"Bar, we cant do this now," I said as I stumbled back into the lab and Barry closed the door behind us slowly. He walked towards me with a low grumble in his voice. My knees went weak and I trembled we he approached me, anticipation heightening. I gasped when his hands met the small of my back and made their way up to my cheeks. Barry began kissing me passionately, starting with my jawline and making his way down slowly. I tried to make out words, but my mind was consumed with the desires spreading through my head like wildfire. "There's—a lot of people downstairs...and we're missing Bellows' mayoral campaign." I tried to push Barry away, but I only became more consumed in the way he had me wrapped around his finger. There was no way I could escape the hold Barry had on me, but I still continued to resist. "Joe and Captain are-". Barry kissed my lips and I reluctantly kissed back. Our mouths moved together in perfect synch before I gasped for air and pulled away from Barry. "They--aren't going to--be happy with us missing--this meeting," I said, continuing to catch my breath. I was so infatuated in the moment to realize that I was now pushed up against my desk, nowhere left to move or go. Then and there, I could have stopped. I could have gone against my intuition, but I couldn't ignore the undeniable chemistry between us. And in that moment, I continued. I knew it wasn't the right time, or the ideal place, but I knew that I couldn't ignore the need in this moment. But a knock on the door killed all the passion of the moment. I quickly looked at the door, relieved to remember it was locked.
"Barry?" A familiar voice asked.
"One minute," Barry yelled in response. We quickly sped around the room, cleaning up our mess and making sure it looked as if nothing occurred. I took position behind my desk, flipping through a file and filling out some of the paperwork. Barry then fixed his hair and unlocked the door, allowing Joe to step inside.
"I didn't realize you were working over there..." Joe said as he stepped inside the lab. I looked up from my work and nodded at Joe with a wave. "You guys left the meeting after the second half...Is everything alright?" Joe asked as I stepped away from my desk and met him and Barry in the center of the room. Barry then placed a hand on my back and my eyes went wide at his touch. Before Joe took notice I smiled and replied:
"We got an important lead on the meta bus situation," I quickly covered up. I then walked towards Barry's desk, where he followed me and flipped his cork board to the other side. Joe was surprised to see that Barry's board no longer had information regarding his mom's murder case, but had information of the new bus case.
"You took the photos down from your mother's case," Joe noted, looking at the board. Barry nodded and looked down at his feet. Joe's eyes remained wide as Barry continued:
"Things change, and life happens," said Barry looking at me with a smile. I smiled back and nodded. "Thought it would be better if I didn't dwell on the past." Barry smiled widely, and I took that moment to realize how far we had come. "Besides, that case is solved, and this one isn't." Barry pointed to the board that now was filled with pictures of the new bus case. "We got Kilgore and Hazard, but that leaves us with 10 meta humans remaining." Joe looked at the board, and I could tell he was piecing information together. I too began working on some solutions to our meta-bus problem.
"You don't understand how hard it is to track down these 10 truck passengers," I said, pointing to my call logs on Barry's board. "I called the Department of Transportation, and over 900 people rode that bus," I said, then flipping through records on Barry's desk. When I found something of interest, I pinned it to his board.
"What about the driver?" Joe asked. I then pinned a picture up of the drivers face that had been in the files.
"He's dead...Drowned in his own bathtub." Joe rolled his eyes and looked at us skeptically.
"Yeah, because that's not suspicious at all." With that we took a few minutes. Barry and Joe continued to look through the files, while I examined the loose ends of the case.
"It does seem like it's all connected," I said, glancing around the room before settling back on Joe and Barry. "The Samuroid did push me really hard to bring Barry back...Maybe they're connected." Barry nodded at my comment and Joe's face changed like he had an epiphany.
"And Barry came out from the same place in the speedforce that you thought he would. It doesn't make sense for that bus to be in the exact spot to be hit by dark matter," Joe said, looking at the map we pinned and it's relative location.
"We'll look into the driver's death...It may give us a lead on the other meta's," I said, closing the files and flipping Barry's board back to the CCPD side. I then handed the folder off to Joe, and walked over to my bag to place a copy of the files inside for myself.
"I'll have Cisco pull up the autopsy report from the coroners office," I said before Joe nodded and turned to walk away. He was quickly greeted by Cecile, who walked right into him.
"There you are! I've been looking for you!" Cecile said as she entered. She seemed different in the way that she spoke, as if she was happier...Though happiness is hard to determine when Cecile is around. Joe's face became blush when she entered the room, and I noticed he began to sweat. I looked at Barry, who furrowed his eyebrows. I could see Barry was puzzled. But I knew something was going on. The shaky hands, sweat, and flush facial expression led me to believe Joe was hiding something. That's something we learned in the first class of CCPD training.
"Chloe and Barry said they h-had some information for me," Joe stuttered. "I was just heading out," Joe said, tugging at the collar of his shirt. Joe was practically begging for a way out, so I gave it to him. I wanted to see what was going on, but thought it would be better if I didn't pressure him.
"Joe was just heading out," I said as I led the couple closer and closer to the door. Cecile grabbed onto Joe's arm, mumbling as I closed the door behind the two.
"Wasn't expecting her to drop by," Barry said, taking a seat in his chair and beginning some paperwork. I continued to stand by the door, putting my forensic mind to work. Joe was clearly nervous, and Cecile was clearly overexcited. There's only one thing that I've experienced when Barry and I have felt the exact same about a situation.
