There was no night Barry and I have ever spent together that could top the beloved memories of last night. There hasn't been a time so full of love and passion that we've had together before. Besides from us being together, seeing him interact with the twins makes me fall in love with him even more. Having him in my arms and being able to hold him was a feeling I missed for the last six months.
I rubbed my eyes, the sun blinding my sense of vision as it filled the room. I looked over to see Barry's side of the bed empty, as well as his mess of yesterday's clothes untouched. My head rolled back onto the pillow as a small smile creeped on my face at the thought of Barry being back home. My smile grew wider at the remembrance of last night...Our deep conversation that lead to something more....Barry placing kisses along my jawline and my hands clenching harder onto his shirt... Wrapping my legs around his torso as he carried me to our room and closed the door behind him softly...The sudden mess of clothes that accumulated on the floor...The feeling of our bodies fitting together as if it was destiny....Unlike many, this wasn't for pleasure or for fun, but was for showing and cherishing of the love we have for eachother.
Thinking back to the current day, I grabbed my phone and read the time: 7:45. I got up from my side of the bed and threw on one of Barry's T-shirts. I then walked over to the door, where I oculus hear music playing from the other side. I opened the door slowly and walked down the hallway, where the music got louder. I continued to walk down the stairs quietly, and the music grew even louder. As I looked into the kitchen, Barry's figure quickly came into view. He slid across the hardwood floor in his socks and underwear as he held a spoon, lips inching to: "Old Time Rock and Roll". He danced around the kitchen, singing and having fun. I began to laugh softly until I could keep it quiet. I burst out laughing and Barry turned around. Since my cover was now blown, I walked up to him and poked his bare, muscled chest. He flinched a little, but wrapped his arms around me as he pulled me closer to him. He then dipped me slowly, and gave me a passionate kiss.
"What's gotten into you this morning?" I asked as his bright smile lit up the room. He was grinning from ear to ear and could not contain his happiness. "Happy today?" Barry nodded and I smiled back at him.
"I feel great," he replied, smiling even wider.. "After last night...coming home to you and the kids...How could I not be happy with a life like this?" He asked, pulling me close to him.
"And I see the twins are all taken care of," I said, escaping his grasp and walking over to the twins.
"I wasn't done yet," Barry said, walking over to me and pulling me into his side.
"I think you've had enough, lover boy," I said, trying to wiggle from his grip, but he was too strong. "It's time for the twins to have some," I said, Barry giving in and letting me go. I then gave both of the twins kisses on the head and watched as they continued to eat their breakfast.
"Their bags are already packed to go, and Iris will be over soon to pick them up." Barry patted my butt before walking back into the kitchen and taking out dishes from the cabinet. As I walked into the living room to turn on the news, I noticed a newly placed stack of Dvd's on the table.
"What's with all the dvd's?" I asked. I looked through them as Barry replied:
"Cisco hooked me up with 1,000 times sped up versions of my favorite tv shows. I missed a lot of tv while I was stuck in the speedforce. I didn't even get to see who killed Jason!" Barry exclaimed, stomping his foot. I then walked back into the kitchen and wrapped my arms around Barry.
"You'll find out later, honey, I'm sure Archie Andrews and the gang can wait a little while longer," I said, tracing circles up and down Barry's back. I took advantage of his warmth before I was sped to one of the counter stools in a matter of seconds. Napkins flew around the kitchen as a blur of yellow and red sped around the kitchen. A few seconds layer, a wide assortment of food was displayed in front of me.
"Bar, I can't believe you made this," I said, looking at the buffet of food Barry prepared. "This is a lot, how did you-"
"I'm the Flash," Barry replied, patting his chest. I reached over the counter and took his hand.
"Thank you," I replied, giving his hand a small squeeze.
"No, thank you. You've given me the world, and nothing compares to the amount of love I have for you. You created this beautiful family, and are the reason that I get to spend every second of every day with them. You brought me home." Barry looked deeply into my eyes as tears began to form. I gripped his hand from across he table and whispered:
"I love you."
"I love you, too...And I mean that, with every piece of me. More than you will ever know." He stroked my hand as we continued to look at eachother.
A smile formed on both and Barry and I's faces as the twins laughed and giggled in their chairs. They reminded us of their presence, and that there was food on the table. As if reminding us to eat, Sampson pointed his spoon at the table and I looked down at the food in front of me.
"Let's eat," Barry said with a grin. I nodded, and we began eating. Our conversation varied from everything that happened while he was gone, to things that happened even before he left. His breakfast was of course, delicious, and I ate everything he made.
"Thank you for my breakfast," I said, planting a kiss on Barry's lips and taking the twins upstairs to get ready.
After changing the twins and getting them ready for the day, I prepared myself. I freshened up in the bathroom and applied light makeup as the twins played in their playpen. I then began to change and stood in front of the mirror, looking at my "first day back to work" outfit. I stood in thought, doubting if it was a good option, considering it was my first official day back in the office.
"You look great," Barry said, standing behind me in the mirror and placing his hands on my shoulders. "Don't doubt yourself...You always look good." He turned me around and planting a kiss on my nose.
"You always know just what to say, Bartholomew," I said, walking over to the bathroom and finishing up. As I walked out of the bathroom, Barry sat on the edge of the bed, fully dressed and groomed.
"You clean up well, Allen," I said, walking over to him and standing in between his legs. My eyes were closed as I brought my lips closer to him. Our lips brushed his before my pocket began to vibrate. I opened my eyes quickly and took a step back before seeing Joe's icon pop up on the screen. I answered the call, and it was Joe, telling us we were needed. "Crime scene," I said, walking away from Barry, slinging my bag over my shoulder and putting my phone in my pocket.
"We'll have to bookmark the page there," Barry whispered before walking out of the door and grabbing the kids.
We met Iris outside to take the twins to S.T.A.R Labs, and were off to the crime scene.
Entering the scene, metal and shrapnel was everywhere. Glass was all over the floor, and Joe was conversing with another officer. When he noticed our entrance, he smiled and nodded off. He approached us, notepad in hand.
"Good to see you back together like old times, huh?" Joe asked. I nodded and smiled.
"Feels good to be back in action," I said, looking over at the scene. "Besides the obvious metal and shards, what do you have for us?" We redirected our attention to the other direction when we heard our names being called.
