21

Shock Collar


Cadence opened her eyes when she felt a light pressure to her cheek. She looked over to see Barry leaning over her. Then her eyes shifted toward the clock on the bedside table. "Is it the end of the world?" Voice a low mumble. "Since when is Barry Allen the first one up?"

"Sorry," Barry replied, still whispering. He knelt toward her. "I have an early start and Captain Singh is going to breathe down my neck if I'm late."

Rubbing at her eye, Cadence yawned lightly and asked, "And deciding to sit here and talk to me is helping you because…?"

He smiled sheepishly. "I'm already late," he replied. He tilted his head. "Which, incidentally, is your fault."

She gave a cheeky smile in response, lifting her head to rest her cheek in her upraised palm. "That's not what you were saying last night," she pointed out, making Barry blush and look away. "You need to relax, Bare, if's not like Captain Singh's going to keep track of how many times you're going to be late when you've been late so much as it is." She made a gesture with her fingers, making it look like s headless figure running. "All you have to do is race in and—"

"—And let him know that I'm the Flash?" Barry shook his head. "'I don't think so." He gestured toward her. "and it's not like he knows you're Flare, either. And I plan on keeping it that way."

Cadence thought for a moment, studying the serious expression on Barry's face. She rolled onto her back, pulling her blankets up to cover her front, then leaned toward him. "Do you have time to be a little later?" She asked. He looked at her curiously. "There's something I should've told you before, but I wasn't even sure how to wrap my head around it."

"That's never good," Barry said.

"Ryder and I met up with Iris," She explained, pulling her hair back from her face. "She had looked further into what was going on with Central City Family Medicine."

"Okay…" Barry said slowly, clearly unsure of what was going on.

"When Brady went to the doctor that day, after being told by the school that he needed another checkup, that was when he was forced into some immunizations. When he had his fingerprints made because they said it was some so-called new technology to track identity? There's more to it than we originally thought. They were going to shut down a few years ago, for a lot of reasons, but they were able to stay open once new management bought it out."

"Okay." Barry paused. Again, he took a second to mull it over. Reaching up a hand, he rubbed it over his face. "Why do I get the feeling that the people who bought it out are going to be less than great?" His voice was tinged with frustration, though Cadence could see in his eyes that he was seconds away from demanding to know everything. He was always someone who had to uncover the truth and learn as much as he could.

"It was Lex Luthor," Cadence replied. Barry's eyes widened in surprise. Moving his hand from rubbing over his face to pause over his mouth. She could practically see the gears turning in his head. "He bought the doctor's office."

"Why would Lex need to put an investment into a doctor's office?" He answered his own question a second later. ""Because of the metahuman attacks that've been happening at Brady's school. They're— He broke off for a second. As if unable to say the words out loud. "Trying to weed out metahumans with the fingerprinting identification process. Lured them in with the office and the immunizations."

"And the fingerprints?" Cadence prompted, impressed with how quickly he'd managed to figure out what she was implying. Then again, she'd always been impressed with the way he was able to work through difficulties, simply by talking aloud. And, she'd always found it endearing when he'd start babbling over something he was excited about.

"DNA matching," Barry concluded. "They'd be looking for who Shadowhunter is." His mind started to move a mile a minute. He stood, pacing back and forth across the room, skirting the foot of the bed. As the seconds passed, the he started to pace faster and faster. Enough so that Cadence would move her gaze from watching him to the floor to ensure that he hadn't started to burn a hole in the carpet. "All those crime scenes that we've gone through. All the news footage; they're already speculating how old he might be. If they've already got his fingerprints from the school, from the doctor's office…they'll have more information than we could ever try to hide." He ran his hands through his hair. "I think..." he paused, holding up his hand, as if to fend off any protests. "Okay, I know it's not my place to make decisions for Brady because I'm not his dad yet but…I think it might be a good idea if you took him out of school for a little while."

Cadence snorted. "And do what? Squeeze in homeschooling on top of everything else I'm already doing?" She gestured toward him. "Sorry, I you know you can do things fast, but you can't speed-train someone—force things into their heads. And you already know how Brady is about school."

"I think he's just bored," Barry replied. "Doesn't have enough of a challenge for everything that he's already learning." Then he quickly changed the subject back to what they'd been talking about before. "But if that's what we're already figuring out, then Lex probably already knows. And we know what's been going on with Lex and the MRA. I just think it'd be better if we took out the chance for any dangerous situations."