"Someone's smitten by the lovebug..." Barry commented. I shook my head. He raised his voice a little. "What?" He asked. "I think it's true. You make me nervous like that some times." I walked across the floor and remained silent as I approached my desk. The only sounds that could be hear were the sounds of my heels along the floor. When I approached my desk, I pulled out my chair and took a seat, completing sheets of paperwork.
"Don't you have anything to say?" Barry asked. "That was very odd behavior on both of their parts...Don't tell me it's normal."
"It's not normal," I quickly replied, signing my name at the bottom of the page and flipping it over to complete the next side. "There's certainly something going on, and I can tell you exactly what it is." I continued to work as Barry scoffed.
"You know exactly what's going on without even taking the time to think about it? Tell me what you think, Girl Genius." I could feel Barry's eyes on me, but I wasn't intimidated.
"Well I am a mother of two," I said, writing out statistics for the report. Barry paused, and later laughed.
"Good one...You think Cecile is pregnant?" Barry laughed. "That's crazy!". I looked up at him.
"Not really." Barry paused to think about it. "Wasn't long before you and I had little ones of our own...All it takes is one time," I said, glaring at him. He reclined in his seat.
"But it doesn't make any sense...He said he didn't want anymore kids." I shook my head and placed down my own.
"Was that before you, me, and Wally?". Barry pointed at me.
"Fair point...But I just don't get it...". Barry looked down at the floor and my comment brought his attention back to me.
"It's not like you can control it, sometimes, it just happens...I think you're just jealous you're not gonna be the baby West anymore." Barry shook his head and placed a hand in the air defensively.
"What are you talking about? I was never the baby." He pointed to himself and I smiled. I looked down at another file and proceeded to write.
"Tell that to preteen Barry Allen...You were always Joe's favorite...We all know," I said, placing the paper I was working on in a folder and placing that in the other pile. "Now c'mon, Baby Allen. We have to check on the twins," I said, grabbing my bag and closing up the lab when Barry exited.
When we entered the cortex, Caitlin was at her desk, and Cisco was standing beside a large man. I began to view him as a threat, until we saw that he was causing no harm.
"Hey," I said, walking around Cisco and the man in the center. I walked over to my desk and put my bag down.
"More? This facility is poorly guarded," the man pointed out as he continued to look around the cortex, shaking his head. I then smiled and waved to come off as friendly, but the stranger didn't respond. Instead, he looked the other direction and Cisco spoke.
"Down, Boy," Cisco said, attempting to place and hand on the man's shoulder, but quickly taking it back. "They're friends."
"And you are..."
"Gypsy's father," Cisco quickly responded.
"Breacher," the man said in a deep groan.
"We're all happy to have you here," I said, holding out a hand to shake. He pushed my hand away and I stumbled back into Barry's arms.
"Back away sugarpop, I can crush you like a bug." He crossed his arms and squinted his eyes. Barry took a small step forward and attempted to flatter the guy.
"I can see the resemblance," Barry said, making a courteous attempt to comment on how much he looked like his daughter. Breacher ignored him.
"Gypsy's dad is also her boss...What a great time to visit!" Cisco exclaimed, gritting his teeth. "And that's why I decided to show him around my workplace." We all took turns introducing ourselves. Cisco instructed us as his assistants to make himself look more flattering. I wasn't happy with that, but I had the feeling we were going to be pummeled if we said something wrong.
"And I'm Joe West," Joe said, taking the attention off of Barry and I. Joe reached out his hand for Breacher to shake, and he shook it. My jaw dropped. Barry placed a hand on my shoulder and I looked at him. He knew I was upset by the fact Breacher didn't accept my handshake, but accepted Joe's.
"Ah, a fellow law man. You, I can respect."
"We're law men, too," I said, motioning to Barry and I. Breacher ignored us again, and his attention was drawn to the back to the room, where Harry was working.
"And Harry Wells back there...You look like someone I once sent my daughter to kill." Unbothered by Breacher's comment, Harry glanced up from his trinkit and placed his screwdriver on the table.
"I get that a lot," he said before looking back at his work and continuing.
"I thought maybe someone would want to give me a tour of the area," Breacher said, looking around for volunteers. When no one responded, he stomped his foot on the cortex floor. The loud sound made Cisco squeal and jump with anticipation, as well as the rest of the team. Caitlin then went into the side room to make sure the twins were alright.
"Yes, it would be polite of me to have someone else give you the tour," Cisco said before looking around the room. His eyes quickly settled on Joe. "Joe, why don't you give Gypsy's father here the nickel tour of the facilities?" Cisco asked, nodding his head crazily and insisting. Joe agreed, and called Breacher over to the other side of the cortex, where Breacher and Joe disappeared from view. Cisco quickly ran in the other direction of the cortex.
"Cisco, you alright?" I asked, noticing his skidishness. He stopped suddenly, and bounced up and down a little.
"I've had to pee for-like, three hours...But I couldn't leave that face. Gypsy said he's killed people with it." Cisco pointed to his face and the door. Harry then spoke.
"Cisco, listen. You're a fine, upstanding, smart, well-groomed young man," Harry said, making Cisco stand in the cortex longer. He found it funny, but Cisco didn't. If Cisco stood there any longer, I thought he'd pee himself. "Any father would be happy to have you date his daughter..." Harry said as Cisco smiled. "Except me." Cisco frowned. "Can't date my daughter, all right? Can't date Jesse.
Jesse's off limits."
