CCPD
“Welcome to the CCPD,” Barry said as he led Caitlin into the station.
“So this is your day job,” Caitlin remarked, looking around.
“Yup,” Barry replied, before stepping back as a beat cop escorted a suspect to lockup.
“I’m gonna rip out your hearts and eat ’em for lunch,” the suspect growled.
“Delightful,” Caitlin said sarcastically, making Barry smile.
A Latina detective suddenly shoved a gun into Barry’s hands.
“Barry, I need prints on this, pronto,” she said, then hurried off.
“Give me a second,” Barry told her.
In a blur, he super-sped to his office, processed the gun, and grabbed another file he knew someone would ask for.
He was back in his spot before anyone noticed.
“Dr.
Allen, where is the fiber analysis on the Orloff case?” Singh demanded as he strode up—just as Barry had expected.
“Right here,” Barry said smoothly, handing him the completed report.
Singh blinked, impressed but unwilling to show it.
His attention shifted to Caitlin.
“And who’s this?”
Barry’s mouth worked faster than his brain.
“Girlfriend.”
Caitlin’s eyes widened.
“What—?” she hissed under her breath, glaring daggers at him.
Singh barely reacted.
“Figures.
You always have someone.” He smacked Barry on the shoulder with the file and walked away.
The moment Singh was out of earshot, Caitlin slapped Barry’s arm.
“Girlfriend?
Really?”
“Sorry,” Barry said, trying to look innocent.
“Usually, only my girlfriends—or Iris—visit me here.
It just slipped.”
“You mean like Felicity and Thea?” Caitlin pressed, curiosity showing.
Back when Barry had been in a coma, plenty of beautiful women had come to visit him, sometimes more than once.
“They’re included,” Barry said with a mysterious nod.
“How many girlfriends do you have?” Caitlin asked, exasperated.
Their dynamic made her a little uncomfortable, though she knew she had no right to interfere in his private life.
“You can know… if you want,” Barry teased, raising an eyebrow.
Her face flushed red as she shot him a death glare, though Barry caught the faint twitch of a smile at the corner of her lips.
“What are you going to say to him the next time he asks about me?” Caitlin asked.
“I’ll just tell him you caught me with another girl.
No big deal,” Barry suggested.
Caitlin gave him a sharp side-eye but didn’t reply.
They reached his lab, which was far more advanced than she expected.
“Most of the equipment you see here?
Paid for out of my own pocket,” Barry said, already guessing her thoughts.
“Let’s get started,” Caitlin said, putting her bag down.
Half an Hour Later
CCPD
Barry’s Lab
The tissue analysis was 94% completed.
While it was running, Barry had been teaching Caitlin how to fight with a punching bag, having sped her home so she could grab some workout clothes.
“You still have to tell me why I’m doing this,” Caitlin said with a grunt as she punched the bag twice.
Holding the bag, Barry replied, “Because I’d feel better if you and Cisco could take care of yourselves.
Caitlin nodded before she threw three more jabs and a high kick, which caused Barry to raise an eyebrow at her flexibility.
Seeing the look, she shrugged.
“I used to do gymnastics and yoga.”
Barry smirked before Caitlin walked to a table, taking the tape off her fists.
She grabbed her Gatorade, while Barry began to punch the bag, but paused and glanced over to her.
“Can I ask you something that you don’t have to answer?”
Taking the bottle from her lips, Caitlin said, “My least favorite kind of question.”
“Shoot.”
“Your boyfriend—what was he like?” Barry asked as he glanced at her, still in his fighting stance.
“It’s just…
you never talk about him.”
Caitlin smiled softly, a bittersweet smile, as she leaned back on the desk.
“We met when we were working on the particle accelerator.
He was a structural engineer.
He liked to joke that he was basically a very high-priced plumber,” Caitlin said with a smile that Barry returned as he paid attention.
“We were very different.
You might have noticed I can be a bit…
guarded, but Ronnie knew how to make me laugh.
He used to say we were like fire and ice.
He wasn’t supposed to be there that night.
He was just there for me.
If he hadn’t…”
Caitlin stopped talking as it became painful to continue, her eyes tearing.
“It’s not your fault.
Sometimes people need to make hard choices, and from the sound of it, Ronnie chose to save you and the people of Central City that night.
In my eyes, he is a hero,” Barry said as he pulled her into a hug, using a handkerchief to wipe her tears.
“I know how painful it is to lose someone you love, but it’s not healthy to keep these emotions bottled up, so let it out.” He rubbed her back as she sobbed a little.
Suddenly, the computer beeped, breaking the moment.
Caitlin left his arms.
Embarrassed, she cleaned her face with the handkerchief and looked over the result.
“This says that there was no residue of gas in the tissue, poisonous or otherwise.”
“That means we’ll need to get a fresh sample.” Barry frowned.
“Wait, this can’t be right,” Caitlin said, looking further at the report.
