Tiger Stripes and Lightening Strikes

5: Never An Option

With the recent increase in homicides, team flash had been meeting more and more frequently. As always, they were huddled around the Cortex, ready to give their last efforts for the day. All eyes were turned to Barry. "Alright, what have we learned in the past 24 hours?" Barry posed a question to the group, rocking on the balls of his feet.

"I ran a genetic analysis on the feather you gave me," Caitlin began, leaning her arms down onto the cortex's desk. "It had a large number of anomalies. The DNA was completely fragmented and jumbled. I think we are dealing with a meta that has blended sets of DNA."

"So we are facing a genetic chimera?" Harry asked, turning to face her. She nodded.

"If I have a sample of the DNA from the other creatures, I could find similarities and figure out what has been done to them," Caitlin spoke with a note of genuine interest. "And I may even be able to track them down in their human forms."

"I'll put out a note to watch for a big bird," Joe snorted, exasperation cracking his features.

"For the crime scene I worked yesterday, I assumed it was a natural passing, but the coroners reported the cause of death as poisoning via a small cut on his wrist," Barry told them, running his hand back through his hair. "The gooey substance I found at the crime scene turned out to be Komodo Dragon venom." Cisco's jaw fell open.

"Yet another animal based meta committing murder with no signs of forced entry?" Joe's voice hitched.

"Technically Komodo Dragons are reptiles and blue birds are avian," Cisco grumbled, only to be silenced by a harsh lift of Joe's brow.

"That's a pattern we can't ignore," Iris commented, her dark eyes locking with Barry's and brining a flicker of warmth to ease his angst.

"We are looking for a serial killer," Barry nodded. "We just need to find a connection between all the victims and Dennit."

"I can look for any connections," Iris offered. Barry nodded. If anyone could find a link, it would be her.

*

Barry always felt nervous running into battle. His heart would pound and sticky sweat coat his skin. Even his breaths were short and sharp. The speed force crackled through his veins and he itched to jump into flash time, but he couldn't. Not this time around. This was a battle he had to wage as Barry Allen and nothing more.

Peering through the glass windows of jitters, his stomach knotted. He hadn't been in here in over a week. Not since his first confrontation with his brother. Words, phrases and hundreds of possibilities were tumbling around inside his mind. Beyond the heavy doors, Barry's replica was bustling from table to table and cleaning up a few cups and saucers.

The windows reflected the orange light of sunset. The streets were steadily emptying behind him. Sucking in a deep breath and rolling his shoulders, Barry slipped into the coffee shop. The doorbell rang out, making his pulse stagger. Sebastian was in the far corner, his back turned.

"We're just closing now, so any orders will have to be-" Sebastian finally looked back, paused, and narrowed his eyes "-to go."

"I actually came to talk," Barry awkwardly scratched at the back of his head.

"I thought we agreed to ignore each other?" Sebastian snorted, carrying his tray of glasses back behind the counter and beginning to sort through them.

"I know... we can do that if you want. You caught me off guard last week," Barry admitted, strolling closer and leaning his elbows down on the counter. "We haven't had the brightest of pasts together, but it doesn't have to be the same for the future."