"Got it," Cisco said, giving a thumbs up before I stopped him again. He rolled his eyes, but continued to stay strong, bouncing up and down.
"Why don't you take him to Jitters and get to know him a bit? That won't hurt, right?" I asked. Cisco nodded frantically, but I continued to speak. "Just a friendly gesture to show him you care." Cisco then pointed in the direction of the bathroom and turned around before Barry stopped him.
"You'll be surprised by how much you both have in common...You have the same powers, you both love Gypsy, and you both have luscious hair." Cisco then nodded again and headed out to the bathroom.
"We just wanted to check in and see how the two were doing," I said as Caitlin emerged from the twins' room.
"Heavy sleepers...I'll have them home when they wake up," Caitlin whispered.
"Thank you. We're gonna pick up the coroner's report while Joe and Cisco are on daddy duty," I said, giving Caitlin a hug goodbye and going back to CCPD, where the report was waiting on our desks.
"Do you see anything?" I asked as Barry and I looked over the report.
"We thought foul play was involved, but it doesn't show any signs of it on the bus driver's body." I flipped through the photos and documents. "He was the only person that could give us useful information...It says here that his personal belongings recovered were credit cards, cash, and receipts..." I said as I continued to look at the files. I was continuing to look over the photos when Barry mumbled:
"Well i'll be damned...". I quickly turned to him and he looked up from the paper.
"What?"
"It says he had a business card in his wallet. In the photos, the card is stamped with the name 'Ralph Dibny'." My eyes widened at the realization of the name.
"You mean the Ralph as in the dirty cop that got kicked off the force?". Barry nodded.
"Thats him alright. Anyone could remember that name..." Barry said, turning the page. "And to make it any more interesting, there's an IOU dated on the back the same day I came out of the speedforce." Barry and I shared a glance before he placed the packet down on his desk.
"Let's go pay him a visit," I said with a grin.
When we got to Ralph's complex, we stood outside his door. The complex alone was pretty small, and I could tell he wasn't liked among the workers that shared the building with him. He had names and words written all over his door. I had my hand on the nob, and Barry stopped me.
"You should propably make sure you know what you're getting into," Barry said, placing a hand ontop of mine. "You didn't get to see the side of him I did...Joe said he changed for the worst." My hand escaped from under his and I shook my head.
"That's what Oliver said after he became the Arrow, but the only thing I see is a 6 pack and raging biceps...". Barry gasped, placing a hand over his heart.
"I'm just gonnna act like I didn't hear that," Barry joked before we heard a wince of pain. It wasn't a few seconds later until the door opened up quickly and I stepped back. A woman emerged from the room and stormed angrily down the hall.
"This is certainly the place," Barry said before I stepped inside. The room was dimly lit, but I could still make out the trashed room and Ralph's figure positioned at the desk.
"Well if it isn't Central City's best," Ralph said as he stood up from his desk and closed the drawer. "This must be something special if CCPD wants me."
"We have matters we need to discuss," I said, nearly tripping on a piece of trash.
"It's been a long time, rookies." Ralph opened the curtains suddenly and I could now see him completely. He certainly let himself go. He was no longer the healthy, buff, cop he used to be.
"Maybe even too long," I said, stepping closer to his desk. "And I see the spare tire's out of the trunk." I pointed to my stomach as Ralph nodded slowly in acknowledgement. "I was like that for a while when I was carrying my twins."
"Good to hear your life is coming around...
Might I ask who they lucky man is?" Ralph asked. Barry cleared his throat.
"Ah, you managed to snag the occupation and family prize pack. I'm surprised party boy Allen finally settled down." Barry looked around the room, but later settled on Ralph.
"Me too, considering this is one of the lives I could have been living." Ralph nodded.
"Shit happens. Might even happen to you too one day, Slim Jim," Ralph said with a laugh. I had enough, and took a step forward in front of Ralph's desk. I quickly grabbed his cheap tie and pulled him closer to my face. His face became red, and it was only going to get worse if he didn't cooperate.
"I'm done messing around, Ralph. Now, you're going to tell us if you were on that 405 bus four weeks ago around noon," I said, releasing the tie. He caught his breath and spoke.
"Man, you can tell who's the dominant one in that relationship...That was some S&M stuff right there," he said fixing his tie. "And what makes you think I'm involved, anyway?" He asked. I was quick to respond. I quickly pulled out a photo out of my pocket and held it up to him.
"I found this is the bus driver's pocket...An IOU...From you..." Ralph gulped and pushed the photo away.
"Forgot about that," he said, looking away from the photo that was still in my outstretched hand. "Could you tell him to hold off on that for a while, I have some bills to pay." Ralph rubbed his hands nervously and Barry stepped foreword.
"I'll be sure to tell his family they'll be relieved from that...He's dead," said Barry. Ralph's face relaxed.
"At least that's one less U-I owe." Ralph chuckled and reclined farther in his seat. I then slammed my hand on the desk and Ralph straightened out.
"Are you gonna answer, or did we come here for nothing?" I asked, sternly.
"Well not for nothing..." Ralph mumbled. "I mean, isn't my presence a gift on its own?"
"Oh, just the best..." I said, rolling my eyes.
"What are you so sour about, crabapple? You two waltz into my office after five years and act as if everything between us was my fault. I'm not the only one in the wrong here."
"We just want information...And once you give it to us, we'll leave you alone," I said, sweetly. I could see that he was just making these remarks to get extra attention from us. Because I was sick of his games, I just wanted him to listen.