"Allens," said Captain as he saw us from across the room. I straightened my coat and smiled as he approached. "Long time no see." A small grin was on his lips, but nothing more. "Six months and five minutes since I last saw you, but you had it pretty busy. I hope all has been well with the twins, and I can't wait to hear about your sabbatical, Mr Allen." Captain nodded to Barry and Barry didn't get the hint.
"What Sabb-" Barry began to say before I hit his arm lightly. He quieted down and I continued to speak:
"He had a great time," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"And I received all your in-home assignments you completed as well. Welcome back. I'm just glad to have my two favorite CSI's back," Captain said with a chuckle.
"But we're the only CSI's," I replied, thinking about his comment.
"I know," Captain replied before waking off. I chucked, sharing a glance with Barry, who was focused on something else.
"He hasn't changed in the last six months," I replied, smiling along with Joe as Barry hung onto the sabbatical idea.
"Sabbatical?" Barry asked, looking at me when Captain was a far enough distance away.
"It was our excuse to Captain for the reason why you were gone. If he asks, just make something up."
"Well now that you're back, we can maybe get a move on with this case," said Joe, redirecting us. "We didn't find anything, but we were hoping you could. The only resident witness was an elderly woman," Joe lead us closer to the scene and continued explaining what occurred. "She's still a little shook, so we'll have to wait before we can talk to her." We were lead to a severely damaged elevator. I opened my CSI bag and put on gloves. I then began to examine the scene.
"I hope you ate light this morning, because this isn't exactly a sight to see," said Joe, peering through the open elevator door. Barry split off from us and I picked up a piece of metal.
"Well then I hope this food stays down. Barry made breakfast this morning." I continued to examine the shrapnel, but Barry's voice pulled me away.
"Take a look at this," Barry said pointing to a limb, feet away from a charred and bloody body.
"He's everywhere." I looked around the scene and could see the victim's body parts about the room.
"As far as we can tell, the elevator dropped him a hundred stories," Joe replied, standing over the body.
"Excuse me," said a familiar voice. "Coming through, boys...CCPD Tech Consultant...Make way..." the voice continued before making it's way through the crowd of officers and entering the scene. "This badge makes me official," Cisco finished before pushing his way through the crowd and meeting us.
"Victim's name is Kurt Weaver...
Billionaire...Made of money..." Cisco went on and I stopped him.
"Glad to see Nancy Drew joined us today," I said with a chuckle. Cisco swept his hair off his shoulder and examined the scene around him.
"I'll have you know, this is official tech consultant business." Cisco pointed to his badge and pulled out a gadget from his pocket.
"You keep saying that with your plastic badge, while I carry around a real one," I joked again, earning a laugh from the crowd. Cisco's placed his hand on his chest, jokingly, as if he had been hurt by my comment.
"What are we working with?" Cisco asked, continuing to walk around the scene. He took pictures with a special camera.
"The impacts on the ceiling and repeated lateral stress fissures on the frame of the elevator lead us to believe that this elevator was shaken to death, rather than just dropping hundreds of stories. What do you think?" I asked, looking at him. I looked back at my crime scene notes once more before consulting Cisco.
"I think it's a possibility," Cisco said, examining the elevator and it's contents. "Especially because of this," Cisco said, pointing to the monitor next to the elevator. "An encrypted code".
"Which means it wasn't just a glitch in the system."
"It was a hacker."
"Now that we've got that lead to follow, i'm going to go check up on the witness and see if I can get anything out of her. Let me know if you find anything."
"And we'll bring this to S.T.A.R Labs and see if we can crack this code," Cisco said before we split off.
When we returned from the crime scene, Barry and I began to analyze the evidence and cross check it with the databases. Cisco began cracking the code, and the rest of the team was focusing on their individual tasks.
"The Cortex's quantum algorithm should decrypt this code in no time, which should help us ID whoever did this".
"And Barry and I are cross checking the findings from the elevator and looking for any cameras."
"Before you bury your noses too deep in your work, Santa Cisco has a little surprise for you guys." Cisco stood up from his desk and walked over to the suit closet. We anxiously awaited as he pressed the remote button and the closet opened to reveal two newly designed suits.
"BAM!" he exclaimed, pointing to the new suits. Barry was shocked, but I wasn't surprised at all. I had already seen and worn the suit once before.
"Cool intro, and an even more exciting reveal. I've already seen those, though. I've actually worn it already."
"You may have seen and worn a form of it, but not the Cisco-fied 2017 version. Consider it an early christmas gift," Cisco looked at his work proudly. "Underneath all this the new fabric and gold detail is a wide variety of technological improvements...Self-repairing armor, nano-liquid circuitry, full-spectrum scanning, and your very own custom-made HUD. This thing is loaded with maps, schematics, delivery menus... I have that pasta place Chloe loves programmed into it."
"It reminds me of Jarvis..." I said, thinking to our Marvel superhero counterparts.
"Oh, it's no Tony Stark creation, but i'd love to see him top that."
"I'm sure he'd love a challenge, but thank you Cisco, I appreciate it a lot." I examined the suit once more, taking in the extra gold plating and designs.
"And lucky for you guys, I included an instruction manual." Cisco placed a giant book on the table, and my eyes widened.
"I can't wait to read this," I exclaimed, speed reading the manual. I then turned my attention to Barry's, who's phone vibrated in his pocket.
"Thanks, Cisco," Barry said before he pulled his phone out of his pocket and read a notification. "I gotta go back to CCPD, i'll read that later, thank you," Barry gave Cisco a pat on the back and gave me a kiss before speeding out of the cortex. I turned to the rest of the team who had no idea of his sudden disappearance. I decided to move on from that and think about the other issues we had going on.
"I'm gonna head over with him, maybe they need a second opinion," said Cisco, grabbing his coat and jogging after Barry. I then sighed and walked back over to my seat, slumping down in my chair. Caitlin emerged from the side room with the twins, placing them in their play area and walking over to me.
"Must be nice having Barry back, huh?" she asked, pulling up a chair next to me. I looked back at her and smiled. I sat up in my chair and replied:
"I missed him so much...And I never thought i'd see him again...But it's just going to take time for him to adjust to everything. He fit right into the twins' lives perfectly, and he's cheerier than i've ever seen him." I thought of last night's events, and a smiled appeared on my face. I was truly, glad to have him back. But in the back of my mind, there was another feeling I couldn't quite grasp onto.