"We've already benched him," Cadence said. She slid out of bed and went to the closet to get dressed. "And Leah. And they're not happy about that. It's not like we can bench the whole team to make sure nothing happened." She looked over her shoulder at Barry. "I'm not saying we can't handle things on our own, we probably could but…" she shrugged gently. "Remember Grodd?"

Barry closed his eyes tightly, then looked away. She knew he remembered. They could barely go a day without taking a few minutes to think about it. About the people they'd lost because of the missiles that Grodd had released. The ones that they hadn't been able to stop before they crashed into the woods and killed acreage of wildlife…along with the innocent people that were there.

"That wasn't our fault, Cade," Barry said gently, finally opening his eyes again. "You know that."

Cadence hummed to herself, pulling on her clothes. "Yeah, that was all Grodd. And, in essence, it was all Solovar. It was a lot of things to blame." She folded her arms, tipping her head.

"What?" Barry asked gently, watching her closely.

"It's just…" Cadence shook her head. "No matter what, I know despite what you have to do with Captain Singh today, that you're going to look into this. Into what I just told you. You're going to be going to go out and do the same thing you always do, be the beacon of hope for everyone." She frowned, gently shaking her head, forcing her gaze up to meet his. "Sometimes, Barry, I just want to grab onto you and never let you go. Never let you run off again. But one day, the world will need you more than I do. And I don't want to be the one holding you back."

Barry moved to her side, pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere, Cade. I have what I need right here. With you and Brady."

She nodded, but didn't respond. Didn't push the topic even further. They didn't have time to go into it any further, didn't know if there was anything else to say about it. She looked up at him, nodded, changed the subject. "But I do agree on taking Brady out of school." Barry's eyebrows rose. "Not permanently. Not even for a week. I was going to take him out of school for the day. I haven't spent much time with him, just him and me and…I really want to know what he thinks about what's been going on."

A half smile came to Barry's lips. "You mean what he thinks of the political climate in the metahuman versus non-metahuman debate all going throughout the city? I think he's very opinionated, really."

"That's what I was thinking," Cadence agreed. "Plus, he's got this thing with Black Blade and Abra Kadabra and he hasn't really said much about what happened with Breathtaker. So, I really just want to check in on him."

"Well, I'd join you, but I don't think Captain Singh has any more excuses that he'd take from me."

"I'd try groveling and begging for forgiveness." Her eyes shifted toward the clock.

"That's never worked before, so why would it work now?"

"Because you're super late." Cadence pointed to the clock on the bedside table. Barry's eyes shifted toward the clock, widened, then shifted back to her face. She gave a half smile before he disappeared in a gust of wind. "Have a good day," She said to the thin air, before leaving her room. She went down the stairs to the first floor of the penthouse and knocked on the door to Brady's room. Waited.

"Just a minute," Connor said politely, making her smile. Her smile widened when she heard Brady's low grunt just after Connor's friendlier response. He'd never been a morning person. All the times she had to take him to early doctor's appointments or dental appointments, he'd sit in her lap, pouting fiercely. Just like his father.

The thought made Cadence smile. She was still smiling, eyebrows twitching upwards in new amusement when the door to the room opened and Cadence saw a lump under the covers that was her son. "Let me guess," she said to Connor, who stood with a hand on his hip. "He's pretending to be asleep?"

Connor nodded.

Sighing, Cadence sighed and walked over to her son's bed. She warmed up her hand, the palm turning a light orange from a fire burning within, then plunged it under the covers. She reached around until she found Brady's ankle and tightened her grasp around it.

"Yeow!" Brady brought his knees up to his chest, yanking his ankle from his mother's grasp. He flung down the covers, glaring up at her. "Do you have to do that?" He brought them back over his head once more. "I'm sleeping."

"Yeah, your snoring is deafening," Cadence replied sarcastically. "It's making the floors shake." She folded her arms, watching Brady for a long moment. He still lay quietly under the blankets. Sighing, Cadence reached out and pulled down the blankets. She lifted her hand, pressed a finger to his eyelid and lifted it up. Then she reached over and did the same to his other eye.

"Okay, okay, I'm up!" Brady slapped her hands away. He sat up, glaring at her. "Do you have to do that?"