"Well it must be pretty valuable if you come here to ask me." He wasn't getting the point I was making, because I felt like I was talking in circles. I decided to put it into simpler terms for him.
"The people on that bus were exposed to a dangerous substance-" I went on before I was interrupted.
"Like what, Ebola?" Ralph asked. I shook my head and continued, disregarding his comment.
"We're you on that bus?" I asked, raising my voice a little. I inched my head closer to him.
"No." Ralph jerked his head closer to mine, and I backed away quickly.
"We're done here." I turned around and pushed past Barry to walk out of the office.
"You really hit the jackpot, Bar. Does she have a sister?" I overheard as I walked out the door. All of the sudden, I heard a woosh and Ralph was gone. I quickly followed the energy Barry was giving off, and if took me to the roof. There, I saw Barry hanging Ralph by his legs over the edge of the building. Ralph was whimpering and whining to be let down, but Barry was relentless. He proceeded to ask Ralph questions I had already attempted to ask. Before attention was drawn to the scene, I tried talking Barry down. But when my attempts failed, something unusual finally worked. Ralph's legs began to stretch out like silly putty and he was slowly dropping towards the busy street as Barry continued to hold his legs. Both of our eyes went wide as we tried to reel Ralph back over the edge of the building. We then leaned him on the wall of the building as his arms remained elastic and stretched out.
"He definitely was on that bus," I said sharing a glance with Barry. We then looked over at Ralph, who still couldn't believe what was going on. I could tell he was having that internal conflict of if his life was really real, or if he was dreaming.
"As if Caitlin wasn't already having a busy day, let her know we got another one," I said, pointing to Ralph. "We need to get him to S.T.A.R Labs."
Upon arrival, Caitlin immediately took Ralph into the medbay, and Barry and I worked on piecing Ralph's role in the bus situation.
"Some people never change," Barry said, shaking his head.
"How do you expect him to?" I asked. "With an attitude like that, you'd think he'd grow out of it--"
"WHAT THE HELL!" Ralph yelled, interrupting me. Looking quickly in the direction of the medbay, I could see Ralph looking at himself in the window of the medbay. The two way mirror made it easy to see Ralph without him looking at us.
"Just breathe, Ralph," I yelled as he poked and prodded at his facial skin, which began to sag slowly, due to his condition.
"If he's not a bus meta, I don't know what he's got," I said before the medbay door opened. Caitlin emerged with her clipboard and papers in hand. I could tell she was about to his us with a diagram or some type of info graphic.
"The dark matter has polymerized Dibny's cells," she skimmed through her papers and showed us a diagram of the cells. With the side by side comparison she provided, I could clearly see the differences.
"You're saying the walls of every cell in his body have elasticized?" I asked with a shocked tone. Caitlin nodded.
"They formed an unbreakable bond at the atomic level."
"So you can stretch them like silly putty?" I asked. I giggled before Ralph joined in.
"What the hell is dark matter, and why is it in my cells?" Dibny yelled from the medbay. "And am I going to be like silly putty forever?" He whined. Caitlin shook her head. "Allen's, you and your little lab nerdies need to put me back together." Ralph then attempted to get out of the bed, but his limbs were too stretched out for him to move. He sat back in frustration.
"We will...I just need a sample of your blood," Caitlin said as she turned in the direction of the medbay and slid on her gloves. She then pulled out a needle and Ralph demanded she stopped. Before further action, Caitlin closed the door behind her, and Barry continued working for the duration of her time. After a while, she emerged from the room and closed the door behind her. I could see from the window that Ralph was sleeping.
"Finally got him down," she said with a thumbs up. "And to think, all it took was 50 milligrams of aerosol Lorazepam." I nodded at her comment and was quick to get back on track:
"Any way we can put humpy dumpy back together again?" Caitlin grabbed her tablet off her desk and began typing. Images appeared on the screen a few seconds later.
"I think I could stabilize his cells if I had a sample of his DNA from prior to when he was exposed to the dark matter on the bus." My mind exploded with ideas on what we could do, or where we could look for Ralph's DNA, but a lot of the places are last resorts. CCPD was a given first step.
"Why don't we lock him in the pipeline? Caitlin's gonna be busy, and we don't want him walking off." I disagreed with Barry and shut his idea down. Sure, Ralph wasn't exactly a good guy, but I thought he deserved more than that.
"I understand you're pissed at him for the case, and making those jokes about me and your life, but he doesn't deserve that." Barry placed his hands on his chest.
"Trust me, I know the guy." Caitlin stepped foreward and got up in Barry's face. I knew this subject hit her hard, considering the choices we had in this situation. I also felt something for her, considering all her failed relationship attempts have been people or patients we've attempted to save.
"As a doctor, I toook an oath to help people, Barry...I can't just leave him there like spaghetti."
"Every person on that bus is now
1,000 times more dangerous than they were before, Dibny included."
"He could have changed," Caitlin fired back. Barry sneered, skeptically.
"People don't change."
"You did." And Barry let those words resonate in his mind before speaking. Caitlin interrupted him before he got his words out. "When I became Killer Frost, you still believed in me...You were depressed about your parents' death, but you changed. Experiences change us, Barry."
"I'm a good person, he's not. This 'experience' changed him for the worse," Barry said, grabbing his coat off the back of his chair and walking towards the exit.
"I'm going to CCPD to find some DNA for Caitlin."