"Reminds me of Ronnie when we started becoming closer. It was a little awkward at work, considering the circumstances we were under. But communicating was really the main thing that we worked on in our relationship," Caitlin looked down at the floor at the mention of Ronnie's name. I smiled at the thought of the good friend he used to be. I redirected the conversation back before she got too lost in the thought of Ronnie.
"But he's just so different than when I last saw him. All of the things he's experienced...Those aren't just experiences you can just let roll off your back. He is behaving as if none of those traumatic events happened. Communication is good between us, but i'm just worried that he will become too careless and get hurt."
"Communicate with him, and let him know that. Ronnie and I went to couples therapy, and it helped a lot. Especially because he's just getting used to being back, maybe it'll help." I pondered the possibility of us going through with that. It just seemed like something unnecessary. Barry and I don't have an ordinary relationship, and I think that the strain is caused by the things we deal with on a daily basis.
"I appreciate your advice, Cait. Barry and I have known eachother for a long time, and I don't know if it's really necessary." I continued to ponder the thought. I began to wonder if it would be a good thing or a bad thing. Our relationship has been through a lot, and I was unsure if it would target what our relationship really needed.
"Maybe not...I mean, you are Charry..."
"Yeah, we are." My mind began to think it wasn't necessary, but were interrupted by the sound of the alarm ringing through the cortex. The babies began to cry in their beds, and I answered to their call for help. I took them from their playpen and rocked them slowly as Caitlin checked the camera for intruders. I met her in the cortex with the twins, and saw there was unusual breach activity in the speedlab. Ready for anything, I took the twins down to the speedlab with Caitlin.
"Ready?" Caitlin asked, taking the twins and putting them in the kid area of the speedlab (Thanks to Cisco). I nodded and turned back to the breach, which continued to swirl and whiz.
"For anything," I said, ready to defend. As a figure jumped out of the portal, I was ready to take them down. Cisco then ran in front of the portal quickly as Gypsy stood behind him.
"STAND DOWN," Cisco yelled as he put his arm out in front of her. "It would help, babe, if you gave us a little heads up before you mosied on over here. You know, people who wanna kill us come through here, right?" Cisco asked as he faced her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She rolled her eyes at him before she looked at us with a smile.
"My bad". Gypsy shrugged and I took a step forward:
"Not that we don't like your company, but it really would help," I said with a smile and a small laugh. "And that was very heroic of you to protect her, Cisco. Quite impressive." Cisco stood, chest puffed out, as he stood proudly in front of us. "I was actually protecting you from her. She would have vaporized you guys in a matter of seconds." Gypsy nodded her head and spoke:
"He's not lying." Cisco placed his hand on the small of Gypsy's back and lead her to the center of the room.
"Well now that we know there's no security breach, I am going to go finish working on that meta. Have fun you two," I said with a wave as I walked upstairs. Barry joined me a few minutes later after visiting with the twins.
"The twins look bright and bubbly this afternoon," Barry said, walking into the cortex and kissing my back as I continued working.
"They woke up on the right side of the bed this morning. It must have been your singing," I joked. "Or maybe the sight of seeing their dad dancing like a clown in front of them." Barry smiled and laughed, recalling this morning's events.
"How was CCPD?" I asked, bringing the conversation back to more recent events. "Urgent?". I was concerned as to why Joe didn't ask me to go, and I was worried about what Joe needed.
"Joe needed me for something regarding the case. I didn't want to bother you with the twins and everything." Barry pulled up a chair beside my desk and began working with the code. A few minutes into our conjoined work, Cisco returned to the cortex, alone.
"Where's Gypsy?" I asked, looking up from my work. "I thought you had a date."
"We do, but I told her I have to finish this first. She understands." Knowing girls and their logic when it comes to these situations, I thought i'd spare Cisco the advice. Gypsy clearly wasn't going to be fine with him blowing her off, but he would find that out soon enough.
"Well since you have this covered, is it okay if we take the twins home?" I asked, grabbing my coat off the back of my chair. "I think they've had a lot of superhero time." Cisco nodded, and I walked into the other room where Caitlin was sitting with the twins. I admired them, watching their curiosity filled minds at work.
"They're growing up so fast," Caitlin said, looking down at them as they played. "Soon they'll be walking and talking all over the place." My eyes watered at the thought of them growing up, and realizing that those times will soon come.
"That won't be the only thing they'll be doing. I'm just worried about the speeding all around the house. You've seen the 'Incredibles'." Caitlin chuckled at my reference and placed a hand on my shoulder. She then knelt down and helped the kids with the tower they were making.
"You'll figure it out like you always do," Caitlin said with a smile. I smiled back and joined her with the twins, kneeling down and stroking Samson's hair.
"I guess you're right." Destiny giggled as she played with the block in her hand. "Barry and I are going to head out. Is there anything else you need before we go?" I asked, beginning to clean up the twins' mess and loading their things in the stroller.
"They should be all set, and I am going to finish up my work with that substance you found at the crime scene," Caitlin said before patting Destiny's belly. She helped me put the two in their stroller, and I wheeled them out into the cortex, where I met with the rest of the team.
"So we'll see you tomorrow?" I asked. Caitlin looked down at the twins and gave them a wave goodbye before looking back up at me.
"Ofcourse," she replied, giving me a hug. I wheeled the twins over to Barry, where he put on his coat and knelt down to look at the twins.
"All set?" Barry asked. I nodded, and Barry took the stroller from my hands. I said goodbye to the rest of the team before we walked out to the car. "What should we listen to?" Barry asked as turned on the radio.
"We could listen to Harry Styles' album. 'Sign of the Times' is my jam...Or we could listen to 'Only Angel'...OH! NO! We could listen to 'Kiwi'." My fangirlish brain raced back and forth as I struggled to find the song I wanted to listen to in that moment. This was always a hard task for me because there are so many great songs out there in the world. Not to mention I was too busy thinking about Harry Styles.
"I could use a little piano-rock," Barry said before pulling the album up on my phone and plugging in the aux cord. The piano ballad flooded the car with a beautiful sound and I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the song.