"Do I have to make up for the eleven years of torture that you've put me through when doing the same movements to wake me up?" Cadence turned her gaze toward the ceiling, pretending to think. "Yes, I think I do."

"Ha." Brady rolled his eyes. He reached up, running his hands over his face. "I'll get ready for school; you can go now."

"Wellllll," Cadence extended the word, making Brady look at her seriously. "I was thinking." She sat on the bed next to him. Brady cast a suspicious glance to Connor, who shrugged in response. "We haven't spent a lot of time together, lately. And I think it'd be great if we spent the day together."

Brady looked at her for a moment. A long moment. Stared straight at her, unblinking. But while he wasn't showing anything on the outside, Cadence knew him well enough to know he was trying his best not to show how excited he was. To let her know that he was trying his best not to get his hopes up.

"Really?" He asked tentatively.

"Really," Cadence replied. She turned toward Connor, tipping her head to direct her apologetic smile at him. "I'm sorry, Connor. It's just going to be us today."

"I understand," Connor replied calmly. "Have a good time."

Cadence turned her attention to him, tuned into her powers, looked to see if there was anything that would showcase if he were lying, but deduced he was telling the truth. Connor was a sweet kid, Cadence knew. He was too understanding for what should be something that would've normally made someone else in his position jealous. He lost his mother, and here his best friend was able to spend all the time in the world with his.

She made a mental note to ensure that she'd spent a day with Connor as well. She wasn't his mom but…with Oliver and Felicity in Star City, and Thea…he needed to have someone on his side, to make him feel special.

"What are we going to do then?" Brady asked. He tapped his fingers together, still looking suspicious. The suspicion lasted for a brief moment before annoyance seemed to settle in his eyes. "Before the metas hit, I mean?"

"Whatever you want," Cadence replied. She lifted her hand, palm facing outward, as if she were about to make her most solemn promise. Or a vow of silence. Like a vow of silence would work out well. Ttoo much of her job relied on her talking and…she was much better than when Barry started to babble. "Even if it's meta related, I'll follow your lead."

"I thought I was benched," Brady reminded her. Cadence did her best not to let her upper lip curl at the way her son was acting like a sarcastic snot. But then again, she understood his frustration. There was a time, years ago, where she had to hide who she truly was. It was a relief when she met Barry and could show that she was a metahuman and found someone who understood.

But the danger that surrounded him was different; he had politics hanging over his head, a group of adults who were going to determine his future, a group of people who felt he was, potentially, a danger to the city all because he had powers. Well, Cadence thought. It's not that different than what you went through.

The only major difference was there was a 'field' for her to go out into. But, being in such proximity to Smallville, didn't seem to lessen the fears very much.

"Are you going to get dressed or not, bud?" Cadence decided to ask in reply.

Ignored the pointed question he was sending her way. She didn't have to agree to bench them, but with everything that was going on, it was the best turn of events. As it was, even she couldn't go a day without having to shut herself off the social climate that was starting to move through the city. Couldn't go a day without wondering if it was the day Team Flash and STAR Labs would be found out and they'd have to leave Central City.

Leaving rather than exposing herself as Flare seemed to be the better option, if things went South, as far as Brady as concerned, anyway. Or else, she'd sent him away with Ryder and deal with things on her own. But…truth be told, she didn't think she could leave Brady behind if the time ever came. She did leave her entire life behind when her parents tried to pressure into it years ago…

The next morning, Cadence turned away from the toaster and placed the blue paper plate down on the table in front of Brady before sliding down in the unoccupied seat in front of her son. She picked up a water bottle and took a long gulp before pushing it aside to glance at the front of the newspaper.

"I can once you get out."

Cadence got up from the bed and left the room, shaking her head. Part of her wondered why she was so excited to see Brady grow up. Especially when he was starting to hit his pre-teen years. Was she that much of a brat to her parents growing up?

She went into the kitchen, seeing Barry had left the newspaper spread haphazardly over the counter on his way out the door. As he seemed to do in his rush every morning. Cadence piled the newspaper back together, looking over the story that heralded the front page: Luthor's MRA Gains Traction in Polls. She looked to the by-line, Iris West. Cadence swallowed hard, briefly turning her head to the side, looking at nothing. She brought up a hand, running it through her hair, wondered if there was ever going to be a day where things would be normal, and she didn't have the weight of the world resting over them?

