying to tell me." She pulled up a chair next to Cisco's computer and sat down, crossing her legs at the ankle.

"Yes! But it shouldn't take you too long to catch up because I've come up with the best system to make sure we don't forget any of our adventures!" Cisco leaned into his computer and typed frantically before pulling up what looked like, to Caitlin, a blog site. "Welcome to the Chronicles of Cisco!"

"The…what?"

Cisco shrugged modestly, moving through different pages and link son the webpage. "I started up a blog that follows all of our adventures lately. Just a way to get my thoughts out of everything that's been going on." He shook his head. "I don't know if you know, but having to constantly update the Encyclopedia you made hasn't been easy."

"It's probably not the best way to keep track of things either," Caitlin agreed with a sigh. Not when it was stolen so easily. And, especially not when it was being shuttle around Amunet's Network. How many people did she come across every day, that came to the Saints and Sinners Bar, who probably knew everything about her, her powers, and her friends and their powers? Everyone they'd ever locked up in the Pipeline.

Who knew ho many hands the information got into? And those who may or may not have needed the information. Amunet didn't need it, but she was someone who worked with information and knew how to use it to her advantage. It would be impressive if it wasn't so worrying.

"But, Cisco, a blog?"

"What's wrong with it?" He curled his fist around his chin. Nodded. "I know the layout isn't so great. It's not as eye catching as I thought it would be. I mean, I'm great at computers, and I can make some of the best suits in the superhero game, but web design isn't great."

"No! I mean…" Caitlin gestured toward the screen. "Aren't you afraid someone may hack in…steal your information? Steal everything we've had on everyone we've encountered?" She swallowed hard. "Like the Encyclopedia I made."

"That was a freak accident," Cisco reminded her with a snort. "The only thing that Snart and Mick could do and do well. They stole a computer, not your information. And believe me when I say, nothing is going to get into this baby." He tapped the screen with his knuckle, making quiet 'tock' sounds as he did so. "There's encryptions upon encryptions that not even Bill Gates could get through." He chuckled. "Believe me, I would give a medal to anyone who could get in here."

Caitlin laughed to herself. She reached out and patted Cisco on the shoulder. "I really missed you, Cisco." She stood and went to the Medical Bay, pausing in the doorway for a moment, looking around everything. It wasn't as dusty and dirty as she thought it would be, unkempt and neglected since she left. Cade must've done a good job of making sure things were kept up, Caitlin thought, taking a few steps inside. A fond smile came to her face, remembering how, when she first started in STAR Labs, how Cadence would've worked closely with her in the Medical Bay. Where they'd slowly gotten to know each other as things started out. Before the truth of the Assassination Bureau had been revealed.

Caitlin's lips curled up into a small smile, not one that was truly there or reached her eyes nor did Cadence think it ever would. Not for a while, anyway. It hadn't even been a year since Caitlin's fiancé was killed in the place she continued to work. It was surprising that the girl hadn't had a complete mental breakdown by that point, Cadence reasoned. Especially what with her worries over the speedy metahuman she had seen so far.

Almost like a mother, which was a girl's instinct almost since birth, however Cadence was attuned to know there was something else there. She'd been trained enough on it, as it was.

"A bit of both," Caitlin replied honestly. She smiled, turning back to the fire metahuman, completely taking her eyes off the blood pressure gauge that continued to spike. "Like I had said before…I could use some more girls around here. Not that the guys are terrible, but there's only so long I can take listening to them giggle like school girls over superheroes, Lady Gaga, and whatever 'toys' Cisco can invent or get his hands on."

Cadence gave her a funny look that was a mixture between amusement and horror. She leaned back on the examining table and used a hand to swipe her hair from her face. "We're sure they're completely straight, right?"

Caitlin laughed. "Yeah, that's what they keep saying," she replied. "Though, like you, I've had my moments of doubts."

Nodding, Cadence smiled. She lightly kicked her legs back and forth, like a little kid waiting patiently to be seen. "So, was born and raised in Metropolis, I'm twenty-four, I'm a Sagittarius, my favorite color is red-orange, and I can shoot fire out of my hands like some sort of flamethrower." She leaned forward, giving a bright smile. "Is that all or do you need to fill out my dating profile some more?"

Now Caitlin laughed as she reached out and ripped the blood pressure cuff off Cadence's arm. "What would you like me to add? That your blood pressure is unusually normal, but you have an abnormal skin and body temperature as well as become lethargic in increasing exposures of sunlight? That'd be a real selling point."

