28

Pushing The Limit


Barry let out a quiet sigh, looking to the panel that sat on just the outside of the Pipeline cell. Part of him felt more guilt than he'd ever experienced, knowing an otherwise innocent man was sitting inside. But a part of him knew it was the best option if they were going to get some answers. And if they were sure they'd be able to have Ralph brought back to some sort of normalcy.

It wouldn't be good for him—or anyone else—if he started to flop around Central City. Not only would it scare those that got too close to him to see the way his flesh bent and weaved—it wouldn't just be Joe who'd puke—but then there were those that would immediately try to capture him and take him away to do…who knows what?

The idea that anyone would take someone who was, otherwise, an innocent man to do what they felt metas deserved was enough to make Barry's stomach twist and turn. There's also the point that Ralph may hate you more than he ever did before that's freaking you out, Barry, admit it.

Slowly, he reached out his hand to enter his fingerprint information, to open the cell. Just before his fingers pressed against the screen, he stopped and read the screen once more.

Name: Ralph Dibny

Powers: Stretch

Duration of Stay: Two days

Danger Level: One Bar

And many other points of information that was only visible when the screen was scrolled through. Ralph had barely made a dent of his time within the Pipeline but it was enough to bring a strange sort of tension among the team. Or else, it'd been there so long he hadn't noticed.

"Are you going to open it or what?" Brady's voice asked, breaking Barry out of his thoughts. Barry turned around, finding Brady standing directly behind him, looking at him as if he were crazy. "I know you have superspeed, but the rest of us have to watch your in real time."

Barry pressed his palm flat against the screen and twisted his hand when the display turned to what looked like a lock on the door of a bank vault. The cell made a hissing sound and started to open. Barry folded his arms as he waited for the cell to reveal itself.

"Augh!"

Barry looked over and jumped, letting out a yelp as bad as Brady's when he saw Ralph's face pressed against the glass of the cell, making a grotesque expression. Barry's eyes widened before they returned to size in an expression of annoyance, seeing Ralph pulled his face from the glass and smirk toward him.

"Real classy, Ralph," Barry said sarcastically. "Good to know you're really using your time in there to be a better person."

"What sort of person do I want to be, Rookie? You?" Ralph shoved his hands into his pockets and rested his back against the wall of the cell, looking at Barry and Brady with a shake of his head. "You and your fiancée lock people into a cell that doesn't even have a toilet."

"Kick the wall," Barry instructed.

"I've done enough of that when you put me in here—"

"—I mean, 'kick the wall' and the toilet will pop out," Barry explained. "We don't put people down here because we feel like it."

"No, your fiancée likes to think it's a good idea just in case there's anything I could to go get back at you all. Either that, or there's some sort of a kink thing that she needs to work out and even then, I either have to say 'good luck' or 'you're very lucky'. I'm trying to decide."

Brady glared at Ralph.

"Come on Shortstack, you can't tell me that people haven't said that about your mo—"

"—Okay, Ralph, that's enough." Barry held up his hand. "I came down here to see how you were doing."

"Like you care."

Barry took in a deep breath through his nose, doing his best to keep his temper in check. It was hard to do with Ralph being so…Ralph. Especially with the past that continued to hold over their heads. "Look, I just came down here to make sure you were getting enough food and that you weren't starting to go crazy. I know how difficult if can be down here."

"Why? Did you try to test out this prison to make sure you weren't actually breaking any laws?"

"Let's just go, Barry," Brady said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "He's not going to let us talk to him."

"We can't leave him down here much longer," Barry replied, as if Ralph wasn't even there. He ran his hands through his hair, resting them on the back of his head. "We only put him down here to make sure he turned back to normal and he's clearly back to normal. We can't hold him any longer than that."

"Okay," Brady said slowly. "But how are we going to release him and not have him say anything about…" he waved his arms around. "All this?"

"Hel-lo, I'm right here!" Ralph declared, waving his hand. "Man, it's like watching monkeys in a zoo." He looked back and forth between the two. "Stupid monkeys."

Brady's eyes narrowed. "Never mind, leave him in there."

"Hey!" Ralph's eyes popped open. He pressed his face and hands against the glass. "You can't leave me in here! I'm back to normal. I haven't had an attack of the stretchies in god knows how long. Please!" His knees trembled, nearly knocking him over. "Get me out of here."

"First, you have to listen to me," Barry said firmly. "You have to listen when we say that with the things you can do now…you're in danger. Not just from those guys who were trying to shake you down for…whatever it is that you did this time. But from people who don't like metas. The Anti-Metahuman Registration Act is continuously moving forward every day and it means a lot of danger to anyone who is found to be a meta."

"Ugh, I already told you, I don't know anything," Ralph declared. "I was on the bus—"

"—You said you weren't on the bus," Brady pointed out.

Ralph's eyes shifted toward him. "Number one rule in life, Shortstack, people lie."

"Stop calling me, Shortstack!"