"Let's go back to his office first and look for some DNA," I said, grabbing my coat and quickly catching up to him. "Joe's checking the CCPD database for anything on Ralph now," I said before we said our goodbyes to Caitlin and left for Ralph's office.
We were left digging through the piles of trash that was the office of Ralph Dibny. It's as if he didn't care that he had clients coming in. Cans, bottles, and many takeout containers were all over the floor.
"There's gotta be something we can use," I said, speedily doing some cleaning.
"Still the same Ralph." I turned to Barry after his comment and became curious and furious at the information I was missing. I felt Barry was being irrational with Ralph, but maybe a new piece of information would change my mind.
"What do you know that I don't?" I asked, curiously. Barry sighed and began:
"One of the first cases I worked on. Before you and I were even partners, Ralph was the lead detective for this case I was working on. A woman named Judy Ginlin was stabbed to death." I listened attentively as Barry continued to speak. "Police suspected her husband, Reagan, to be the suspect. No evidence was found, and nothing was there for me to study..." Barry paused, and I could tell this was where things changed. "Miraculously, a knife was found by Dibny...It had the husbands' fingerprints on it, and he was sent away for her murder. Dibny was a hero, and he got locked up for nothing. But I thought it seemed too close to my mother's murder, and I was so obsessed over it at the time that I cross-analyzed the knife. The serrations on the knife didn't match the wounds, but the prints were all over it." I continued snooping around, looking for DNA. Putting together that Ralph had something to do with the conviction, I closed the drawer I was inspecting.
"So he planted the knife and lied about it?" I asked, shockingly.
"All under oath...So I told Caltain I didn't want to continue working with a liar."
"Well he shouldn't have gotten away with it, that's purgery of evidence." Barry nodded.
"And that's why Captain brought you up from that other unit. He thought I could use a second pair of eyes."
"I didn't know that—"
"Point is, Ralph was a crooked then, and he still is." I opened another drawer and found some half eaten food and soda cans.
"How much DNA does Caitlin need?" I asked, examining the leftover food hidden in the desk. Barry shrugged. "I'm sure she can get enough from these," I said, grabbing a half eaten donut with my glove covered hands and placing it in an evidence bag. When I closed the drawer, I heard a small, unusual click. My eyebrows furrowed at the realization of the sound, but as the ticking continued, I knew we had to get everyone out.
"Evacuate the building," I commanded as Barry and I worked to get everyone out of the building. When everyone was out, we watched from the street as Ralph's office blew up. The workers were shocked by the explosion, but I only became thoroughly confused.
"And the plot thickens." I looked at Barry before we made arrangements for the workers with Joe and the police before taking our evidence back to S.T.A.R Labs.
"What do you have for me?" Caitlin asked as I handed her the bag.
"Some old coffee cups and an even older piece of a glazed donut." With a disgusted look, she took the bag from my hands and I then changed out of my suit. Caitlin typed a few things into her computer before heading towards the medbay.
"I'm sure you'll get a lot of that for your new buddy," Barry said, pulling his mask off his face. Caitlin then stopped and turned around.
"First off, he's my patient," she said firmly. "Secondly, I know what it's like to suddenly have powers and not know how to use them." Her tone and facial expression remained serious, but suddenly contracted. She then looked at Barry with a softened expression. "You should know exactly what that feels like...Don't deny that you didn't walk out of here knowing your life was forever changed. Show some empathy, Barry." Caitlin then turned on her heel and walked into the medbay, closing the door behind her. I turned my attention back to Barry, who had his face in his hands. He sighed before looking back up at me, and directed the conversation in a new direction.
"Well now that Caitlin's got some DNA to work with, we can do some more digging in Ralph's files." And with that, Barry and I began working on sifting out this mess. After digging through many sets of information, I found a potential lead in our case.
"I found Ralph's phone records in this folder." I shuffled the papers around and found many sheets of phone records. "But it's unusual for them to be on paper, considering everything is digitized". Barry then took the file from my hands and examined it.
"Isn't it a little odd there are a lot of calls exchanged by Ralph and the Mayor's office? This only contributes to my evidence that Ralph is a bad guy," Barry said, holding up the sheets. I rolled my eyes.
"Before you jump to conclusions, lets investigate." Barry took a step towards the medbay door, and I stopped him. "We know his general feelings towards you." Barry then sat down and I knocked on the medbay door. Caitlin opened it with a smile, and stepped out to give us the room.
"Hey Ralph," I said, walking in slowly. His head rolled over a couple times before settling on my figure.
"Hey pretty lady..." Ralph mumbled. He was heavily drugged, and you could tell. He waved shakily, and I took a seat next to his bed.
"So I have some news for you." I settled in the chair and looked down at him with a small smile. I wasn't sure about Ralph's true intentions or his behavior, but I had an inkling he could and would change.
"You have a hot sister?". I placed my hands on my lap and turned my head.
"No..." I paused. "Your office just blew up." Ralph pumped his fist in the air excitedly.
"Sweet! Insurance claim."
"Not so sweet when Barry and I were close to dying in there...". Ralph's hand fell to his side and I continued asking questions. "Do you know who would want to be after you? Could that have something to do with why you've had phone calls with the mayor 15 times?". Ralph's eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"I've pissed a lot of people off these last five years. As you can see, I'm not dealing with high society issues like I used to."
"Why were you talking to the mayor?" I asked, Ralph scoffing.
"Is this Allen's doing?" Ralph asked, squinting. "I hope he has a warrant for that search...I know he likes to do everything by the book."
