After Speed Force

Chapter 18

Four months later ....

In the past four months, some things have changed ... I am pleased to announce the name of the new member of the Flash team, Ralph Dibney. He was my colleague at the CCPD, who was eventually fired due to improper use of his police status.

When I met him on the street, I discovered that he also had a special feature and that was his new and improved elasticity. The only thing I could do that I did was take him to STAR Labs. At the beginning I admit that I didn't want him in the team or in the laboratory, due to his past, but with the help of my friends I realized that he deserved a second chance and today I'm glad I gave it to him, because he has adapted very well to our team.

Another news is that Wally is no longer part of the Flash team ... I mean of course he is, but now not in person. He decided that he wanted to experience a little bit of "normal" teenage life, which I don't blame him as this super hero life takes away a lot of time that could be used for other things in the personal field.

He has been there for two months and things seem to be going well, since the last time we spoke he had already found a girlfriend, who goes to the same college where he is.

How are things going in my love life? Not very well ... I've been having a hard time after the breakup with Iris and let's say that seeing her almost every day also doesn't help the forgetting process. I tried some romantic encounters, suggested by Cisco, but none of them went very well. Not that the girls were not pretty or interesting, but my head was still not turned to dating.

Today and tomorrow I can be at STAR Labs all day, because as I had spent the last two days entirely at the service of the CCPD, my boss gave me two days off. What started out as a normal and peaceful day turned out to be a very stressful morning. We received a bomb alert in downtown Central City.

We were the three of us to equip ourselves, that is, me, Ralf and Caitlin, while Cisco stayed at STAR Labs in case anything was needed. When we arrived at the place, we saw some people leaving and with the help of Ralf and his elasticity, we managed to arrest them in an instant, but we had more serious problems to solve.

- You don't have any time. The bomb in a few minutes will blow! - said one of the men we arrested.

After "studying" them for a while, we learned that they were not metahumans, just bad humans who get into things they shouldn't, so when this was over, I would call Joe to come and get them. The three of us approached the bomb and realized that it was not just any bomb but a nuclear bomb, which had made our work 100% more difficult.

"It's warm in here," said Killer Forst as we approached the bomb.

"Do you think we can disable it?" Asked Ralf.

- I don't think so ... From what I see I think it's really in an advanced state. We have to take it to a place where there is not much damage, "said Cisco to our ears, who was watching the bomb through the camera he gave us so he could follow us more closely.

"We can't move it... But what if we try to cool it down?" I asked, looking at Killer Frost.

"Do you want me to cool a nuclear bomb that is in critical condition?" She asked laughing. But she saw that none of us were laughing and put on a more serious face.- Oh, you are serious ..... Well, let's do it!

She launched a small "storm" of snow at the bomb that seemed to work but only for a couple of seconds. She tried a few more times, but each time less ice came out of her hands, until it got to the point where she went "down".

- Cait? - I asked kneeling beside him. - She is burning ... Come on.

"Are you okay?" Asked Ralf this time, worried about our friend.

- More or less ... I think that my help in this case will not be possible ... it is too hot inside.

- No problem, we will find a solution.- I said and moved away from her a little to approach the bomb until someone stopped me.

- Barry, whatever you do ... Don't let Caity die.

- I will not let. Promise!

I was really a little scared by what Killer Frost told me. Just the thought of losing Caitlin already makes my throat lump. I may not know what to do to resolve this situation, but I know that I will not let anything bad happen to Caitlin and Killer Frost.

"Cisco what do we do?" I asked the intercom.

- Maybe I have an idea. Wait for me, I'll be right there.

Seconds later, Cisco appeared on our side and while Ralf took care of Caitlin, Cisco and I approached the bomb.

- What is your idea?

- What if I breech it to a dead earth? There, the damage of this bomb would not be so harmful.

- That ... is a brilliant idea.

We moved away from the bomb and Cisco used his powers and after a few failed attempts, his plan worked. He was "out" for just a few minutes but when he returned he said the bomb was ten seconds away from exploding.

Since the city and its inhabitants were once again safe, I called Joe and explained the situation to him and asked him to come and pick up the criminals. Cisco returned with Caitlin to the lab, where she was going to do some checkup tests to see if everything was really okay, while Ralf and I were waiting for Joe here.

Ten minutes later a police car, which was Joe, arrived and put the men in the car to take them to the CCPD. With the criminals in Joe's hands and heading towards the police station, Ralf and I went back to STAR Labs and after taking off the superhero suits, we went to see how Caitlin was doing.

"So?" I asked as soon as I got to the infirmary.

- It's all right. I'm just a little down, but I'm going to rest here for a few minutes and then I'll be ready to go back to work.

- What we need is lunch.- said this time Cisco, causing the three of us to start laughing.

We still thought about going to a different restaurant but ended up going to Jitters, as was already the custom. When we got there, we went to sit at a table that was free and "studied" the menu today.

Today the three of us ordered the same thing, which was a steak with egg on top, accompanied by chips and salad. Twenty minutes later we already had food and drinks on the table, so now we just needed to start attacking the food.

After lunch, we went to pay and went back to STAR labs and I just hope this afternoon will be calmer than the morning, but it seems that I spoke too early, because in the middle of the afternoon there was a robbery in a cafe. Normally the robberies are nothing special, but this one was different because two of the people who were held hostage were neither more nor less than Iris and Caitlin.

I was getting ready to leave the lab when I get a call from Joe to tell me to go to the cafe urgently, because the criminal asked for my presence and had Caitlin with him, possibly injured.