Cadence stretched her arms over her head, a sleepy smile coming to her face as she remembered the nap she had managed to get while Caitlin had tested her reaction to increasing levels of heat. She had opened a skylight and instructed Cadence to stand under it for a few moments. It hadn't taken long for Cadence to slowly become drowsy before falling asleep. Even though Cadence could withstand heat of up to about 3000 degrees if not more—they had tested that too—it appeared that the young woman had a means to get a nap every time she wanted to go to the beach.

"Any other interesting tidbits about you?" Caitlin joked.

Caitlin smiled, dragging her fingertips along the tray table to her left side. Clean as a whistle and as organized as ever. All the tools she'd ever need for basic examination or a full surgery were in place. Caitlin then walked over to the metal drawers that held all of her medicines and smiled, seeing it was in place as well, restocked and all in order.

Brady really kept this up, She thought. She smiled wider, remembering how he had been punished into helping Caitlin in the Medical Bay, after…what was it…skipping school too many times? Lying about something? She really enjoyed the help. Brady had been attentive and asked as many questions as he could throughout the process. He whined and moaned and complained at first, but then grew to be able to fix things up for her quickly, almost as her own RN.

It was strange being back, she'd have to get back into the swing of things that was the craziness of Central City now that Barry…the Flash…was back. But it was a welcome change. I hope everyone else can accept me, too. How hard was it for people to get over someone trying to kill them?

Barry had managed to do it, but Cadence had been brainwashed at the time.

Caitlin wasn't brainwashed, it was another part of her. A part of her that may as well be the true part. Because, if everyone else had powers that made them do weird things, why was it only her that had the powers that made her evil?

Her head whipped up as a familiar sound shot through the Cortex. Similar, but different. The familiar warning of something or someone coming into STAR Labs. (Guess they'd upgraded that as well, she couldn't help but notice that the holes in the roof had been reduced, repaired).

Cisco appeared at the doorway to the Medical Bay within seconds, breathing heavily form his short run across the floor. He grasped the doorway with his hands, looking at Caitlin with wild eyes as he gasped, "We've got someone coming through a breach!"

Caitlin got to her feet and followed Cisco down to the basement of STAR Labs. She skidded to a stop, seeing the blue swirling vortex in front of her. It bathed her in a glowing blue light. The same light that bathed her when she and Killer Frost were in the recesses of her mind, working to keep control over Caitlin's body. Before Cadence had stabbed her with the 'cure' that Julian had created.

Some cure. Caitlin grasped the BOOT that Cisco handed her, and charged it up, waiting for whomever or whatever was about to come through the breach. She pressed her finger to the trigger, hardly noticing when Wally, Barry, and Joe had arrived. Her fingers twitched on the trigger, waiting.

Finally, two figures jumped through the vortex, landing in a low crouch before straightening to greet the team.

Harry and Jesse Wells.


Iris flipped through the newspaper, feeling a trill of excitement roll through her stomach when she saw her name on the byline of an article. It always excited her, no matter how much more common it was becoming. Not to mention the blog she was still writing for. But that was anonymous, the only thing she could do to help the citizens of Central City as they worked through the rising tensions of the metahumans in the city.

The arrival of Lex Luthor made it harder for anyone to leave their houses without having to hear about it. He did the media circuit; all the TV appearances, the quotes in the newspaper, went to the office of the Mayor and the others that were high officials within the city. And it wasn't helping. Iris heard her co-workers as they worked on those stores. Listened as they argued over metahuman rights, human rights, and, most importantly, whether they were good people for their decisions.

"We're just trying to protect the city," some said.

"From ourselves?" Others replied. "If we execute all the metahumans, run them out, what does it mean for us to move forward?"

It was her boss that'd asked. He was a fair and partial man, the one who made sure that any and all articles that ran through the newspaper and their online medias worked to show both sides of the equation. That the articles didn't lean too far one way or the other. He didn't let any of his personal views cloud anything, and made sure anyone who was to start at the Central City Picture News was the same way.

It was getting harder and harder for Iris to continue that practice as she went on in the newspaper. She could hardly stand listening to her co-workers who were clearly anti meta speak so candidly about their thoughts on the matter. Could hardly sit back and hold her tongue when she tried to speak on the other side of metahumans, explaining how they weren't less than, and be shut down by those who didn't care. It was even harder to have to listen to those people while she interviewed them, listened to all the hate they spewed.

