New Earth: Flash

Chapter 16

When Barry arrived at Star Labs, he found Cisco and Jesse speaking in Cisco's workshop.

"Hey Jesse." Barry said as he approached her cautiously.

"Hey Bro. So, I'm still going to be the maid of honor at your wedding right?" Jesse asked and Barry laughed as she smiled at him.

"You'll have to talk to Iris about that one. How are you adjusting to all this?" Barry asked.

"I'm freaking out on the inside, but at the same time, I'm glad that I still have a family to help me through this." Jesse said and Barry nodded.

"I always sort of thought of you as a little sister Jesse, especially after you got your powers, so I guess it makes sense about why you actually are my sister in this reality." Barry said.

"It also means that you can't date Wally in this reality." Cisco said.

"Wally and I broke up way before Crisis happened and honestly, I'm glad, since don't get me wrong, he's a great guy, but I just don't think that we were meant to be. Who knows, maybe I'll find Mr. Right here on this earth." Jesse said.

"If you do, let me know when you tell them about your powers, so that I can threaten to put my hand through their heart if they hurt you." Barry said and Jesse rolled her eyes.

"Cisco, there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about." Barry said.

"What?" Cisco asked.

"I know that you're in the middle of helping build the Arrow bunker, but when you're done, I think we should set up a secondary base outside of Star Labs, one that Thawne doesn't know about so that the real Team Flash can meet up without worrying about him being onto us." Barry said and Cisco nodded.

"Not a bad idea. There are a few other defunct Star Labs facilities in Central City. We could check them out, see if any of them are an ideal location for a base." Cisco said and Barry nodded.

"Good idea." Barry said, right as Dr. Wells came over the comms.

"All hands to the cortex now." Thawne said.

"Let's go see what this is about." Barry said as the three of them head to the cortex.

"What's going on?" Jesse asked as they entered the Cortex and Thawne brought up a news report.

"This man, Quentin Quale, was attacked and badly burned by the supposed burning man." Thawne said as Barry, Cisco and Jesse exchanged looks.

"I know Iris has been looking into rumors about him, but she could never get any confirmation." Barry said, honestly relieved to learn that Stein was alive.

"Do we have any images of what this burning man looks like and no, that is not my attempt to name him." Cisco said.

"Maybe if we take Cisco to the place of the crime, he could vibe what happened." Jesse suggested.

"My thoughts exactly Ms. Allen. If we can figure out who this burning man is, then we can figure out how to fight them." Thawne said.

"Where did the attack happen?" Cisco asked.

"Outside Concordance Research." Thawne said.

"Then that's where we go next. I'll call Caitlin, tell her to get back here." Barry said.

"It's a shame that she'll have to cut her visit with her mother short, but then again, considering the way those two act around each other, maybe it's a good thing." Thawne said, since that was the cover they'd given Thawne for Caitlin's absence.

When they arrived at the attack site, Barry and Jesse stood guard of the area while Cisco knelt down and placed his hand on ground and instantly went into vibe mode of the crime.

He saw Quentin Quale being approached by a shadowy figure, who tried to speak with him, but Quale didn't recognize him. When the figure's hands ignited in flames, Cisco was surprised by who it was who attacked Quale before he exited the vibe.

"Well, did you see it?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, but it wasn't Ronnie who'd merged with Stein this time. It was Jax." Cisco said.

"Wait what? How is that possible?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know, but I guess it makes sense that Ronnie wasn't the one Stein merged with, considering that he wasn't even in Central City during the explosion and Stein's particles and the firestorm matrix had to combine with someone." Cisco said.

"And Firestorm did become more powerful after Jax merged with Stein, so I guess it makes sense that the two of them would merge." Barry said.

"So, what's the plan?" Jesse asked, since Stein had been one of her professors at Hudson before he disappeared and he'd been one of her favorites, since he was one of the few who actually humored her theories instead of just rejecting them.

"I've developed a quantum splicer that should allow Jax and Stein to separate." Cisco said.

"How do we explain to Thawne why you have a quantum splicer?" Barry asked.

"Actually, it's something that I was working on even before the explosion, so he won't question its existence." Cisco said.

"Great, then let's go save Firestorm." Barry said.