Barry ignored the two of them, instead, leaping onto what Ralph had said. "So, you were on the bus! Do you remember anyone else who was there? Anyone who may have seemed suspicious to you?"

"Other than the bus driver who kept looking at me in the rearview mirror instead of paying attention to the road?" Ralph replied. He pushed himself off the wall and started to pace in very tight circles, swinging one leg out in front of the other as he went. "But he could've been mad after the IOU I slipped him." He shook his head. "No, not really. But as far as I know, there hasn't been anyone on the city buses that I haven't managed to not look at me suspiciously so…"

"Why were you calling Mayor Bellows?" Barry interrupted.

He watched Ralph closely with the question, waited to see if it finally put a crack in Ralph's armor. He saw the color drain from Ralph's face, heard him swallow hard before he pursed his lips, staring back at Barry. Barry felt his heart rate increase, waiting for Ralph's response. It had been a surprise when Joe had managed to come back from the CCPD and found something on Dibny that they hadn't had before. Helpful, but surprising.

Ralph had done a good job at working to keep things with his detective agency out of the eye of the CCPD. But as soon as the news came through, Barry knew he needed to confront Ralph with it as soon as he'd gotten the chance. But, after seeing the argument that came from Caitlin and the others when he'd suggested that Ralph wasn't a good guy and to put him in the pipeline, he knew he had to keep it to himself.

Now, taking Brady along with him probably wasn't the best idea. But the young boy had been working in the Medical Bay when he'd seen Barry's identification come through the security system, alerting of his arrival to STAR Labs, and had followed him down to the Pipeline. And, luckily, it was a Teacher Work Day at school so there was an excuse to have him around. (Though Cadence did look suspiciously at Brady when he'd reminded her).

Ralph finally responded by asking slowly, "Have you been tapping my phone?" His eyes darted around the cell he stood in, as if waiting to see a camera pop out of the walls and point directly at him. (Barry wondered if he'd noticed the camera that was sitting directly in the corner of the cell, pointed directly at him).

"LUDS came back and Joe says that you have fifteen calls between you and the Mayor's office," Barry explained. "And Iris found the same thing."

At that, Ralph's eyebrows rose. He let out a light snort. "What would Little West want to do with Mayor Bellows?"

"She was looking into Mayor Bellows' response to an attack on a mother and son recently, as well as the mounting tensions between metas and humans." Barry folded his arms once more. "Not to mention the ways the paranoid response to metahumans has made it difficult to even bring children to the doctor's office." He waved a hand. "And, somehow, your name came up."

"Wait a second, are you trying to tell me that you think I'm the reason that doctor's office went belly up?" Ralph demanded. He jabbed his index finger into the glass then poked himself in the chest. "Do you know how many people I have pissed off in the last five years? Angry husbands, angry wives. Not exactly dealing with high society, taking photos of cheating spouses. But to accuse me of hurting a bunch of children…well, that's just sick!"

Barry threw his hands in the air, tired of talking in circles. That always seemed to happen when he was around Ralph. He barely remembered being able to have a straight conversation with him when they were both still staffed by the CCPD. "Then why are you talking to the mayor?"

"Who says I am?"

"Your phone records."

Ralph opened and closed his mouth. He looked to the side, then to Barry, Brady, back to Barry, and then to the camera in the corner of the ceiling. Slowly, very slowly, he lifted a finger and wagged it toward Barry. "Did you get a warrant for that? You're the one who likes to play by the rules, Rookie, and you went behind my back and did that?" He shrugged. "Can't say I'm surprised. You must be more vicious than I thought. I mean, how else would you of all people be about to get married? Wait!" He tilted his head. "Didn't you used to have a thing for Little West?"

"Ralph—"

"—I mean, you never did hide it well."

Rage started to fill Barry. He gritted his teeth, clenched his hands into fists. Felt lightning start to ripple through his eyes. Nevertheless, Ralph continued to smirk at him, waiting for some sort of an emotional response to his taunting. "What's your business with Mayor Bellows?" He demanded.

All the while, Brady continued to look back and forth between Barry and Ralph, as if he were watching a tennis match. One insult lobbed toward to one side of the court, and then shot back seconds later.

"Nothing." Ralph shrugged.

"You called him fifteen times."

"Twelve of them were butt dials."

"Whatever." Finally, Barry pushed himself away from the cell and moved back to lock it. The last thing he was going to do was allow himself to abuse his power to make Ralph's life a little more unbearable. Even if he deserves it, Barry thought. "We'll talk to the Mayor ourselves, he's a fan of Joe's."

"You go do that." Ralph waved him off, turning away from the two. "And at the same time, tell me what makes you so high and mighty about everything. Being friends with the Mayor isn't such a great feat you know. It's not like he's got some powers or anything." At that, Ralph sighed heavily. "Go. Go and talk to the Mayor, leave me in here and I'll worry about how everything still hasn't quite moved back to where it's supposed to be. Even after that disgusting mess Dr. Caitlin gave me."