Nevertheless, she was going to do anything she could to make sure there were people out there who were hearing the truth. Even if part of that truth was going to hit closer to home than any of them anticipated. But it was the life she lead as a journalist, one that she put her mind, body, and soul into. It was bound to mix up with the goings on in STAR Labs at some point. He'd just hoped it wouldn't have been as hard.

The bell above Jitters jangled and she looked up to see Ryder holding the door open so that Cadence could enter before her. Iris lifted a hand in a wave and the two headed over. She caught a whiff of smoke as they sat down, sure that Cadence had teleported them there to get there sooner.

"Hey," Iris greeted them. "Thanks for meeting me." She gestured with her own cup of Flash. "Do you want some coffee? My treat."

"I've got a lot of sawing I need to do today, not a good idea with shaking hands," Ryder replied. He ran a hand through his hair. "Plus, I'm already nervous as it is." Cadence simply shook her head. She, Iris knew, didn't drink coffee. As Cadence explained it, she had too much energy as it was. Which could've been the truth, Iris didn't know anyone else who could wake up early, get her kid on the school bus, go teach an aerobic class, pull a full day at work, then exhaust herself taking on as many criminals, crooks, and metahumans as the city pushed forward in the day.

At least, she didn't know anyone who did it without keeling over from exhaustion. Even Barry had taken on a cup a day habit around the time the Zoom had been invented. A drink named after a villain was one of the only things that kept most people going through the day. Though Iris still preferred the Flash.

"What'd you find out?" Cadence asked, getting straight to the point.

Iris sighed, pushing the newspaper aside. She reached into her purse and pulled out a tiny notebook, where she kept all her information when she was interviewing and following leads on cases. "Okay, so I went back over everything we knew about that doctor's office. Central City Family Medical. It's where my dad used to take me all the time, so it's a legitimate office." She ran a hand through her hair. "Has been in practice for as long as I can remember." She tapped her finger against the notebook. "But it did get bought out by a different company."

"A different company?" Ryder asked, his eyebrows coming together.

"A few years back," Iris agreed. "They were about to shut it down, budget cuts, changes in medical insurance, they weren't able to keep the same amount of patients they had before."

Cadence nodded. "I remember that," She remarked. "There was a letter in the mail saying that management was changing and there may be some people whose insurance wouldn't be taken anymore." She shook her head. "It caused a big uproar, was in the news for weeks. Medicaid and Medicare wasn't going to be taken and that was a lot of who their clientele was." She shrugged. "It's what I used before I got a job that had great insurance."

"Right, and because of that, because of that switch, they used it to upgrade their systems within their medical network," Iris said.

"Which was why they needed Brady's fingerprint," Ryder reasoned. He shook his head, blonde brows coming together. "And why they refused to wipe it when I then to."

Iris sucked her lips into her mouth, chewed her lower lip. Tapped her fingertips against her notebook. "I understand she was doing her job," she said slowly. "The receptionist. But I looked into it further, Ryder and I did. And everything seemed alright. Until I looked at it form a different angle." She cleared her throat. "it was no coincidence that the management of the medical center changed and, the next thing any of us knew, Carmichael Elementary was receiving a notice that there were more shots and immunizations the kids needed."

Cadence huffed, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin atop her hands. "They realized how many metahuman attacks happened at the at school and were using it to weed out metas. Changed it so that the insurance was taken were for those most of the parents from the school had."

"Exactly," Iris agreed. "So that made it easier for them to take whomever was at Carmichael to go there. Plus, they'd already had the medical information of those that had already been with the office for some time. Especially if they'd been there since they were children."

"Which would explain why they'd have Brady's," Ryder mumbled.

"And why they would want Leah's," Cadence agreed. She took in a deep breath, dropping her hands into her lap. "She moved to Central City, her medical records would've have to have been transferred form Gotham. They would've wanted updated records for her."

"And through those records, they used it to try and weed out who's a metahuman?" Cadence shook her head, closing her eyes. "Something through that isn't making sense. They would've fingerprinted every kid that went through the office for…?" Then her face cleared, her eyes flashing with a burning flame. "Fingerprints. If they were trying to figure out who, say, Shadowhunter is, there'd be fingerprints from any of the scenes they'd have there."

"But why would they want to find Shadowhunter? Why not the Flash?"