So far, things had been quiet since Breathtaker's defeat, since Savitar's—at the time-disappearance. Since Barry's return. The Samuroids needed to be handled, she had some more things to figure out with Amunet's help, there was Abra Kadabra but…how hard was it to have one day? Cadence closed the newspaper, pushing it aside. She would need to read it at some point, Iris always wrote compelling articles, but she couldn't focus on it that day.

Nevertheless, she found her mind drifting to the title. The MRA was gaining steam. The realization hit her harder than she'd thought or hoped it would. If it was gaining steam, then there was less of a chance for them to stay free as the days went on. The anti-meta movements, protests, tagging was proof of that. Things were getting more dangerous. Tagging and protests were one thing, but it added fuel to a fire that was about to become an inferno. One that was likely to leave everyone burned.

Incognito's posing as her, setting the apartment complex on fire, killing and wounding innocent civilians didn't help. Those that complained of whiplash and other friction burns when being raced around by the Flash didn't help. The worrying measures of regulating any child metas wasn't helping. The bombing from Grodd, the destruction…

It was all starting to blend together with no resolution in sight.

"I'm ready to go." Brady's sudden appearance at her side made her jump. She turned to him, watching as he rested his chin in his hands and watched her. His blue-green eyes—a combination of his mother's and father's, favoring one color over the other depending on what he was wearing—studied her face closely. It was almost like he was eight-year-old again, asking what exciting thing she'd done to help the city and being proud of her for it. She almost expected him to grin so widely that it showed off his two missing front teeth. Instead, his eyebrows quirked and he asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason," Cadence replied. She reached out to ruffle his hair, laughing when he ducked his head away. Brady fixed his hair, swinging his head quickly to the side to make it all fall back into place. "So, what do you want to do first?"

"You mean, you didn't have the day planned?"

"Other than a pickup game in the park? Not so much."

Brady tapped his lips, making a low humming sound. He reached up to tug at his ear then yawned. Finally, he turned to his mom and said, "Let's go to Jitters first. Then we can play a game in the park."

"You're the boss," Cadence agreed. She grabbed her keys to the apartment, a soccer ball that sat nearby that she tucked under her arm, and motioned for Brady to leave out the front door. He grabbed his keys the the apartment as well.

"You're not going to drive?"

"I thought we'd walk today."

"Okay!"

The second they were out on the street, Brady knocked the ball from his mother's grasp, placed it to the pavement, and ran ahead of her, dribbling the ball at his feet. Every now and then, he'd turned and kick the ball back to her as she moved at a much more leisurely pace, hoping to trip her up. But she always managed to take her attention back to the ball, shift it between her feet, and kick it back to him to where he would start to dribble it once more. She even, without breaking stride, brought it up to her knees and bounced the ball back and forth, then would kick it back to him.

A few times she nearly struck an innocent bystander before them, close enough of a call that it'd make her heart leap in fear that she may strike someone. But, at the last second, the ball would bend around the, making Brady race to catch it. Just as she thought it would. The amount of years that she'd thrown herself into soccer—something she and Ryder had in common-then teaching Brady how to play was still stuck in her muscle memory.

Brady turned around, looking over his shoulder every few seconds, as he passed the ball back and forth between them. "Why'd you want to take me out of school?" He asked, curiously. "You always said you'd never do that, no matter how many times I asked."

"Yeah, but you always pretended to be sick," Cadence reminded him. She shrugged. "And I always knew you weren't, but you still tried."

"Some days you let me stay home."

"Seemed like you needed a mental health day."

"Did you need a mental health day?" Brady asked. Cadence wondered how easy it was for him to see things he tried to hide form him, as she was able to do when he tried to hide things from her. Or maybe she focused so much on his own happiness that she didn't realize how much he focused on hers.

"I guess a little," she replied. "But I was telling the truth. There's been so much going on lately that I haven't been able to spend time with you." She kicked the ball high, making him jump for it. She neared him, giving him a teasing smile, sticking out her tongue, prompting him to stick his out in response. He cradled the ball in his hands and fell in step with her. "We used to be best friends, you know."

Brady nodded. "I know," he said quietly. Cadence smiled sadly, noticing he didn't correct her. They used to be best friends. They weren't, anymore.