"Well, you definitely look better," Brady commented. He eyed Ralph up and down. "You're not as fat as you used to be."

If Ralph noticed the insult Brady's just thrown his way—or the glare that Barry shot him in response—he didn't make note of it. Instead, he slapped his hands onto his stomach and beamed to himself, as he said, "I know, I just started thinking about how I missed my old body and bam. I look like a Hemsworth."

Barry rolled his eyes. He closed Ralph's cell, grabbed Brady by the shoulder, and dragged him out of the Pipeline. Brady moved his feet as quickly as he could, trying to keep up with Barry's fast pace. Powers or not, his longer stride made it difficult to keep up without his feet dragging.

"What's the rush, Barry? It's not like Ralph's going anywhere," Brady commented as they moved along the twisting hallways toward the elevator.

"I know, I'm just trying to work off my excess energy," Barry replied. He started to slow down. "He just makes me so angry and when I get angry…" he shook his head. "I didn't want him to see my powers. I was going to go to the Speed Lab and run for a bit." He looked down at Brady, suddenly feeling awkward. "It's not going to take long; I don't want you to get bored waiting for me."

Brady shrugged. "I was either going to get bored at home waiting for mom to get back, or here so…"

"I'm glad you wanted to spend the day with me," Barry said slowly. "But why didn't you go with Ryder today?"

Brady suddenly looked annoyed. "Dad's too busy fixing the city after you and mom keep breaking it. I don't get to spend much time with him anymore." He stepped into the elevator when the doors opened and sulked against the corner of the lift. "So I needed something interesting to do other than homework. Conner's not really up for anything lately and Leah and I are benched so…"

"I'm sorry that our actions are keeping you from hanging out with Ryder," Barry said sincerely. "I didn't mean for that to happen. And I haven't been able to hang out with him since I got back, either." That was something that had surprised Barry, that things between him and Ryder weren't as awkward as he'd thought it would be. Ryder's and Cadence's relationship didn't seem destined to last more than high school and they were great friends as exes, but there was something to be said when marriage came into the picture.

Ryder had been as happy as the others when they announced their engagement and he and Barry had slowly been forming a relationship before Barry went into the Speed Force. Since coming out of it, however, they hadn't had much time to further that friendship between them, especially as the wedding loomed closer.

"As for Conner, he's going through a lot. And the best thing you can do for him right now is to be there for him."

"His mom died, I get it," Brady said slowly. "I thought my mom died when she traded places with Burnout. But I'm not as upset as he is." His eyes flickered toward Barry as the elevator rose to the Cortex floor. "I mean, I was mad at first, and sometimes, I still do get mad. But—"

"—Sounds like me and Ralph," Barry agreed. He tipped his head back, resting against the back of the elevator. He watched the numbers roll by until they made it to the Cortex. "I can't help but be mad at him."

"He was kicked off the CCPD a million years ago." The elevator doors opened and the two walked out toward the parking garage. "Why does he still get to you?"

Barry sighed heavily. He reached up, running a hand through his hair. "When I first started at the CCPD, all I cared about was the rules. Following them to a 'T' to make sure things were fair for every case that came our way."

"Because of your dad?" Brady asked.

Barry nodded. "But these last few years, we've locked up metahumans without a trial. Played with time and space, messed up other worlds-"

"—Uh, you did all that," Brady pointed out.

Barry heaved a sigh, suddenly wondering when it was that Brady had gone from a sweet little kid to someone who had his own opinions. Well, he'd always been that way, but now he was growing older and having even stronger opinions and views of the world. There were times Barry forgot how young Brady was, and it made him worry what would happen if they weren't to have benched him and Leah. What Hitman would've done to harm him even further.

(But it was also an unwelcome reminder that there were many things that Brady could do on his own. Things Barry was going to have to navigate while falling into his new role of being a step-father, a more prominent role than just being his friend and mentor).

"And what does all of that have to do with Ralph?"

"Everything we've done, we did because we were trying to help people," Barry explained. "To keep them all safe. And that might've been what he was doing back then. Trying to keep a man who had truly something wrong safe." He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I made a mistake."

"It wouldn't be the first time you made a mistake about your dad," Brady remarked. He waved a hand, then leapt up to walk onto a wheel stop at the head of an empty parking space, holding his arms out to balance himself. "Flashpoint probably made all of this happen."

"Thanks for the reminder," Barry said sarcastically.

"You're welcome!" Brady replied cheerfully. He jumped down from the wheel stop and looked up, seeing two police officers walking their way. Then frowned, slowing to fall just behind Barry as they approached.

Barry followed Brady's gaze and lifted his chin, seeing the guards coming his way. They looked familiar to him, when was the last time…Oh, that's right. When he and Joe were first investigating the "Bus Metas". Mayor Bellows had been at the CCPD and the guards were standing nearby, watching him closely.

"Allen," The guard on the left said with a nod. He then nodded to Brady, who eyed him closely.