"Just stop your crying, it's a sign of the times..." I sang along with Harry. I used the dashboard as my piano and I played along with Harry. "Welcome to the final sh-" I continued to sing before the song stopped suddenly. I took my phone and clicked the lock button to see that the song was playing on my phone, but not playing through the car speakers. Concerned, I unplugged the cord and retried the aux with my phone. When that wasn't working, I looked over at Barry, and I began to think of what could be the reason for this. When the song changed rapidly, all genres filling the car, I grew with concern. The twins began to react, crying at the overwhelming sounds that were filling their ears. Barry dialed Joe's number, and I noticed a car swerving in the lane next to us as I tried calling the two down.
"Joe, there's a car going at least 120. You gotta get down here before someone gets killed. Chloe and I are following him." I then took off my seatbelt and prepared to exit the vehicle.
"What are you doing?" Barry asked as his eyes went from the road and back to me. I grabbed my bag out of the backseat and in a matter of seconds I was suited up.
"Someone's gotta go check it out, and it's about time I get some action. They're getting too close to the twins, and i'm not going to put the twins at risk. Just make sure they stay safe, okay?" I asked, looking back at my babies. I could tell Barry wasn't too fond of this idea, but I knew that action had to be taken. I opened my door quickly and sped to the side of the swerving car. I could see a man inside, screaming as loud music played. I then tried to get inside the vehicle, but the doors were locked. "Bar, he's trapped. The doors won't open. I'll have to change his trajectory," I said in the comlink. From the beeping in my ears, I could hear Cisco and Joe coming online and joining the discussion.
"Take him to the left. If you clear a path, he'll be safe there," Cisco said into the earpiece.
"But if I take him to the right, it'll be an empty street. Maybe that will help," I said before I sped around the car as it came to an intersection and lead him to the right side.
"Not a good idea," said Joe into the earpiece as his car came into view on the other side of the road. "They just started construction three months ago." I looked farther down the road where construction workers and machines came into view.
The sound of jackhammers became closer as we approached the scene. I quickly sped around the car, dismantling it with one of the construction tools up ahead. When I was finished, the man slid across the road screaming as he clutched onto the wheel and the seat, which was all that remained of the vehicle. I threw the tool I used down and looked over at the man, who struggled to stand. I waited for the police to arrive so the man could be taken care of before speeding back to S.T.A.R Labs.
"Good call," Cisco said, giving me a high five as I walked inside. "Too bad the car had to be destroyed...It was so nice...But we can get a lot of good evidence that came from it," Cisco said, fiddling with some parts Barry brought over. Wally then walked into the cortex:
"Joe talked to the driver, Tim Kwon, who is fine. He's going into further questioning to see if they could find out who did this." Wally joined the discussion and pulled up a chair at the table.
"The good thing was that we know these are connected," Cisco said, looking up from the car. "The elevator scene has the same code as the car."
"Which means this hacker has a hit list. I've already been at this all day."
"It looks like a virus," said Caitlin, squinting at the monitor and taking notice of something on the screen. "It is a hacker, so that makes sense if it is a software virus...But what if it was something else?" She asked, looking at the screen a little longer. She stood in thought for a second before pushing Cisco out of his chair. "Scooch," Caitlin said, pulling Cisco's chair back and beginning to type at his keyboard.
"I feel violated," said Cisco, crossing his arms and slouching in his chair.
Caitlin continued working on her code as we watched her workout her theory.
"It looks like an organic virus." Caitlin zoomed in on the image and pointed out the details to us. "It has a digital sub-base." I pondered the possibility of Caitlin's idea being true, and it eventually made sense.
"So he's not hacking these systems, but is controlling them." I stood up from my chair as Caitlin pulled the data up on the overhead.
"This is a meta."
"Since we know this is targeted, is there any correlation between the two victims?" Wally asked as I helped Caitlin pull up the statistics on her computer.
"Their names...Weaver, Kwon...They sound very familiar to me..." Barry said, looking at the information and their images on the screen. "I started collecting these tech magazines in high school..." I looked at Barry and laughed.
"And I never knew this because?" I asked.
"I didn't need anyone else thinking I was an ubernerd. I wasn't exactly the best at avoiding bullies.
"So you think these victims have some sort of technological correlation? I'm gonna try to dig up some info," said Cisco, reclaiming his spot at the desk and typing away. He pulled Caitlin away from her spot, and I thought it was a good time to talk to Barry about something I was wondering since my previous conversation with Caitlin.
"Since we have a moment, Bar, can I talk to you?" I asked, placing a hand on his arm and directing his attention towards me. He put down his work and turned to me, reciprocating my action.
"Ofcourse," he replied before we walked into the hallway. I turned toward him and looked up as he smiled down happily. "Is something wrong?" he asked, suspiciously. His eyebrows furrowed and his face grew with concern. I shook my head and took his hands in mine.
"I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You've only been back here for a short while, but are adjusting all too well...You Acted as if you never left for those 6 months, and are fitting back in with everything. I thought that being in the speed force and being away from everything for that long took a toll on you, but it doesn't seem to have affected you negatively at all." Barry shook his head and I began to worry, expressing my concern for him. I was truly worried that something was wrong, and I was vulnerable.
"I'm fine," Barry said, leaning down and pecking me on the lips. "I feel great." He continued to smile as I brought a hand to his chest.
"So you'd be fine seeing a therapist?" I asked, curiously. Barry stepped back quickly and jumped to a conclusion. I could tell that he we was worried about our relationship being in trouble. "Before you freak out, we are okay," I said, taking a step forward and grabbing Barry's hand. I stroked his hand with my thumb as I continued to speak: "Caitlin told me that her and Ronnie tried it, and it worked very well for their relationship. Now that you're back and we're getting back into the groove of working together, I think it would be a good idea."
"Our relationship isn't in jeopardy now, is it?" Barry asked, worriedly. His hands then travelled to the back of his neck and I was quick to remove them. I took his hands in mine and gave them a reassuring squeeze.
"Our relationship isn't going anywhere. I just thought it would help us with our communication as we get back into the swing of things. We could always use professional advice, right?" I asked. Barry nodded.
"That is true. And I do think it wouldn't hurt. I want Charry to stay as strong as it can. If this is what it takes to make you happy, i'm all for it," Barry said, smiling. He hugged me and I held him tight.