"Then I got so busy with the wedding, and Team Flash, and Barry being gone…" she gently nudged him. "I'm sorry for that, you know. But I really do appreciate you being there for me. You've really kept me sane over these last couple of years." She paused. "You know, "I've felt alone for a very long time, even when I was around other people." He looked up at her, eyebrows coming together. "But you were one of the few things that made me feel less alone. I don't want to get too sappy—"

"—Too late," Brady interrupted.

"But you really are one of the best things to happen to me."

"I know, I know," Brady replied. Cadence couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable with the topic of conversation, of if he was just growing to be more introspective as the days went on. He cringed away from her loving affections when around others, but seemed to enjoy it when they were alone. He suddenly smiled at her. "Remember when I wanted powers so badly?"

"Yeah," Cadence laughed, remembering. "You just wanted to be able to fly."

"So I could go places without having to walk." He smiled. "Now I can do that and phase. And a lot of other things." He continued to spin the ball in his hands, frowned. "Not at school, though."

"You weren't really supposed to be doing it at school anyway."

"I only did it when I had to."

"I know." Silence stretched between them for a bit. Good silence. Comfortable silence. She remembered what Barry had told her earlier. That he may be bored in school. "How are your classes going?"

"Alright, I guess, now that I'm there." Brady rolled his eyes. "Rose keeps reminding me of that."

Cadence's ears perked at the mention. "Oh, so this is about a girl?"

Brady's face reddened. "No!" Then he smirked at her. "Girls have cooties, remember?"

"Yeah, but I'm your mom. So, my cooties are okay."

Brady laughed.

Cadence smiled, enjoying the sound. Her saunter slowed as the seconds passed. Her eyes narrowed, shifting to the faces of each person she passed, trying to determine if they were the ones that were watching her. All she received in response were friendly smiles and nods. No, the citizens of Central City—for the most part—were too happy to live among each other. Too encompassed in their own lives to pay much attention to a mother and son who were spending the day together.

Nevertheless, Cadence knew when she was being watched. Knew when she was in danger. And, more importantly, knew when her son was in danger. Cadence slowed even further down as they passed an office building. She turned her gaze to look at her reflection. Watched as her eyes shifted in distrust. She lifted her hand and started to play with her bangs, moving it from side to side. As if she cared. Her eyes moved along with the movements of her hands, looked to see if there was something that'd be moving out of ordinary. She watched the movements of everyone that passed her.

Looked or hunched shoulders—indicating wanting to hide, quick footsteps—wanting to appear rushed so that they'd get away quickly, any signs of aggressors. But the city was starting to become filled with people on their way to work, about to start their day, that she couldn't quite pinpoint on anyone. Let alone someone who may have been trying to find her.

Briefly, she wondered if it was Stratos watching her. She hadn't been in contact with him since Breathtaker's defeat, Mindboggler's death…but had the feeling that he was still around. The last time they'd met up had been at Mindboggler's grave. An unmarked, patchy area in Central City's cemetery. A good grave for her, for someone who liked to be alone, but who also commanded attention when the time came. But Stratos, like speedsters, were unable to announce their presence without some sort of wind gust to accompany them.

Amunet wasn't dub enough to try and take her down so soon, and there would've been sightings of a Samuroid even before it got close enough for it to touch her if there were one around. Whomever it was that was watching her…

They're trying to hide, Cadence thought.

"Mom?" She heard Brady call for her and started to turn her head. Saw him pick up the soccer ball, spinning it between his hands, when he turned back to her. His eyebrows were furrowed together in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Shh." Cadence shushed him. Then immediately felt silly. What good would it do for him to be quiet? "Come here." She motioned for him to move by her side. He did so after a second of hesitation. The second he was within distance of her touching him, something in the air changed.

She recognized it in seconds. Whether it being from her powers, feeling the very slight temperature change from the way the—bullet?—shot by her. Felt the tiny pinprick of breeze that shot just by the side of her face. Instinctively, her head jerked backwards, the second a tiny hole punched into the glass beside her head. Right where her ear would've been. It took a few seconds after for the sound of the gun shot to register. Within seconds, her body was filled with adrenaline.

While the others on the street, they started to slow down, started to look around. But didn't find what had made the sound to shatter the silence on what was to be an ordinary day. But that was the way things went, nowadays. The ordinary days, the beautiful days, they were the ones that turned to be the most horrific. The juxtaposition of the brightest blue day could be wrecked by a trail of inky black smoke of a building on fire and lives being lost. It was a bright day, fluffy white clouds that dotted the sky that day the gun shot rang out.