"Hey." Barry nodded back. His eyes shifted between the two guards. "Aren't you two on the mayor's detail?"

The guard on the right then nodded and said, "Dispatch radioed. Captain Singh needs you as soon as possible."

"Okay…." Barry looked to Brady once more then back to the two guards. "Did he say anything about why he'd need me on my day off?"

The guards shook their heads. "But it's important. You're needed at the station. Now."

Barry's face screwed up. He watched the two a second longer, then turned to Brady to apologize for dragging him around for the day. At the same time, he saw Brady's eyes widen in surprise and fear.

"Barry!"

Everything around Barry slowed down at the same time Brady cried out. There was a sudden cracking sound that Barry quickly recognized. The sound of a gunshot. He flinched, his shoulders flying up to his ears. Lightning encircled Barry's body, following his movement when he whipped around to find the source of the sound. He saw bullets slowly moving toward him, spinning silently toward him. Barry plucked the bullets out of the air, moved the arms of the officers shooting toward him with a gentle tap, took the bullet heading toward Brady out of the air, and moved back into place as he stopped using his speed.

All at once, the guards' guns smacked each other in the face with so much force that it knocked them to the ground. Out cold.

Brady's eyes widened. "Whoa!"

"That never gets old." Barry grinned.

"Umm…those two work for the mayor and they just tried to kills us," Brady pointed out.

Barry sighed. So much for a normal day off. "They're looking for Dibny."


Cadence turned away from the paperwork on her desk when she heard a light knock at the door. Expecting to find her boss, Natalie Ramirez, waiting for the case files that she'd completed, Cadence quickly placed her hands on a stack of folders and said, "I just need five more minutes."

"Really? You're going to put me on hold for five minutes?" Iris teased, leaning into Cadence's office door. She walked up to Cadence's desk, picking up a photo that sat on the corner of the desk and smiled, seeing a picture of a younger Cadence posing for a picture with her cheerleading team. "I don't know if I should be offended."

"So long as you're not Captain Singh, you should be fine," Cadence replied with a light laugh.

"Have you seen my dad? I stopped by his office but he wasn't there." Iris continued to look over the photo, her smile continuing to widen as the seconds passed.

"Not today, but I've been in here all morning." Cadence leaned back in her seat, straightening the photo in its place along with a picture of Brady's previous yearbook photo, a copy of her parents' wedding photo, a photo of herself and Barry, a photo of Ryder, and a photo of Team Flash. (Thankfully without STAR Labs or any of them being in suits to tip anyone off). "Is something wrong?"

"He was supposed to meet me, Wally, and Jesse for lunch before they went back to Earth-2 for the day."

Cadence's eyebrows rose. It was always something big if the parent was going to have a meal with a child and their significant other. And, as far as Cadence knew, they had never been able to have much time together in that capacity since Jesse had first arrived on Earth-1 a few years before.

Iris noticed Cadence's eyebrow raise and nodded. "Yeah, it was going to be pretty big. We were going to meet up with Harry, too. Make it a whole family thing."

"And Harry didn't show?"

"Nope. But we didn't expect him to. I think Jesse may have banned him from going. Haven't you noticed the tension between them?"

"It was kind of hard to miss. We were talking about the lead of Team Flash and it seems like Harry and Jesse have been having problems with their team over there." Cadence ran a hand through her hair. "That seems to be going around, lately."

"You haven't really made up with Caitlin yet?"

"Have you told Barry you didn't want us to take him out of the Speed Force, yet?"

Iris's jaw dropped just slightly. Then she closed it and nodded slowly. "Touché," she replied. "Looks like there's a lot of that going on right now." She cleared her throat and stood up straight. "I looked more into Mayor Bellows and a lot of questions are coming up, compared to answers. The way he handled yours and Brady's attack was just the tip of the iceberg. But, as I was looking through recent meta incidents, I realized there was a similar response to what'd happened with the doctor's office…"

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.

"Cade?" Iris asked.

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.

"Cadence!" Iris waved her hand in front of Cadence's face, making the fire metahuman jerk her head back, blinking hard. "Are you okay?" Iris placed her hands on her hips. "Your mind just went somewhere I couldn't follow."

"Oh yeah, I'm okay," Cadence replied. "Just zoned out for a second." She brought her hands up to massage her temples, her head suddenly pounding. "What were we just talking about? Right, Mayor Bellows. He tried covering up what was going on with the doctor's office as well?"

Iris nodded; lips pressed together in a grim line. "Seems that a lot of his money is being funneled into Lex Luthor's pocket, and vice versa. Their campaigns are similar to each other, though Lex is the one who is being more vocal about what he wants to do with the metas. And that's why he was hiding what happened to you and Brady, let alone any identities of any metas he's recently learning. All the others have been put into Iron Heights by us."

"Do you think any of this can be in connection with Hitman?" Cadence asked.

Iris slowly started to smile. "Only one way to find out."