"Thank you for understanding. I called this morning and they said they have an opening today."
"Great. What time?" Barry asked. I took my phone out of my pocket and checked the time.
"30 minutes. I'll go get the twins". I pulled away from his grasp and clapped my hands together. I then got the twins together and we headed to the office.
When we entered the building, the receptionist told us to wait in the waiting room, and we did. When it was time for us to head inside, we opened the door quietly and sat until the Dr entered.
"Hi," the therapist said as she opened the door with her clipboard. She placed some files on her desk and took a seat in a chair across from us. "You must be Chloe and Barry." She smiled as she opened shifted in her seat and opened a folder. She looked through some papers and began writing. "I remember speaking to Chloe on the phone. I'm glad to see all of you could make it," the Dr settled looked over at the twins and smiled. "Who are these two cuties?" she asked, noticing the twins in the carriage beside me.
"Those are our twins, Sampson and Destiny." I looked back at them as they moved around in the carriage.
"They're so cute! Welcome, all of you. I'm Doctor Sharon Finkel. Sorry for the wait.
"Thank you for having us."
"It sounded so urgent on the phone." I laughed nervously as Barry looked at me. I shook my head and replied:
"It wasn't nerves, just excitement."
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. The Dr could sense the tension:
"So have you been here before?" I looked over at Barry.
"I have," Barry replied. "My mom died when I was a kid." The therapist began to write down Barry's words. "But I'm okay with that." Barry recognized the tone of that statement and immediately retracted it. "I mean, I'm not okay with it, obviously. I'd prefer that she was alive." I placed my arm on his and spoke:
"What he means is that he's dealt with and accepted it in a healthy way".
I patted Barry's leg and continued: "I don't think it's worth writing down...All that gibberish..." Dr Finkel stopped writing and placed a hand on her chest.
"These notes are just for me. You're not being judged or anything." The Dr shook her head and continued to write:
"We know. We've just had a lot of traumatic events over the years..." Barry trailed off. He was about to go on, but Dr Finkel stopped him.
"How about we take it from the top?" she asked. I began speaking:
"The first night we met was the night when our parents died...My mom, his mom, and my dad." The Dr furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at us, shocked.
"They occurred on the same night?" she asked with of surprise in her voice. She wrote furiously on her notepad and began checking off some boxes.
"Yes, but moving on, Barry and I both moved in with our neighbor, Joe, who acted as our adopted father. We grew up together, but never really addressed our feelings toward each other. Barry chased after the wrong girl, who technically turned out to be our 'sister', but things didn't work out because she was engaged to another man, and he died as well." At this point, the Dr had a mix of expressions on her face as her own dragged quickly along the paper. "But we're not weird, totally normal," I began to laugh. "But the trauma didn't stop there. We lost a friend, Ronnie, as well as our friend Laurel...We lost Oliver at one point...Our other friend, Snart...We even lost our firstborn..."
"Let's just say we've had a few funerals." Barry said, closing the statement. The Dr didn't know how to respond, and we could see she had trouble finding her words.
"That explains so much", she mumbled, finally finishing up her notes. She looked back up at us with a smile that I knew was fake.
"I can see that your relationship came with a lot of baggage," she said, putting emphasis on 'a lot.' "But aside from all that, why do you think you are here today, Barry?" Barry looked back at me and tried formulating an answer. His nervousness was evident and I could tell he wanted my help. I just wanted him to be honest.
"I-I just came back recently from a business trip after being gone for 6 months. I missed a lot of events...Now that i'm back, I'm getting back into the swing of things."
"We just wanted some guidance as he makes this transition."
"Right. What do you think, Barry? There's no right or wrong here." The doctor looked at Barry as if she didn't want me answering anymore questions.
"I think we could work more on communication. Someone could get really hurt if we don't," I said, the doctor becoming agitated. "And he's been gone for so long and is adjusting a lot smoother into my life than I thought he would. Is that normal?...When he left, I had the twins shortly after. I had to raise them without him for 6 months. Barry's adjusting to being a father quite well, and I was just concerned. Since he's been back, he's acting as if he never left." The Dr shot me a glare and my head bowed to my lap.
"She clearly cares for your well being, Barry. What do you think Chloe's goal was for being here today?" the therapist asked as she looked up from her notepad.
"I think she wanted to--" Barry said before being interrupted by the ringing of our phones. My face was flushed with embarrassment and I held up my finger.
"Excuse us", I said, taking a second to look at the text message I received. We were needed, and of course, but it was an inconvenient time. I texted back quickly and turned back to the Dr.
"Bad time?" she asked. "I have an opening this afternoon if you want to come back." I shook my head and looked at Barry, who I could tell was really anxious to leave.
"It's just a problem at work...One of our other colleagues can handle a little mischief, right?" I asked Barry. He nodded, and we both looked back at Dr Finkel. "Machine malfunction..." I replied with a small chuckle. I then redirected my attention to the twins, who could feel the tension in the room as well.
"You clearly have a specific opinion of the issue, but now I want to hear how you feel," Dr Finkel motioned to Barry, and I stopped talking. "What do you think about this?."
"I-" Barry shifted in his seat and opened his mouth. He struggled to find his words, and he stopped himself.
"What were you going to say?" the Dr asked. "Tell her..." She motioned to me. "Don't hold back, Barry. This is a safe place." Barry hesitated and looked back at me. He took my hand and continued.
"Well, I just wanted to say that I feel that she's overreacting. I'm back now from my trip, and I feel that she should just be happy i'm here." At Barry's words, I felt as if all the repressed emotions I kept buried over the last six months were resurfacing. I wanted to scream, but couldn't make out the sound.
"You think i'm overreacting?" I asked Barry, raising my voice. I ripped my hand from his grasp and stood up from my seat. The therapist did say it was a safe place, and that we shouldn't hold back, so I didn't. I was full of emotion, and went off on him. "You're the one that left your pregnant wife on a rooftop to care for twins alone! How am I not supposed to have some type of agitation towards that!" I asked. Barry's eyebrows furrowed in guilt and his head lowered. The Dr wanted to stop me, but I ignored her attempts. I continued to rant, disregarding anyone else's opinions. I understand that it was important to the safety of you and everyone else, but I was by myself! I was crying, begging for you not to leave, but you did. And now you come back and act as if you didn't make that choice..." Dr Finkel continued writing, and I knew I'd take it too far if I stayed. "Thank you, Dr, we'll keep in touch." I smiled at her and waved. I then grabbed the stroller and walked out of the room with the twins. "We'll discuss this later, Bar," I said, almost closing the door fully. "I'm taking the twins to Joe's." I closed the door fully and left Barry. I dropped the twins off at Joe's, where Iris happily took them. I then sped to S.T.A.R Labs, trying to distract my emotions with my work.