Cadence watched as Brady's eyes widened in surprise, hearing and recognizing the sound. For a moment, Cadence's heart broke, knowing there was no reason he should be able to recognize the sound of gun shots. Nevertheless, his head whipped around to the source of the sound, trying to pinpoint it. He turned back to his mother and reached out.

Pow!

Another gunshot, this time accompanied by the sound of shattering glass and screaming as a stampeded of innocent civillians tried to get away from the rapid gunfire. The plate glass in the window next to them fell in a glittery shower. Cadence looked to Brady, finding his hand placed on her arm, directly where the bullet had gone. He'd phased it through her at just the right moment.

He turned his eyes, a darkened blue, up to her. "You okay?" He breathed.

Cadence nodded back. "We can't stay here, come on." She tightened her grasp on his shoulder and started to run, dragging him behind her. She couldn't teleport, not yet. Not when there were so many people around. The pandemonium, confusion, and panic would have been a good moment as any to disappear into the crowd. But as she knew to be true lately, everyone had a phone at their disposal and any tiny hint of her powers in a video feed posted online, wasn't going to help.

And if they were being watched as closely as she thought they would, the person who'd just tried to assassinate the two of them knew they were metas and were waiting for them to use their powers.

She wouldn't give them the satisfaction; she was strong on her own.

They ran.

The second they started to move aside; rapid gunfire followed them. Cadence could hear the bullets ripping through the air, punching into the walls of the buildings behind them as they went. The realization made her feet practically grow wings and fly. Whomever was shooting at them was a good shot, really wanted them dead, and was more than likely following their movements through a scope on a high-powered rifle as far as miles away.

She could feel her body temperature increase at the sudden pressure, the palms of her hands starting to glow as she tapped into her powers. She shook them out as they continued to run, ducking behind anything they could find for cover. Finally, they ducked around the corner, slowing to a fast walk to catch their breaths.

Chaos continued to erupt around them.

Brady slowly brought his head around the side of the wall.

Ping!

He cried out, pulling his head back when a corner of brick shot off the wall and cracked into the air, sending the tiniest of dust clouds up. Eyes wide, Brady turned his attention back to his mother, chest heaving. He started to say something, stopped, then turned his attention to the ball in his hands. That'd deflated on one side with a bullet hole in the other.

His eyes reverted to normal size and a different look washed over him. One that, Cadence knew from experience, meant he was shifting into his 'superhero side'. There was a distinct difference between her and Flare, just as there was a difference between him and Shadowhunter.

I should've known benching him wasn't going to last long, Cadence thought. A small smile came to her lips, despite the chaos around them. He was so much like her that it scared her sometimes. Then her smile faded as she tuned into the air around her. Everything was still. Again. Something was off.

The gunfire stopped.

But if anyone wanted them dead, they wouldn't have stopped trying to shoot him. They would've worked at a different angle. That was the point of a scope on a rifle, anyway. And, if they were at the vantage point, then, it was more than likely, they were higher up off the street, in some sort of a tower, or a high rise…as the entire city was known for.

That was only seconds before there was the sound of something crashing into the wall behind her. She and Brady turned around in time to see what looked to be the tip of…some sort of injection needle, wobble as it embedded itself into the wall. At the same time, they ducked out of the way, rolling across the ground and came back up on their feet.

She picked it out of the wally, turning it back and forth in her hands, being careful not to let the needle point to prick her. "What the fuck?" She murmured.

There was another cracking sound before an implosion caught them off-guard. Within seconds they were in the air, flying toward the middle of the street. Cadence flipped around in mid-air and landed on the ground in a low crouch. Brady, who was closer to the attack, was knocked off his feet, landing on the hood of a car that screeched to a halt before he rolled to the ground.

The second he was back on his feet, there was a large man in front of him, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him to his feet. "Finally got you," the man said. "You meta creep."

Whether it was through fear or a sudden plan, Brady phased through his hands. The man dropped him to the ground, and Brady reared back, punching him hard in the stomach. When the man fell to his knees, he brought back his fist once more, sending a shadow ball into his face. It was that blow that knocked the man off his feet, knocking him into the side of the parked—and now abandoned—car, the same way it'd happened to Brady only moments before.