"I don't want you to get in any trouble with this," Cadence warned. "You're putting yourself in danger even looking into Mayor Bellows and I can't ask you to—"

"—I'm an investigative journalist, I can't do my job without a little bit of danger," Iris replied. She shrugged lightly, a determined light shining in her eye. "This is affecting all of us, and a lot of innocent people. I can't let him get away with this."

Cadence twisted her mouth to the side, watching her closely. "But don't Joe and Barry have a close relationship with Mayor Bellows? Isn't that a conflict of interest?"

"Only if things end up going wrong."

"You do know you're talking about Team Flash, right?"

"Right."

The two smiled and laughed. Cadence's laughter subsided when she heard another knock at the door. She leaned over and Jordan leaning into the doorway, chewing her lower lip, blue eyes wide behind her blonde fringe.

"Hey Jordan," Cadence greeted her cheerfully. "Can I help you with something?"

"No!' Jordan shook her head frantically. "I mean, yes!" She slapped herself on the forehead. "I mean, 'no', you can't help me with something. I can help you."

"Alright." Cadence's lips twitched as she tried not to start laughing. Jordan had been interning at the CCPD long enough to become comfortable around her, but she still managed to return to her timid nature when she was working to figure out how to give bad news or talk to people she wasn't completely comfortable with. "How can you help me?"

"Well, I couldn't help but overhear you before, when you were talking about Mayor Bellows. But, uh, he's here and, uh, I thought, if you wanted to talk to him—"

Iris and Cadence caught each other's eye. "—Thanks, Jordan!" Cadence leapt to her feet and she and Iris hurried out of her office. Jordan moved quickly to keep up with them, huffing and puffing as she tired to move quickly in her high heels. "You don't have to take us to him, you can go back to her desk."

Jordan nodded, her cheeks turning red with the effort of trying to keep up. "No, it's just, uh, I need to talk to you about something." She sucked in a deep breath, trying to get her second wind. "I mean, I'm glad I was able to help with Mayor Bellows. But there's, uh, something else." Jordan continued, her heels clacking along the ground as she went. She cried out, nearly falling over when her heels threatened to send her sprawling. Chuckling nervously, Jordan took off her heels and padded next to him. "It's pretty important."

"And it can't wait?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to Barry about it, but he's not in today. And I figured, maybe you'd be able to give him a message or help me out yourself or…or something?" Heels dangling from her hand, Jordan slowed to a stop by the water fountain just outside the bull pen. Her eyes shifted toward Iris.

"Sounds serious," Cadence remarked, folding her arms.

"Cade!" Iris nodded toward Mayor Bellows as he moved through the bull pen with Captain Singh by his side. They stopped momentarily to shake hands. "We're going to lose him."

"Jordan, can we talk later?" Cadence asked.

"Oh! Oh, yeah." Jordan started to wring her heels in her hand. "It's not even that important, really. It can wait. I'll just ask Barry the next time I see him. Or you. Or, whomever comes first. Just let me know, okay?" She stepped back, jostling the water fountain. Where, upon the force of the hit, water started to spray out of the nozzle before the water pressure slowed to a stop. "Oh! Oops!"

"Jordan…"

"I got it." Jordan waved her hand to the two women. "Don't worry. I can clean it up."

Cadence nodded and she and Iris hurried across the floor of the CCPD to Mayor Bellows, who slowed to a stop just at the front door, seeing them coming. "Is that Little Iris West?" Mayor Bellows as when they approached. He beamed to Iris, who smiled back bashfully. "I remember you when you were this tall." He mimed a height near his waist. "I heard you were by my office a few days ago. I'm sorry I haven't responded to your message; I've had a lot on my plate lately."

"Well, thank you for giving us some of your time," Cadence said, ignoring how Mayor Bellows has completely ignored her. "I'm sure you're very busy with the re-election coming up."

Mayor Bellows turned a grin her way. "Yes, I am. But I'm always ready and willing to help out the police in any way." He reached out his hand. Cadence took hold and shook his hand firmly, unable to help herself but use her enhanced strength a little. A small smile came to her face when Mayor Bellows blinked in surprise and rushed to pull his hand back. "Cadence Nash, fairly new to the CCPD. I've heard a lot of good things about you. Congratulations on the upcoming wedding, by the way. A very exciting occasion from one former cop to another."

"We're hoping you could answer some questions we have about a case we've been working on," Iris said, taking charge. She looked to Cadence, who nodded her encouragement. Not that she needs much encouragement, Cadence thought. When she says investigative journalist, she's not kidding. "And everything seems to tie together; things to do with metahumans and things being kept under the rug."

Mayor Bellows blinked in surprise. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I follow," he said. He reached up a hand and ran it over his balding head. "Metahumans are a tricky subject in this city, but I've worked to be as transparent as I can with how they're to be dealt with." He started to inch toward the door to the CCPD, Iris and Cadence moving along.