"Chloe, are you--" Caitlin asked, noticing my slightly puffy and red eyes. I stopped her before it made it worse.
"I'm fine, Cait. Rough afternoon...And i'm sorry we couldn't answer your message. Barry and I had something to take care of." I rustled papers and felt my emotions rising. Caitlin didn't push it, though.
"It's alright, I gathered the evidence and Caitlin helped me with some of the analysis," said Cisco, walking in and logging into his computer. "What we've learned is that this is the same guy, as well as the same code...the same person tried to kill Tim Kwon and Kurt Weaver."
"We know what happened to Kurt, but where is Kwon?" I asked. Joe walked into the cortex and placed a stack of papers down on the table.
"He fled the scene pretty quick after the accident, scared out of his mind. He didn't wait for a police escort, but police are in the process of tracking his location," said Joe as Cisco pulled up the CCPD database information he found on the victims.
"But the good news is, I found a connection between our victims. Four years ago, Kurt Weaver and Tim Kwon created an app in their garage with two other programmers," Cisco said, displaying the info on the overhead for the team to see. "They called it 'Kilgore', and sold it to a big tech company." I sifted through all the paper copies of articles Joe provided about those involved, and stopped when I saw a similarity.
"That explains how all their money was made." I closely examined the photo from the news article Cisco had displayed on the screen, and had a sudden realization: "That guy, Ramsey Deacon," I said, pointing to his photo in one of the articles. "He was somewhat linked to both attacks...He was there."
"So it looks like we found our guy. For some reason, he's going after his old partners."
"And if that's the case, there's still one left..." Cisco typed at his computer and pulled up a picture of a woman. "Sheila Agnani, a big tech guru now."
"So she's next on Deacon's hit list... She needs protection," said Joe, looking at Wally.
"I think we got that covered," Wally said, motioning between himself and Joe. Joe nodded, and they headed off to find Sheila.
"And i'll keep working on the codes with Cisco," said Barry, tinkering with an algorithm on the table. I then walked into the other room and worked with Caitlin, trying to break the biodigital encryption.
"If this is indeed a biodigital virus, that would explain why the code slightly changes from attack to attack. Most organic viruses mutate to avoid being killed." I created a simulator of the virus and began testing possible theories as to how this virus works.
"So, if we managed to create digital antibodies, then we can shut this guy down," Caitlin said, a smile appearing on both of our faces. She held her hand out for a high five, and I high fived her. We then walked into the cortex to share our discovery. Little did we know, a whole other issue was being addressed.
In the center of the room,bGypsy and Cisco were arguing:
"I'm sorry about canceling, but we are on the cusp of figuring this out, and I feel really sorry for cancelling," Cisco pouted to Gypsy. Her expression remained straight as she spoke:
"I get it, you're busy, and this isn't as important. Just continue working. Good luck, and I hope it works out," Gypsy said before jumping through a portal and disappearing. I shook my head as Cisco brushed it off.
"What a cool chick," Cisco said with a big grin. I rolled my eyes as he failed to identify her true feelings. "She took that so well." Cisco smiled and played with his curls before continuing to work.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," I commented, standing in the doorway. I chuckled. "When a girl says she gets it, what she really means is she doesn't get it at all." I looked at Barry, who turned his gaze away to something else. I then looked back at Cisco, who had furrowed eyebrows and a puzzled expression on his face.
"I'm confused."
"Very simple, actually...You're in trouble. Think of it as the 'pan-dimensional doghouse'." Cisco began to think and Barry stayed quiet.
"Does this doghouse have a window? Because if it does, I feel like jumping out of it." Cisco slouched in his seat and realized what he had done.
"You think she's cool with it, but she is very good at hiding her emotions. Not so simple when you fall for the girl in black leather, head to toe." I looked over at Barry, who could tell I was hinting towards him. He only pretended to focus on working even harder.
"Well I hope she doesn't think i'm blowing her off. I'm just trying to do my job. That's the most important thing here." Cisco sighed and Wally came running into the cortex.
"We got a problem," said Wally. "It's Deacon, he's got Sheila."
"Where is she?" I asked, suiting up. I looked at Barry, him getting the hint that it would be better if he sat this one out. He nodded without saying a word and continued to work. I then pulled up the map and his location on the computer:
"Deacon's at her place," I shared with the group, feeling the need to rush when I saw she was in danger. "According to her security cameras, she's about to go into insulin shock. He's messing with her pump and she's going to overdose." I clicked off the computer and Cisco took over.
"We gotta get to her before she goes into shock," Cisco said before Wally and I sped to Sheila's home. When we arrived, there was no sign of Deacon, but faint cries could be heard from the living room. When I entered, Sheila was on the floor, struggling to breathe and unable to move.
"It's-" she tried to say before stopping. I quickly went to her side and adjusted her insulin pump. After breathing steadily and regaining her strength, I stood her up and brought her over to a chair. "Deacon took him..." she said softly, looking at the floor where she just was. "He planned on coming here to kill me...All because of our software. We created it together and gave him no credit...Now he claims that he has something new that we can never take away from him." She continued to catch her breath as Wally sped in.
"No signs of him outside."
"So he must be on the move. We have to find him before he kills Tim, Cisco," I said into my earpiece. With a beep of the computer, Cisco paused and hesitated to respond:
"We just got something, incoming video," Barry said before Sheila turned on her Tv. On the local newschannel, Deacon appeared next to Tim. Tim confessed to Sheila and Kurt helping him steal Kilgore. I looked at Wally before we continued watching, looking for hints about the location. During the live stream, Tim admitted to the other three taking the money and giving none to Deacon. Tim was clearly distressed and scared for his life, and Sheila could hardly stand it. Sheila looked at the Tv in horror as she saw her colleague being tortured. Before she saw too much, I clicked off the tv and spoke into my comlink:
"That explains the vendetta he has against them. Could you get anything from the livestream. Possibly a location or a signal to track?" Cisco's fingers began to do it's magic when the sounds of rapid typing could be heard from the other end.