Iris broke in once more. "The Fastest Man Alive who wears what may as well be a full body suit when he's out doing what needs to be done? Almost impossible. He could run off and clean his fingerprints before anyone would know he was there." She lowered her voice to add, "Not to mention he wears gloves all the time." She brushed her hair back over her shoulders, pointed to the notebook once more. "But for Shadowhunter? People know he's young. May as well be a kid. And with all of the metahuman incidents coming through the school…"

"…It's not weird that one of them may be Shadowhunter," Cadence agreed. "Especially if they got fingerprints from the incidents there." Iris watched her, could practically see her heart sink as the news got to her. "The time that Grodd controlled Leah…it's got to be on tape somewhere. Since the first attack, with that kid with the electricity, they've amped up the security measures ever since. They may already know."

"Christ." Ryder brought up his hands and rubbed the over his face. Then he leaned back in his seat, sticking his lower jaw out in what seemed to be a pout. Iris smiled, despite herself, having seen the same look from Brady multiple times before. "How do we know? How much longer until they bust in and arrest him?"

"They can't arrest him," Iris reassured him.

"No, but they could hurt him," Cadence insisted. "People out there are tagging things like no tomorrow. Hate crimes are going up." She shook her head. "I can't even begin to explain how many times there's been people coming through the CCPD because of assault because they suspected someone of being a metahuman." Ryder grunted once more. Cadence reached out and took his hand in hers, gently squeezing it. "We're not going to let anything happen to him."

Ryder turned in his seat, facing her. He lowered his voice, almost to a snarl. "You said the same thing before and look what happened now. He's almost been killed twice, and who knows what they're going to do now that they know he's Shadowhunter?" He looked away for a moment, his voice cracking at the end. "Ii didn't have much time to spend with him, I don't want the last few years to be all I have."

Iris cleared her throat, looking away. Feeling as if she were intruding on a private moment. I guess that's how Barry felt, she realized. How Barry had sat back and treaded carefully with anything that had to do with moving into a fatherly role for the young boy when Ryder came back to his life. Even before, when he was simply just Brady's friend.

"You think I'm going to let that happen?" Cadence replied. But she didn't sound offended, scared, or mad. But empathetic. Compassionate. "I wouldn't let it happen to anyone, let alone Brady. Not even you. We're going to figure this out."

Iris sucked in a sharp breath. "I hate to have to tell you this," Iris said slowly, looking Cadence and Ryder in the eye. Making them take their eyes off each other, the family moment broken. "But the moment they got Brady's finger prints, the moment they had his name…it's possible that the information was leaked out. Sold maybe. To the black market, or much worse."

"Worse?" Ryder repeated.

Iris looked meaningfully at Cadence, who lowered her head. "Lex Luthor," she said.

Iris nodded then jumped when Ryder slammed his fist against the tabletop and cursed at the top of his lungs, not caring of the stares that turned his way.

"He's trying to get the MRA passed. And, if he knows…" Cadence's brain moved a mile a minute, eyes shifting back and forth as she thought. "They know he's Shadowhunter, and, probably know I'm Flare." She nodded, eyes narrowing just slightly. "Which is why someone tried to kill me." She looked to Ryder. "And they'll probably go after you, too."

"I can handle them," Ryder said stiffly. "I'm not a meta. It's y'all I'm worried about."

"There's more," Iris said with a sigh. "Guess who has an investment in the company that bought out the doctor's office."


Tess lifted an eyebrow as she walked past a row of closed office doors. She looked at her watch then walked faster, the lapel of her suit jacket billowing as she went. She hurried to her office, sticking her keys in the door and unlocked it. Tess dropped her stack of books and papers into the chair beside the desk and went to her computer. She pushed her hair back behind her shoulders, bringing up her schedule for the day, frowned deeper when she saw an email in her inbox saying the joint class she was going to be teaching with Marlize DeVoe was cancelled.

There goes all her rushing after class let out late. She should've known something was up when she saw her office door closed. Marlize was someone who worked hard to make sure she was accessible to her students. Her door was always open, even after her office hours were done. It being so early in the day with her not there was different.

Tess opened the email.

Tess,

I'm sorry to have to let you know in such a crude form of communication as an email. But I find it to be much more valuable than leaving a text message or a phone call as I understand things do become difficult with sudden changes due to an illness.

Clifford has suddenly fallen ill; a side effect of his muscular dystrophy and I must tend to him for the day. I hope it doesn't bring any inconvenience for the day as I know there was the class that we were supposed to teach together. However, I'm sure you understand.

Thank you for your patience, I'll make sure ot make it up to you at a later time.

Best,

Marlize DeVoe.