Cadence glanced at Iris then back to Mayor Bellows. She didn't have much to say to add to the conversation but there was always something good to be said about her powers of determining if other people lied. Whenever anyone was put under a lot of stress, body temperatures started to rise…

"Well, it's just that there are people who don't feel that they have to be 'dealt with'," Iris said, using air quotes around the words. "That they deserve to live a normal life among those that don't have powers. The Metahuman Task Force has been helping. But there's something else I wanted to ask you about. Such as the money that's been moving into your campaign for re-election and why it's being funded by Lex Luthor."

Mayor Bellows looked at the two, eyes flickering between them. Cadence focused closely on his face, noticing tiny droplets of sweat that was starting to for at his hairline. At the darkening patches under his arms. Focused intently on the flooring of his face, especially around his nose.

"Are your opponents being funded by Lex Luthor as well?" Iris continued.

Mayor Bellows held up his hand and started move away from the girls, quickly moving down the steps to the concrete. Cadence continued to watch him, watch the tiny twitch in the corner of his eye that would've been, otherwise, nearly imperceptible. Saw his nose twitch once in the corner before he reached up to scratch at an itch.

"Ladies, I have to—"

"We won't take up much more of your time," Iris continued. She hurried to stand at Mayor Bellows' side. Cadence moved slowly after, continuing to keep her eyes on Mayor Bellows. Every few seconds, he would look toward her, before rubbing at the sweat on his forehead, starting to tremble under her intense gaze. "Do you know a Ralph Dibny?"

All at once, Mayor Bellows stood up straight and turned to Iris and Cadence with a cool, detached smile.

Bingo, Cadence thought. At that same movement, Cadence noticed the pinkish tinge to the area around Mayor Bellows' nose and forehead. The Pinocchio Effect; the skin around the nose and forehead increased in body temperature when someone lied. With Mayor Bellows' lighter complexion, the pink tinge was barely visible. But the way he immediately turned to a stance of confidence was the biggest red flag. What's he up to? And what does he know about Ralph?

"No." Mayor Bellows shrugged. He pushed back his coat and placed his hands into the pocket of his slacks. "Should I? The name doesn't ring a bell."

"He's a former cop turned PI," Iris explained. Her eyes narrowed, watching Mayor Bellows just as closely. "My reports indicate that he called your office more than a dozen times. And, as a Private Investigator, they undertake investigatory law services. Usually, they're used for those who are trying to scam workers compensation and insurance fraud. But, in modern times, they've been primarily used to determine if a spouse has been cheating."

Mayor Bellows cleared his throat, started to tap his foot. "What does this have to do with my campaign? I'm not cheating on my wife."

"But you are cheating the system," Iris continued. She looked Mayor Bellows in the eye, taking a solid stance before him. Cadence watched her in awe; she'd never seen Iris when at work, but knew there had to be a sense of bravery that went with it. Why else would there be those that had gone to war torn countries just to get a story? "And Dibny found out. So, he started to blackmail you. And you're using the money you're getting from Luthor, to pay him off."

All at once, Mayor Bellows whipped his hand out of his pocket and pointed a pistol between the two of them. Cadence steeled her muscles, working to figure out what was the best option to move forward. She could attack Mayor Bellows; whip up her foot in a high kick and knock the pistol out of his hand, but if she didn't move fast enough, he could shoot Iris. And if he decided to shoot her instead of Iris, then he'd realize her powers.

If he realized her powers, he'd find out her identity.

And she couldn't leave Iris alone so that she could get on her suit and then try to stop him…

Slowly, Cadence reached into her pocket for her phone. She pressed her thumb into the screen of her phone then went to the Metahuman Warning App and set it off. If there was any time she could use Barry's superspeed, it was then.

"It's too bad none of you knew how to stay out of my business," Mayor Bellows remarked, stepping closer to the two. He flashed a smile to the officers that moved by them to go into the building, keeping the pistol just out of sight.

Have to keep up appearances, Cadence thought, eyes slowly narrowing.

"I was talking to Joe this morning and he was starting to say some of the same things, asking too many questions…"

"What'd you do to my dad?" Iris demanded.

"Nothing yet, but my men are under strict orders to silence him if things don't go well here," Mayor Bellows replied. "If they don't hear from met at a certain time, then things won't go so well with Allen, either." He looked to Cadence. "I really am excited for your nuptials, I've even got a gift coming. Let's just hope that we all get there."

"What do you want with us?" Cadence asked.

"Just to follow everything I say when I say it." Mayor Bellows motioned with his pistol. "Now get moving." Cadence started to move to the side but stopped when Mayor Bellows pointed the pistol directly at her. "Don't think I don't know about your frequent flyer miles. You may not be the Fastest Man Alive, but I know you can bring me to him in a blink of an eye."


Barry skidded to a stop in front of Ralph's cell, dropping Brady to the ground as he did so. Brady stumbled and flung out his arms to keep himself upright.

"Can you warn me the next time you're going to do that?" Brady asked, slapping a hand up to cover his mouth.