"Papa loves having his own satellite," Cisco replied as he continued to work. When the typing stopped, that's when I knew Cisco got something. "I've got the location," said Cisco into the comlink before we turned to Sheila.
"Police are on the way to guard you," I told Sheila before we sped back to S.T.A.R Labs. Cisco shared the location that he discovered, and stopped me on the way out.
"Take this," he said, holding up my hand and wrapping it around a vile. "Deacon's powers are derived from the binary code in his DNA, so this compound should invert his original code order...You can thank one-one-one day for this," Cisco said with a smile. I looked at him in confusion and shook my head:
"I'm not even gonna ask," I replied before Wally and I speed to the location of the livestream Cisco sent us. We walked into the warehouse quickly, aware of any and all traps that could be set.
"We stole Kilgore from Ramsey Deacon...He is the real victim," we could hear Tim cry in the distance. Deacon's voice got louder as we got closer to his location, and we listened in on their conversation.
"Good...But you forgot one thing... You didn't say goodbye to anyone who's gonna miss you," Deacon said, ignoring Tim's attempts to apologize. Tim began to scream as more torturing began, and I turned to Wally.
"You get Tim out, and i'll handle Deacon, okay?" I asked. "And continue to watchout for the others," I whispered. With a nod, Wally was off, and I came out to face Deacon. Tim was kneeling in front of a camera, and Deacon was behind it. He turned his head to the side when he could feel my presence.
"Flashette, what a lovely surprise!" Deacon exclaimed as I took a step foreward, showing I wasn't afraid.
"It's over, Deacon. Your technological reign has come to an end," I said, clenching my fists and cracking my neck. Deacon shook his head an laughed.
"Oh, sweetheart, my reign has just begun," Deacon said as he held his nose in the air. He sniffed in, smiling deviously. "Well it seems I'm getting a strong scent of...Technology." Deacon walked circles around me before I realized all the tech in my suit.
"Shit," I mumbled, thinking about the tech Cisco loaded my suit up with. "Any way this suit can be converted to the original design, Cisco?" I asked through the earpiece.
"Sorry," he replied. When Deacon got closer to the suit, my feet became frozen in place and I couldn't move. Like a statue, I was trapped.
"What have you got in there?" Deacon asked as I struggled to lift my feet off the ground. He came closer, and approached me slowly. He began to trace the technology lined curves in the suit, and I could hear Barry struggling to contain himself on the other side. It killed me to know that no one else could come, or else they'd be trapped too. As Deacon continued examining the suit, I could feel and hear certain parts of the suit activating.
"Weapon system online...Targeting," the suit spoke in Cisco's voice as missiles and little firearms appeared.
"You might want to run," Deacon replied with a sarcastic chuckle. "And you can call me Kilgore."
"Chlo, what's going on?" Barry asked into the earpiece. He was my last resort. I knew he'd come up with something.
"It's Deacon, he's done something with my suit." I continued to try and break free, but nothing worked. More features continued to activate.
"Remote access complete," the suit spoke again. Not knowing what any of the features were, I didn't know what I was getting myself into.
"I want to talk about how weird it is having my suit sound like Cisco, but i'm not really in the joking type of mood. So please, Cisco, how can you help me. You designed it and loaded it with tech, so they're must be a way."
"Actually there's not," Cisco said, paper flipping heard in the distance. "I am the one who designed the suit, but I can't get in to disarm anything. Deacon locked me out of my own programming."
"I can sense a defibrillator in there...How about I stop your heart?" Deacon asked before placing a finger on my chest, ready to activate the suit.
"NO!" Barry yelled in the earpiece. "If you hurt her, I swear I'll-" Barry's voice cut out and stopped suddenly.
"Wouldn't want your protective husband to hear what's going on, would we? Or your team of scientists listening in?...This is just between the two of us. And there's nothing they can do to save you," Deacon said before my ear was filled with crackling and faded out into nothing. I had lost the one thing that could save me.
"Tim, Go!" I could hear Wally yell in the distance. It was smart of Wally to stay away. Tim ran after Wally, and Deacon turned his head for a split second. I took advantage of that time and sped away while he was distracted. I sped to the nearest area I thought was safe. I also knew Deacon would be looking for me soon, and that I didn't have much time left. But with my suit still partially in his control, I still had no comlink. I quickly examined my surroundings, spotting a payphone in the corner of the area I was in. I ran over to it quickly, and placed a quarter inside which rested on the payphone's edge. I dialed S.T.A.R Labs' number quickly and hoped they would pick up. The phone rung in my ear a few times before the phone picked up:
"Hello, S.T-" Cisco began to say before I interrupted him.
"Cisco, it's me. What do I do? My com is down. He's gonna come for me any second." I looked around, watching my back as we continued to talk.
"The diagnostic report shows that modes have been activated, but I can't change them. Deacon's still got me locked out of the system. There's so much tech, such as the raft for when you run on water." Cisco's voice rang through the suit as it repeated that another protocol had been activated.
"What's the 'Babel protocol'?" I asked as an alarm was heard in the distance of the phone call.
"That would be the suit's new self destruct feature. After our run in with Beth SanSouci, I thought it would be a good idea."
"How am I going to get out of here, Cisco?" I asked, angrily. "It's not long before this suit explodes, and I die with it." Shuffling was heard through on the other end of the phone and my breathing became heavier. I began to think that these were the last few minutes and I began to panic.
"Chlo, can you hear me?" Barry asked, taking the phone from Cisco. I thought about our discussion in the therapist's office, and how we had a disagreement. A tear rolled down my cheek at the thought that this was how he'd remember our last moments together. But hearing his voice comforted me in this time of distress, and I didn't want to bring up the day's events. "You need to throw a lightning bolt...At yourself..."
"Are you crazy? I could die, Bar. That could stop my heart!" I exclaimed, being sure not to give any hints to Deacon of my whereabouts.
"Or you could regain control," Barry replied. His voice softened. "You have to try, alright?" Barry asked. I looked down at the floor and contemplated the circumstances.