"Ralph," I said, placing my hand on the railing of the bed.
"I just called to tell him what a swell job he's doing."
"15 times?" I reconfirmed. Ralph shook his head.
"12 of them were butt dials." I giggled.
"Well I have to ask Joe, so I hope that's true," I said, pulling the teacher telling on your parents card. But instead of begging for forgiveness, Ralph remained stubborn.
"Good. I hear he's a fan favorite," Ralph said before I got up from my seat and walked towards the door. "Now, some time to stretch my legs," Ralph mumbled as I closed the door behind me. Turning around to continue work, I spot Cisco hiding under the cortex table. Harry was back in the cortex, continuing to work on his device, and Barry was in the other room with the twins.
"Cisco?" I asked. He shook his head furiously and placed a finger over his mouth. I looked at him, full of confusion.
"Shh," he whispered.
"Are you and Gypsy playing an intense game of hide and seek again?" I asked, jokingly. He shook his head again, and looked frantically around the room.
"Gypsy's dad is hunting me for the next 24 hours to see if I'm worthy of his approval." I pointed a finger at him and nodded my head.
"Ah...But you think hiding under the very exposed table of a technologically weaponized facility is the best idea?" I crossed my arms and looked down at him.
"I can't use my powers."
"Use your brain," I said, pointing to my head. "You didn't land a job here originally for nothing." Cisco looked around, skeptically. Harry spoke from the back of the room.
"Yeah, your head is strong, but you have an outwardly weak appearance." said Harry. Cisco scoffed.
"Thank you."
"And use it to your advantage... Don't make him anticipate a pathetic target. Set him a trap and beat him at his own game." Cisco snapped his finger and I could see an "aha" moment happening.
"Cause he may be the Predator, but I'm the Schwarzenegger," Cisco said before he looked around the room. When the cover was clear, he ran quickly across the room and disappeared into another part of the facility. And when he disappeared, Breacher came into the room. I turned around and looked up to face him as he studied the room.
"Where is he?" Gypsy's dad asked as he looked around for Cisco. He placed his nose in the air and began to sniff. I shrugged. I was in no position to fight with him, so I lead him in the wrong direction.
"He was here," I said as I slid my papers to the other part of the desk. "He went that way." I pointed at the opposite door Cisco exited. Gypsy's dad grunted and called out for Cisco as he walked into the direction I gave him.
"If he finds out you lied, he's gonna pummel you," Harry said, continuing to work. I brushed off my shoulders.
"Let him." The medbay door swung open, and Ralph suddenly emerged from the room, back normal. He threw his arms in the air and exclaimed:
"I'm back, baby!" He jumped and danced around, proving he was indeed one piece again. Caitlin closed the medbay door and brought her tablet out with her.
"Not exactly..." She pulled up a diagram and displayed it on the screen. "What I gave you was a serum with 17% alcohol, sulfur, zinc oxide, and steric acid to cross-link your polymerized cells." She pointed to the diagrams on the screen, pointing out his old cells, and his new cells. Not understanding anything she said, his mouth gaped, and I could tell he was having a Patrick Star moment.
"English, please," he demanded. I took over from there.
"It stabilized your cells to their default shape, similar to a rubber you that bends back into shape."
"It's also called Vulcanization." Ignoring her comment, Ralph pushed past us and took his coat off the nearby chair.
"All that I care about is that I'm back, and I can go on with my life." Barry emerged from the twins' area, and held a finger in the air.
"Not yet." Barry placed his phone back into his pocket and met us in the center of the cortex. "Joe just had a meeting with the Mayor before his hospital ribbon cutting." Ralph gulped and Barry continued. "At first he said he didn't know you, but your name miraculously rang a bell after Joe told him about your dirty cop nature." Ralph's eyes darted nervously and he began to slouch. "Apparently he made a mistake calling you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ralph said, looking away from Barry as Barry continued. Barry took a step forward and poked Ralph's chest.
"You found pictures of his affair, which he immediately broke off. When you showed the Mayor you had pictures, you scared him and he didn't want to taint his reputation..."
"I don't know what you're talking about..." Ralph added, continuing to contradict Barry.
"Really? Because according to your bank records, you've been accepting payouts from him to keep you quiet." Ralph turned to face Barry. Ralph placed a hand on his chest and pushed him away.
"It's not my fault he decided to step out on his wife and his family." Barry's hand swept across his mouth and he stepped back, walking a circle around Ralph. He then laughed out of frustration.
"So that's how you're defending yourself? It's his fault you're extorting him?". Ralph sneered and stopped Barry, mocking the same behavior he used on Ralph seconds ago.
"Easy for someone like you to say...You've got the lab, tech, family, and the girl," Ralph said, counting on his fingers. "You're not living off your paycheck and pinching pennies...." Ralph stared off into the distance before continuing. I could see in that moment Ralph was vulnerable, and his nature could be described by lack of love. "I wouldn't have to do that if it weren't for you...You cost me my job." Barry then pushed on Ralph's shoulder lightly and Ralph stumbled back. I could tell Barry was getting heated, but I wasn't ready to step in yet. I felt that it would be better on Barry's part if I let him work it out.
"Your tampering with evidence and planting that knife cost you your job. I was just doing mine." Ralph was quick to fire back with a remark.
"He was guilty. And he was going to walk away from the murder charges for his wife's death...I was a good cop and a good detective. And I lost it all because of you...Besides, the Mayor's got plenty of money. He can afford to spare a little. Consider it the pension you cost me."