Cadence ducked away from the swinging blow that came toward the left side of her face. But was caught off-guard by the sudden, almost vicious one from the right. The punch landed on her jaw, the momentum twisting her head to the side. Saliva, not blood, filled her mouth, she spat it on the ground, and turned back to the man that'd attacked her.

It hadn't hurt, the blow she received. But surprised her so she couldn't brace for it. Her enhanced strength made it so that it was barely a glimpse to her side, but she followed the momentum of the hit to swing herself around to face him once more. She turned back around, drove her elbow into the throat of the guy in front of her. The wind got knocked out of him in a gasping wheeze, hands flying to this throat. Then she brought up her foot, quickly striking him in the face, a crane kick, that knocked him to his back.

But he recovered quickly, swinging at her again. Leaping forward, Cadence brought her legs up and wrapped them around the attacker's waist. She brought up her hands, and bent back until her palms were planted on the ground and she flipped herself back over so that the attacker was now underneath her. Lifting a foot, she placed it on the figure's stomach and leveraged herself back up to her feet before springing backwards out of the way.

Cadence took a step back and crashed straight into the wall of the building behind her. That stunned her, surprised her in not being so aware of her surroundings. So much so that when her attacker started to punch toward her again, she reacted quicker than she'd liked, after having had tried to avoid using her powers only moments before.

Cadence's hands erupted into flames and she brought her arms up in a block, shoving the attacker away from her. She twisted in a quick circle, shielding herself with the stream of fire that followed, and sent out a surge toward him. He slid underneath it and Cadence flipped forward and dropped her heel down, crashing into her attacker and forced him back to the ground.

Brady backed away from the swinging punches aimed toward his head. He pressed his lips together, suddenly disliking the fact that he was getting older. When he was younger, he was short enough that he hadn't had to dodge and weave so much. Now he had to take that into consideration when he was fighting someone, especially someone so close in height. He backed away a few times, then phased the attacker's fist through his face so that it crashed into the brick wall behind him.

Then he phased through the attacker's body while he was busy screaming in pain, he turned back aiming a high kick at the attacker's head. His face crashed into the brick wall, his scream of pain turning into a wail of outright fury and pain. He turned around and ran straight for the concrete wall. The attacker moved to safety, but Brady continued towards the concrete wall and phased into it. The immediate pressure around him was always a surprise when he phased into tough matter. But this time, it was easier for him to navigate.

He spun himself around and waited for the attacker to come close, placing his hands on the brick wall he'd just disappeared to. Darkness surrounded Brady, but he could sense it. He waited for the attacker to come closer, then phased his hand out through the wall, grabbed the man by the front of his shirt, roughly yanked him forward into the wall, and used the close proximity to inflict the most damage when he phased his other hand out to punch.

As the attacker fell backward, Brady aimed a shadow shot at his feet that propelled him out of the wall, through the attacker, and solidified himself in time to strike the attacker in the back. Seconds before he felt something clamp down around his neck, and an electric shot go through him.

"Ugh." He fell to his knees. His eyes shifted to the side, watching as his mom continued to fight. "Mom!" He cried out.

Cadence's head whipped around, at the sound of her son's cry for help. She moved to reach for him, but was stymied by a collar that was projectile launched from an spring-loaded contraption her attacker whipped out, that clamped down around her neck. The flames around her hands were immediately snuffed out.

"What?" Cadence desperately grasped against the collar around her neck. The palms of her hands illuminated by the bright blue neon light encircling it. She could hear a low hum of something inside it starting up. "What is this?"

She received no response, didn't get a second to ponder further, before a nasty kick was sent to her face.


A/N: Finally, we get to the point that I've hinted to at the very beginning, as well as in the summary of the story. Believe me, I couldn't wait to get to this storyline! This chapter and the next were, initially, about 15,000 words when it was one continuous chapter, so I ended up splitting them in half so that you weren't too bogged down with one super long chapter to read. That being said, I hope you liked it despite the wait.

Cheers,

-Riles

Review Replies

Ethan: Brady understands the seriousness of his powers, but he's still a kid. And he uses his powers when he feels like it. Though everyone else on Team Flash would be upset to know that, lol. Bonding time with the team is always good, but I haven't done it with Cade and Brady in a long time, compared to Flash Fire, so I hope it was enjoyable here as well. A lot of throwbacks with it. But you can also see how Brady's gotten older through it as well, which is nice, but something Cade (and I'm sure a lot of other parents) have a little struggle dealing with.