Frozen Flashpoint

Chapter 29: March Forward

Summary: DeVoe's true plan is exposed, as is the identity of a certain speedster.

Barry blinked twice before asking in a blank voice, "You mean like in two days?"

Marlize nodded. So, Barry asked again, refusing to believe what he was hearing, "He is going to attack Central City with an army of metas in two days?"

Marlize nodded once again and informed them, "He was planning this attack for a while now, gathering forces, mainly from the meta criminals he convinced to follow his plan. He hoped for some specific powers to come up before attacking on this scale, but like I said, all those changes forced his hand."

Barry opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before clicking it shut and drowning in his thoughts.

Damn it, DeVoe would have tricked them! He probably made sure that Cisco would find that drug formula, and that the engineer would manage to hack the client list of the information. All of this so they would assume DeVoe's next target would be the drug, while all this time he was preparing an army to attack Central City and take it over.

If Barry had not trusted Caitlin and supported her decision to speak with Marlize, then DeVoe would have caught them by surprise again and probably would have taken over the city. Would Barry still sacrifice himself with everything that he knows now? He wasn't sure. Lyra's face with tears flowing down came to his mind, and in that moment, he would prefer to stay with her than give his life for any reason.

Still, Barry now needed to consider what should happen next... But before he could think about it too much, Caitlin's voice broke through and said, "We should go talk with the team."

When Barry looked up at his fiancée, she was giving him a hard stare, and Barry could almost read her thoughts. She already knew what he was about to consider and decided to cut the idea at its roots.

Barry could only nod; he had learned even before they started dating not to challenge Caitlin when she had that look on her face.

Without another word, the four of them began heading toward the cortex where Barry knew the rest of the team was waiting for them.

Barry was walking behind Caitlin and Lyra, so he could hear it when Caitlin whispered to their daughter, "Hey, are you okay, little star?"

Lyra startled a little, as if she was surprised hearing Caitlin's voice, but it passed the same moment it happened and was replaced by the teen's usual smile and chipper tone. "Sure, Mom."

Barry noticed Caitlin side-eyeing Lyra for a moment before responding casually, "You were quieter than usual since you ran Marlize in."

Lyra almost tripped on air due to Caitlin's words before she caught herself and managed to say, "Oh, just a lot on my mind is all."

Caitlin hummed for a moment, and both Barry and Lyra grew paler at the familiar act that indicated the brunette was not satisfied with the answer and would start an investigation now. So, trying to prevent that, Lyra gave out a nervous chuckle before saying in what was probably supposed to be a confident voice, "There is really nothing to it, Mom."

The girl received no response, so finally she gave the act away and let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. It's just that Marlize was like an aunt to me in the future, and I'm a little bummed that she won't even recognize who I am now."

Barry could feel his eyes widening at the information, but his future daughter decided to add, "Seeing her almost dying because of DeVoe also shocked me a little, I guess."

Caitlin raised an eyebrow at the teen and asked, "He didn't do it in the future?"

Lyra shook her head slowly. "Last time she found out, she tried to infiltrate STAR Labs, and you caught her. Instead of just throwing her in prison, you spoke with her and convinced her to look deeper into her husband's plans. After she did, she found out about his previous plans before the timeline changed, and she understood she couldn't trust him and began feeding us info. When DeVoe began suspecting her, she joined the attack on Star City and used it to join us away from him."