"Do good cops destroy lives and call it noble? You were dirty then, and you're dirty now," Barry spat. "But frankly, I'm done dealing with you're nonsense," Barry had a look in his eyes I haven't seen for a long time. He stared at Ralph with intensity before speeding him away, and I figured it was to the pipeline. I quickly pulled up the security footage, and sure enough Ralph was banging on the glass of the pipeline door. Barry then returned.
"ALLEN!" Ralph yelled. "CHLOE! LET ME OUT! I can help...Let me help..." He sobbed. He then sat down on the floor and his head fell in his hands.
"Barry, you need to cool it," I said, pointing to the screen.
"He betrayed the force and went against everything CCPD stands for, you think that's excuseable?".
"It used to be all about rules, but do you know how many metas we've locked up without a trial? We've played with time and space, and messed with other worlds...We changed possibly the entire future of the rest of our lives...Could you find that inexcusable too?" I asked. Barry shook his head.
"You're right," he said, giving a small nod.
"You know, you've done everything with the goal of keeping people safe and helping them. We've always done it with the idea of getting nothing in return. Good people like us don't mess around with the lives of others and call it noble...You didn't make him break the law, or make him blackmail the mayor. All I'm telling you now is that maybe it's time to bury the hatchet. I gave you a second chance when you needed one, and look how far we've come," I motioned around the cortex. "If I didn't give you that chance, we wouldn't be married, have a house together, or even have a family...Maybe Ralph deserves a second chance too." I looked at the computer to my side to see Ralph curled up in the center of the cell, crying softly. I shook my head and spoke: "I'm gonna go talk to him," I said before closing the computer and walking downstairs to the cortex. As I was walking down, Joe was coming in.
"You're speeding right along, everything alright?" I asked as Joe stopped and brushed off his coat.
"Two guys who work for the mayor just tried to kill some cops at the precinct." My mind raced with curiosity and Joe finished. "I think they're looking for Ralph.."
"Funny, I was just about to go talk to him...Barry's holding him prisoner in the pipeline."
"I'll go talk to Bar, do whatever you're doing with Ralph." I nodded and hugged Joe goodbye.
"I'll be sure to ask about the mayoral workers," I said before splitting off from Joe and walking down to the pipeline.
Ralph remained curled up in the center, staring down at the floor. He wasn't crying anymore, but I could tell he had been crying. His eyes were pink and puffy, and he sniffled.
"Ralph, I--"
"Chloe!" He exclaimed, perking up. "You gotta let me outta here, I think there's something going on." I paused in my tracks and motioned for him to continue.
"Well...the last time the mayor bribed me, I told him to keep it. Sure, I could have taken taken the 200K and ran, but I wanted to change. When you told me he attempted to blow up my office, I took that as a warning. When I refused the money, I gave him the photos, so I don't know what else he wants."
"I told Barry you changed!" I exclaimed. Ralph looked at me with a confused look, and I covered my mouth. "Did you say anything else?" I asked, changing the subject. Ralph remained to be confused, and I continued to change the subject.
"I may have threatened him..."
"RALPH! How extreme was his threat?" Ralph lowered his head and mumbled.
"I may have told him I'd go to the cops if it continued...". My eyes widened and I felt as if I was going to yell. Instead, I took a deep breath and kept it calm.
"That would have been useful to know beforehand, Dibny..."
"I know...I just wanted to turn things around. I told Allen I've been trying to."
"Well, by the looks of it, the mayor's not gonna have a career for very long...But I respect you trying to change," I said, opening up the panel to the keypad.
"It looks like it's gonna be a lot worse," Barry said over the intercom. I placed my hand on the panel and the glass door opened. When we returned to the cortex, Barry was typing at his computer, disguised in his Flash suit. He pulled up news footage of Joe being held captive in a helicopter with the mayor. Ralph gaped and he couldn't contain himself. He jogged over to Barry and tapped on his shoulder.
"Flash, nice to finally meet you in person! I thought I'd meet you here sometime...I just want to say I'm a huge fan. And what can I say, you've got a pretty foxy partner." I rolled my eyes. I quickly came up with a cover so I could change.
"Barry was called to CCPD to check on leads there, so I think you should go with him," Barry said, giving me a nod. At first, I thought the cover was too weak, but I was reminded of the type of man Ralph was, and went with it. With Barry's comment, I jogged out of the cortex normally. I then sped in quickly and suited up, standing infront of Ralph. Ralph looked even more surprised than he did when he saw Barry in the Flash suit.
"Flashette works here too! Gee, no wonder why Chloe and Barry have so much cash...But I just wanted to say it's always been my dream to meet you..." He walked up to me and held his hand out to shake. I shook it and he smiled excitedly.
"I was called from another mission because a CCPD cop needs our help, and we protect our own. Are you in, Ralph?" I asked. Ralph looked behind him and aroun the room before he realized I was talking about him.
"Me?" He asked with a raised tone in his voice.
"We know about your abilities...
Caitlin let us up to speed." Ralph chuckled at my joke, and I shared a chuckle with him. "A CCPD cop is trapped in a helicopter and needs your help. We can't run fast enough to get up there, so you'll have to stretch us up there...Our other option would be to breech up there, but he's busy at the moment...And another could be an ice bridge, but that's a little held up as well."
"You think I'm capable of that? You're crazy! Besides, I'm a nobody."