"Yeah, this time I'll make sure to put up a warning sign," Barry replied sarcastically. He pressed his hand to the panel and brought up Ralph's cell. It slid open and Ralph quickly turned away, zipping up the front of his pants while kicking the toilet back into the wall.

"Do you not know how to knock?!" Ralph demanded, outraged. "Aren't there any privacy laws in this place?" He watched as the glass door opened, eyeing it carefully. "Wait, you're actually letting me go? You're not going to keep me in here to torture me anymore?"

"We have to get you out of here," Barry said firmly. "Now!" He moved forward to grasp Ralph's arm, but Ralph backed away, holding up his hands.

"How do I know you're not going to rip my arm out of it's socket again?" Ralph demanded. He glared back and forth between the two. "I don't know if you've noticed, but since I ran into you again my life has gone to hell. Every time I'm around you, my life is a nightmare." He brought his index fingers together to make the form of a cross. "You're a jinx, Allen." He looked to Brady. "I'd be careful if I were you, Shortstack. He's about to be your step-father and I can't say what'll happen to you."

Brady made a face. "Okay, now I get why you were hesitant to think he's changed."

Ralph sucked in a deep breath. He dropped his hands and glared at Barry. "I get it. You try to hold yourself on such a high pedestal that your head is stuck in the clouds. You think you're so high and mighty and pure that no one else can touch your God-like status."

"Ralph," Barry started. He swiftly cut himself off when Ralph started speaking once more, as if Barry had never spoken.

"But you don't know me. And you don't know what I've been doing to work on myself when you decided to come flying back in and accuse me of things." Ralph hesitantly stepped out of the cell and slid along the wall, inching past Barry and Brady, who watched him. "I've turned over a new leaf in ways you can't imagine. I've been starting to see the wrongs that I'm now trying to right."

"Ralph—"

"-I've taken my life by the horns and am going to ride it off into the sunset—"

"—Ralph," Brady tried. He sighed heavily when Ralph kept going.

"—And I don't need you to now think it's a good time to feel guilty." Ralph turned around in time to see Mayor Bellows standing behind him with Iris and Cadence flanking his sides and a pistol pointed toward him. Ralph's shoulders slumped. "Aw, crap."

"Ralph Dibny," Mayor Bellows greeted him.

"Mayor Bellows," Ralph replied.

"You lost weight."

"Uh…" Ralph's eyes shifted back and forth. "Lap band surgery."

Mayor Bellows then turned his attention to Barry, who stared back at him in wide-eyed surprise. "Do you really think that there are things going on in this city that I don't know about?" He taunted. "I've been watching STAR Labs since the Particle Accelerator went off, knowing there was a chance someone was going to use the information from that day for something. Imagine my surprise when little Barry Allen started to become even more interested in the 'supernatural' that had been happening around the city. Being the driving force behind the Metahuman Task Force…continuously talking about a Man in Yellow. And all the while waking up from a coma at the same time as the Flash was first seen in the city."

"The Flash?" Ralph repeated.

Mayor Bellows rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you hadn't figured that out."

"Dude?" Ralph whipped his head around to stare at Barry. Barry swallowed hard, looking away from him. "Are you kidding me? You're the flash? Everyone else gets struck by lighting and dies, but you get powers? Argh!" He threw his hands in the air. "Now I have to hate the flash."

"Focus!" Brady snapped.

"And Flare," Mayor Bellows continued, speaking to Cadence but looking at Brady. "What kind of mother are you to let your son be put in as much danger as Shadowhunter gets into on a daily basis."

"Oh, I get it, it's a sort of family affair!" Ralph rolled his eyes.

Barry started to move forward, tensing his muscles so that he could tap into the Speed Force, but stopped when he saw Iris quickly shake her head. Mayor Bellows smiled to himself. "Make one false move and Joe's going to get it."

Joe? Barry's eyes widened once more.

"That's right, I hate to hurt a fellow cop, but I've got some things I don't want to come out into the light. I've got some men waiting to take him down if they don't hear from me at a certain time or things go wrong. And they'll know if something goes wrong. I'm a very powerful man."

"He is," Ralph agreed. "I've had a lot of his people stalking me over the past couple of months."

"And now I'm done with you," Mayor Bellows remarked. He whipped up his pistol once more and fired off a shot before anyone could move. Barry flinched and started to move into Flash time, then stopped, seeing something amazing happened. He saw the back of Ralph's head stretch out then warp back into place.

Ralph brought his hands up to his face, cupped them over his nose, then breathed hard. He sniffled a few times before phew the bullet shot out of nose into his hands. Iris and Brady reacted with disgust while Ralph lifted the bullet and turned it this way and that in his hands. "Bullet Booger. Super gross."

Barry looked to Cadence, who nodded and immediately teleported in a puff of smoke. Bamf!