“This says that there are two distinct strands of DNA inside the tissue.
But how did someone else’s DNA get inside the victim’s lungs?”
“Maybe… maybe our meta-human does not control poison gas—he becomes one,” Barry reasoned, rubbing his chin.
“Could be… but there is no match in the CCPD database,” Caitlin agreed.
The DNA had no matches.
Suddenly, Barry thought of something.
“Caitlin, cyanide poisoning also presents in a similar manner, right?” Barry asked while going to the computer and searching for something.
“Yes, and?” Caitlin followed up.
“When prisoners are given the death sentence, they are usually taken to a chamber and gassed with hydrogen cyanide… So what if our meta was scheduled to meet his demise on the day the particle accelerator exploded?” Barry explained his chain of thoughts.
“Of course… the dark matter could have altered his physiology,” Caitlin understood.
“Found it,” Barry said, searching the dead database.
“Kyle Nimbus.
He was a hitman for the Darbinyan crime family.
They turned on him and testified.
He was sentenced to death.
His execution was scheduled on the same night.” Barry read.
“Caitlin, use the facial recognition software on my system to look for him,” Barry told her.
“I’ll send the data to Cisco and Joe.”
“On it,” Caitlin said as she used the software to start the search.
Barry started fiddling with few mechanical parts
“Found it, he is currently in a central city mall…” Caitlin said, finding a match in one of the mall cameras.
Barry looked over from his desk where he was soldering the last few components of a device.
“He is going towards a woman…” Caitlin said, but Barry recognized the woman.
“That is Judge Theresa Howard who sentenced him to death… I gotta go.” Barry had speed-read all the information on Kyle Nimbus.
“Barry, stop, we don’t know enough about what we’re facing yet,” Caitlin said, trying to stop him.
“It’s not safe!” she said sternly and grabbed his hand.
“Don’t worry Caitlin, I promise to be back safe and sound, okay,” Barry said, staring sincerely into her eyes.
He gently kissed her forehead and zapped away.
Central City Shopping Mall
The woman, Judge Theresa Howard, was walking with a small red bag while on her phone.
“Well, my docket was clear, so I stopped by the mall to pick up your homecoming dress,” the woman said before she laughed and continued, “I am a great mom.
I’ll see you for dinner, sweetie.”
The woman hung up her phone and walked toward the elevator, while a bald-headed man in a black jacket watched her before he moved to follow.
The elevator was about to close when suddenly a hand stopped it.
The man entered and called out to her, “Judge Howard, it’s nice to see you again.”
“You died.” Judge Theresa was surprised to see the once-dead man alive.
“You say that like it was an accident.
You remember the last thing you said to me in the courtroom?
May God have mercy on your soul.” Kyle cynically added, his body shifted, unraveling into a sickly green vapor.
The toxic gas spread toward her— Suddenly everything froze, for a certain speedster
The elevator glass shattered in an instant, a streak of Violet-gold lightning surging through.
Barry grabbed her and whisked her outside the mall, setting her safely on the pavement.
“Run.” His distorted voice sounded in her ears, but before she could register what had happened Barry was already gone.
Back in the mall, Nimbus was furious.
He saw a flash of lightning and then the glass shattered.
Luckily, he was able to turn himself into gas, so he did not get hurt, and there were not many people in the mall.
Everyone ran when they saw the lift window shatter.
Barry ran inside.
Everyone panicked.
He saw the meta still confused.
He rushed to him, grabbed him by the neck, and took him outside on the opposite side of the mall.
“It’s over, Nimbus,” Barry said, a classic superhero line.
“You bastard, how dare you stop me from my revenge, she deserves to die” Kyle Nimbus roared.
Talking was useless, Barry rushed to him and punched him in the chest, but it just went through.
Nimbus had elementalized like a certain Vice-Admiral.
This is going to be a pain, Barry thought.
The man threw a hook, but Barry leaned out of the way and immediately punched him in the stomach, then kicked the back of the man’s knee before, with a reverse roundhouse, slamming his heel into the man’s mouth, sending him flying back into the door before he landed on his stomach.
The man groaned as he looked up at Barry and, with a glare, burst into green gas and rushed at him.
Barry simply sidestepped.
He solidified again.
Barry entered super-speed, took out the tube he had been working on earlier, and jabbed it into his neck, causing him to scream.
This tube was a special container to preserve any aerated substances, isolating them into a separate environment.
Kyle knew he couldn’t beat Barry, so he dissipated and ran away.
Barry let him go; he needed to first counter his poison.
To him, it didn’t affect him as he had resistance to it—but not to others.
Back at the CCPD
Barry returned in a streak of lightning.
Caitlin exhaled in relief the moment she saw him—and without hesitation, rushed forward and hugged him tightly.
“You’re back,” she muttered into his chest.
“I promised,” Barry said softly, smiling as he hugged her back.
Then, he held up the tube for her to see.
“And I got what we needed.”
Her eyes widened as she understood.