Tess hummed to herself, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. DeVoe had been just fine in the days before, continuously having lunch with her and Marlize. Rather, Marlize had all but served him his food. But DeVoe hadn't seemed to mind. His paralysis had done nothing to his brain, which was his biggest asset. Something obvious to many as they sat in his classes. Sure, some of them may have failed, but others at least enjoyed the class enough that having a B or a C didn't deter them from taking another course with Professor DeVoe.

She tapped her fingers against her chin, only looking up from her computer when she heard a voice say, "Bad email?" Tess tore her eyes away from the computer screen to find a young girl standing in front of her, a but too young for university. But who was she judging? There were those that were smarter than she could hope to be, by five years old. And there was much to be said about those that turned out to be more than child prodigies. How many kids in the news had received their PHDs by the time they were sixteen?

And she thought those in STAR Labs were some of the smartest people she'd met. Caitlin had multiple masters and at least one PHD. She was more than smart. But the girl in front of her looked out of place for college. Dressed a little too young, even for the fashion that was going on that day. Her face was round, but angled toward the bottom, losing the last bits of baby fat that came once a young adult moved out of puberty. Her hair, what seemed to be a mixture of dark and light brown, easily changed depending on the time of year, a light smattering of freckles across her nose, and a kind smile that couldn't be displaced.

A twinkling in the eye that was filled with mirth and…a sense of knowledge, that she knew something others didn't. Tess couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about her, something about that look struck her as very familiar. If anything, despite her hand that twitched toward the gun she hid in the bottom of her desk drawer, Tess didn't sense any danger from the young woman.

But she couldn't be too careful.

"I'm sorry, were we scheduled to meet?" Tess asked her.

"No," the girl shook her head. She continued to glance around the office, brushing her hair back from her ears. "But I've heard a lot about you. Your work on human behavior and how it works into today's society, making it so that we're able to figure out how the future would look? Not many people can do that."

"Now, if only they would listen to me," Tess replied with a warm smile. She folded her arms, leaning back in her seat. "Might get me the Nobel."

"Or at least the Pulitzer."

"That's what my husband says."

"Harrison Wells," the girl continued. "One of the brightest names in science and technology than anyone has ever seen." She shook her head, as if mystified. "Can't believe so many great people came from here."

"CCU might not measure up to MIT or Harvard, on paper, but it's still a great school to work at." She studied the girl, blue eyes steeling every so slightly. "Or at lest be affiliated with." She tapped her fingers over her arm. "I'm sorry, where did you say you were from?"

"I didn't," the girl said quickly. She lightly bopped herself on the forehead. "I guess I should have. It's a bit rude, you know if you don't." She stepped toward the desk, thrusting out her hand, nearly knocked over a stack of papers on the desk as she did so. "Oh! Sorry. I'm sorry." She picked them back up, moving quickly. "I didn't mean to."

"It's alright," Tess replied with a light laugh, oddly charmed by the girl. "I've already entered those grades in the system anyway."

The girl's nose wrinkled. "You mean you don't have it all automated?" She put the papers back. "You know, with a machine that scans the papers and automatically punches out the grade based on format, structure, punctuation, and overall thesis?"

"That's…oddly specific."

"Just an idea. You know what they say about ideas." She laughed. "They're salvation by imagination." She shrugged. "At least, that's what my riding teacher says."

Tess couldn't quite imagine her being a horseback rider, if she could hardly walk into a room without knocking something over. Nevertheless, any suspicion Tess felt about the girl continued to hold at an even level. Suspicious, but not too suspicious. If she wasn't in any of her classes, wasn't in college, what was she doing in her office?

"What's your name, sweetie?" Tess asked.

"Oh!" She smiled warmly. "I'm Alexis."


A/N: And, finally, Ryder is back and so is Iris, Harry, and Jesse. Getting back into some action with the next chapter, but I bet a lot of you didn't expect to see the person who showed up at the end so soon! And, of course, there is a tie-in with the DeVoes, as you can see, I did hint to the first one you'll see in connection with them in Cisco's and Caitlin's part.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed.

Cheers,

-Riles

Review Replies

Ethan: With Brady's skipping school or being late, there is a reason he wants to be homeschooled, or at least has suggested it. Mallory actually starts out as being a key player to the story very, very soon. I planned on having her in the story from the very beginning but had to push a lot of things back, she's one of the few people in Cade's life that don't know about her being Flare, so that'll bring up a lot of interesting things. Especially with their wedding coming.

DarkHelm145: We'll see if Brady ever calls him that. Right now, they've got to deal with Abra Kadabra.