"We do know you, and you are fully capable."
"How would you even know me?" Ralph asked. I looked at Barry with a sigh before peeling back my mask. Ralph turned to Barry with a grin.
"Chloe? Certainly not who I was expecting, but I was right about her being cute under the mask...Shh, don't tell-" he said before Barry took off his mask and stood up from the computer.
"Allen's in on it too? C'mon...Everyone else gets struck by lightning and dies, but you get super powers."
"FOCUS!" I yelled. "Joe needs you. If you want to prove to us that you were a good cop, be one now." Ralph hesitated and choked on his words. The only words that came out clear were his words of confirmation:
"I'll do it," said Ralph. With a nod, I quickly scooped him up and carried him to the scene where the helicopter was above us. Barry was running my comlink as I observed local news channels covering the scene. People were off in the distance, being kept away from the crime scene by CCPD.
"Ready?" I asked Ralph as he stood tall and nodded. He stretched his arms and I got into running position. "I'm gonna run around you to hide your identity, alright?". Ralph gulped and I felt the lighting in my eyes. On his go, Ralph stretched his arm up and grabbed a landing gear of the helicopter. He struggled for a second, but eventually got his grip. When the helicopter began to move and Ralph lost his grip, I sped up Ralph's arm and jumped on the helicopter. After seeing the mayor had a loaded gun at Joe, I quickly sped around the helicopter and tied up all the workers. I then handcuffed the mayor's hands and took a seat next to him. When Joe saw me, he sighed of relief and I patted the mayor's shoulder.
"Looks like your campaign is over." I smiled widely at the mayor, who sighed. I then pointed the gun to the pilot's head and demanded he landed the copter. While it was landing, Joe cuffed the mayor and his minions. After Joe took them away, we decided to head back to S.T.A.R Labs.
"WOO! Another one bites the dust, am I right?" Cisco asked as we entered the cortex. I looked around, confused to see Gypsy's dad missing.
"Where's Breacher? Did him and Gypsy go back to their earth?". Cisco shook his head and sat down in his chair.
"You mean Cynthia and Josh?". I chuckled before Cisco continued; "They're gone. I ended up beating him...I am the greatest warrior!" Cisco exclaimed, pumping his fists in the air.
"But I'm not the only one who won tonight...Ralph..." Cisco said, nudging Ralph's shoulder. Ralph's face turned blush and he faced me.
"We all know Flashette was the real star." I felt my face going blush, and directed the attention onto something else.
"Speaking of stars, Ralph...we have a surprise for you," I said to Ralph before I sped him to his office. He was surprised to see no more writing on the glass of his door, but he was even more surprised to see the interior. The office was newly renovated and cleaned.
"You fixed it?" He asked, examining the new furniture and trying out the new desk chair.
"Well, I made a few calls..." Barry said, sighing. "I pulled some strings...". Ralph looked up at him with a smile.
"Thanks for screwing up my insurance claim, Allen." Barry nodded.
"No morepayouts, and no mayor money," Barry insisted. Ralph nodded slightly. I had an inkling he wasn't going to listen, but there's always the opportunity of surprise.
"Well I have to pick up a case, so you might want to scurry before someone sees you here." Ralph sifted through the drawers before taking a pen and scribbling some words on a sticky note.
"Well before we go, we have an offer for you." Ralph chuckled and I stepped foreword.
"Just know that I want to laugh right now, but I'm afraid my face will fall of." Ralph said, taking a donut out of the box on his desk and beginning to munch on one.
"We can't change the past, but I'm here to offer you a chance to change what happened...Let our team and I study your powers, figure out how to improve them, see what your limitations are," Barry offered.
"And we'll train you," I added.
"To do what?" Ralph asked, confused. "What can I do?"
"What we do," I replied, motioning between Barry and I. "You can be one of us...A detective again. It's not gonna be easy, and I'll push you to your limit. And trust me, you'll hate Barry even more than you already do."
"Do I get a cool superhero suit or a cool name? Maybe Plastic man?," Ralph asked with excitement in his voice. I cringed at the idea of that name and shook my head.
"You might as well be called Ken if you want to go by that name...Cisco usually picks them out for us." With a nod off and a knock at the door, Barry and I decided to head out. But as I was at the door, I quickly turned to ask Ralph a question. "Who gave you the idea to look into the Mayor's affair?" Ralph paused before giving a name.
"He was a client I had. He asked me to follow him. I never met the man face to face, though. He did everything over the phone."
"Did he give you a name?". Ralph placed a finger to his chin.
"Just his last...DeVoe." With that name, I then had a flashback to my Savitar times. My eyes darted around my head as I began to think of memories past. I couldn't control the influx that occurred, but I figured I'd just let myself work it out.
"You and I have been enemies for years...Oh, you've had others, of course.There's Thawne... Zoom...DeVoe...". and that name struck me. I then remembered when I was in the future and future Cisco told me about a gadget we created to stop this man "DeVoe".
"Chloe?" Barry asked. "You alright?" He placed a hand on my shoulder and I was brought back to reality.
"Yeah...just spacing out."
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NEW UPDATE! Sorry it took so long, but these chapters are very long and take a while to edit and write. Thank you for all your support! Thanks to you guys, the first book: "Flashette" won first place in the DC Comics Watty Awards this year! Thank you for all the opportunities you have given this series, and I'll talk to you soon! -Flashette1⚡️❤️
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Flashette(Book Four)
Fanfiction(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...