Startled, not just at the tell-tale sound of Cadence's teleporting, but also at the very un-dead Ralph standing before him. Barry grinned and folded his arms. "Sorry, Mr. Mayor. But it's over. You couldn't kill Ralph and Cade's going to save Joe."

"And what about your identities?" Mayor Bellows asked, his face darkening as he looked to Iris, Barry, Brady, and Ralph. "I can let the entire city know about them. It'll be the news that'll run over the entire city. And no one will blame me for what I've done."

"You're putting innocent lives in danger," Iris said. "Innocent meta lives."

"Metas aren't innocent," Mayor Bellows spat. "I was doing this city a favor. As soon as metahumans came around, they've cost everyone more than their fair share of the lives they deserved."

"What happened to Flash Day?" Brady demanded. "And him getting the key to the city?"

"That was just to increase his numbers in the election," Iris explained. "To get the sway of the city on his side just before Lex's political run. Then he could align himself with Lex and absolve any of the negative attention off himself."

"I'm just doing what's best for this city. Getting rid of all the dirty metahumans so we can live peacefully. And I'll do that with whatever means necessary."

"Even putting a bunch of children in danger?" Barry demanded. "Getting their DNA and identities from a doctor's office?" Mayor Bellows smirked.

"Wait, you did that?" Ralph demanded. "And I didn't think you could sink any lower."

"Believe me, metas are nothing."

"I'm sure all the metas in Iron Heights will feel the same way about you," Barry remarked. He moved forward and grasped Mayor Bellows' elbow. He raced to Iron Heights, dropped Mayor Bellows off with a note attached to him, then raced back to STAR Labs. "He's not going to be out of there anytime soon."

"What if he tells people about us?" Brady asked. "About STAR Labs?"

Iris shrugged, shaking her head. "I'll write an article that discredits him. That'll explain everything about what he did to sway voters his way. It might not be the best thing for those that are on his side…but it's the best we've got right now."

"You sure this isn't one of those Men In Black moments?" Ralph asked. "You don't have a little pen that'll erase everyone's memories of the last day or so? Or twenty?"

"We're not that advanced," Barry said. He cleared his throat, looking to Ralph then at his shoes. "Ralph, I owe you an—"

"—Apology?" Ralph broke in. "Yeah, you really do. But I don't think I can stand seeing you grovel and beg for my forgiveness, that'll be a terrible sight, even for you." He looked over when Cadence teleported back with an explanation of, "Joe's fine," and wiped a smear of blood off her cheek. "Can you do that all the time or do you have to really work at it?"

Cadence ignored him.

"Anyway," Barry continued. "I think I have something you'll be interested in." Ralph's eyebrows rose, a grin coming to his face. "There's no money involved."

"Ugh." Ralph's upper lip curled. "No payout, no mayor money. I have to pick up a case."

"I have a job for you."

"You know, Rookie, I'd laugh, but I'm afraid my face will fall off."

Barry ignored him. He nodded to Iris, Cadence, and Brady. "Let me and my team study you and your powers. See your limitations. We can figure out what you can do and can't do…and let me train you. To do what I do. To be a detective again, a real one. It won't be easy. Some days you'll hate me-"

"—I always hate you. But that might be kinda cool. So long as I've got your team of nurses to patch me up every time I'm hurt." Iris and Cadence's faces screwed up while Brady glared. "Don't worry Shortstack, when you turn of age, you'll get it."

"But there's just one thing I was wondering," Barry interrupted. Already mentally screaming at himself for making such a dumb decision. "What made you look into Mayor Bellows in the first place?"

"A client. Some guy named DeVoe."

All at once, the something slammed into his brain; a memory. A distance memory. A memory he wasn't sure was his own, Earth-2 Barry's, or Savitar's. Barry's knees suddenly turned weak, making him throw out his arm and hold himself up against the wall beside him.

The flashes continued faster and faster at a rate of speed that it felt like his brain was breaking as he tried to process it.

"This is where we came up with the cerebral inhibitor, to use against DeVoe."

Blood dripped from Barry's nose, everything slanted to the side, then turned black before he slammed to the ground.


A/N: Whew, took me sooooo long to update this. It's been so long that I had to actually re-read this story to remember what I was going to do. (I have my notes documents but if you aren't in my headspace it seems really disjointed to how things are supposed to work, lol). But now I'm back and I've got things in the works that I think you'll ll be excited about.

Hope you enjoyed!

Cheers,

-Riles

PS – With Hartley Sawyer being fired from The Flash, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with Dibny. I have a plan where, after this season, I can easily write him out and it won't affect much for the rest of the show/this series. But I do also have a plan that could work up until his actually leaving the show. I understand and was disgusted by a lot of things I saw in his tweets, but am also able to differentiate his character from the actor. So it's still up in the air right now.

Review Replies

Ethan: DeVoe and Marlize really are being fake nice. It's more of a game for them. They're waiting to see how everything plays out before they had to reveal themselves. DeVoe really does have an ego and so far he has every right to have one. Lol.