"Yeah, I trust you," I replied before hanging up the phone slowly and beginning to speed in a circle with the space I had around me. I could feel the energy building up as I continued to run, and I stopped suddenly when I thought there was enough. I crossed my arms and a bolt emerged from them. Before it reached the empty space, I ran in front of it, the bolt colliding with my body. I was sent back, flying through the air and I collided with a nearby car. My vision was blurred for a second, and I layed among the broken glass of the windshield, not being able to move.
"Chlo? Chloe, are you alright?" Barry yelled into the earpiece as my comlink came back online. My head moved from side to side as I regained consciousness and I whispered:
"I've been better." With a sigh of relief from Barry and the rest of the team, I stood up slowly, regaining my strength by the second. I then dusted myself off and wiped the glass residue off my suit. I then sped to find Deacon. Lucky for me, he was in the same place, staring at a computer. I could see that he was attempting to hack the S.T.A.R Labs system so he could find Tim.
"Back for more?" Deacon asked, closing his laptop and turning around. Before he could regain control, I sped to him and placed the vile Cisco gave me into his neck. Deacon stumbled back, slowly turning purple, similar to the nano codes we saw on the screens earlier. But before he faded away completely, he returned back to normal and collapsed on the floor.
"Kilgore, more like Kilgone," I said with a laugh. I clapped my hands together and placed special cuffs on his wrists before speeding Deacon to Iron Heights, where Joe and the team met me.
"Chlo," Barry said, running to me as I entered the main unit. I was immediately engulfed in his embrace, and I wrapped my arms around him tightly. "I'm so glad you're alright. I was really worried."
"Us, too," Cisco said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I broke from Barry's grasp and hugged him.
"I'm safe, and I'm here, and that's all that matters," I replied as Joe emerged from the elevator. He placed his notebook and his phone in his pocket before he stood with the rest of us.
"I just spoke to Deacon. There's nothing electronic remotely close to here. Three layers of power dampeners should keep him at bay. But he did have an unusual response when I asked him about his powers." The team looked around at each other, trying to come up with inferences about what he meant.
"Well, there's always going to be metas in the world, but it's just gonna take time to find and catch them all. Isn't that what we do best?" Barry asked.
"And I'll get back to work on your suit," Cisco said with a wink. "I know how much you liked the original design." We all smiled and nodded before saying our goodbyes and going our separate ways.
Barry and I walked into the doors of our shared home, and the twins were already in bed when we arrived. Tension was still in the air from our previous conversation, despite the recent events.
"I'm sorry about what happened in Dr Finkel's office today, Chlo. I didn't mean for it to end up like this," Barry said, leading me to the dining room table. He took my hands in his. "I should've listened to your advice you gave Cisco today. When you were telling him about Gypsy, it reminded me of you and I. Today was Gypsy's 'One-One-One Day', and she wanted to celebrate it with Cisco. The meaning behind it was that one soul, plus one soul, equals one soul...That's why she got so mad when he continued working. She wanted to show how much she loves him, and wanted to spend her special day with her special someone. And that made me understand why you reacted the way you did when I made that comment about how you felt...I should have thought about you when I made the decision to leave, but I didn't. You seemed so happy I was back, and I thought that's how you felt." Barry's eyes became glassy as I looked up at him. My hand rested on his cheek and wiped the falling tear. Barry then took my hand and kissed it softly.
"How could I not be happy to have my husband back in my life?" I asked, my eyes beginning to water as well. I held onto Barry's hand tightly. "I have everything i've ever wanted...You and the twins, all of you are my whole world. But when we were on that rooftop, watching as you disappeared, you weren't just leaving me and your family, but you left your unborn children. We were finally free from Savitar and I just wanted our happy ending...It was just so hard, Barry," I said, shaking my head. I cried into Barry's shoulder as he pulled me into his side. "It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, Bar." I continued to cry as Barry stroked my hair.
"I wanted to stay. I did infact think about you and the children. I thought about everyone. But I knew what I was getting into before I started. I never wanted to leave, but I had to toughen up because the city needed me. You wanted to take my place, but there was no way in hell i'd put the you and the twins through that. Who knows what the speed force would have done to them. I had to put on a brave face for everyone, but it was killing me inside. That's why I didn't talk it through. I was afraid, Chlo, and I didn't want you to feel obligated to take my place." Barry and I were both very vulnerable, holding onto each other tightly. My hand found its way to Barry's hair and I stroked it as I replied.
"I'm here to help you, Bar. The Reverse Flash...Zoom...Savitar...They all tried to take us away from each other, but we prevailed through even the toughest of challenges. I know you were afraid of what could be, but you shouldn't have to hold that back. You can't carry the burden for yourself, okay? We're the Flashes...US together, and we are stronger than any force that comes our way." Barry looked down at me with so much passion and love, and I felt just the same. We had finally worked out our differences, and didn't need a therapist to do it for us. That's the kind of people we are...We are Charry.
"I love you so much." Barry then pulled me in for a tight hug. He rubbed my back as I traced lines up and down his spine. We held onto each other tightly, refusing to let go of eachother, even if it was for a kiss. A tear fell from my eye and landed on Barry's shoulder. It was moments like these that reminded me to appreciate the family and love I have in my home. Today's events, such as Deacon and Dr Finkel, remind me that our love is stronger than and can conquer anything.
"I love you, too."
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HERE IS UPDATE NUMBER TWO! Sorry for the long wait, but it took a LONG time to write and edit this update.
What did you think? I love hearing what you have to say, and am always open to talk!
"Flashette" has also been entered into the "DC Comics Watty Awards!" Voting is now closed, but the results should be in soon! Thank you to all who voted!
Thank you for your support! It is your support that allowed he series to grow and take part in these opportunities.
25 DAYS OF CHARRY CHRISTMAS HAS BEGUN! Be sure to check out the shorts that are uploaded every day, leading up to Christmas!
I hope you have a great holiday season, and I'll talk to you soon!
-Flashette1 ⚡️❤️⚡️❤️⚡️❤️
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Flashette(Book Four)
Fiksi Penggemar(Season 4 of The Flash) Continuing after Season/Book 3: The Flash team is left on a cliffhanger when Barry disappears into the speedforce with his mom, leaving the team to deal with challenges and problems that lie ahead without him. Barry l...
