"What is all this?" I question, slouched in my seat, sipping my coffee, Barry's hand on my shoulder, as we were seated at the cortex with everyone else, Harry calling us in.

"This is gonna give us the edge we finally need to be smarter than Devoe. Or me to be smarter than Devoe, actually." Harry explains, pulling up blueprints, "Take a look at this."

"What is that?" Cisco questions.

"This is an intelligence booster." Harry points, "You put this thing on Dibny here, and even he would be able to understand the point source construction. You put it on a real genius, I'll finally be able to outthink the Thinker."

"You know what, I'm not sure this thinking cap is the best idea you've ever had." Cisco admits.

"It's an intelligence booster." Harry corrects him.

"It looks like a thinking cap." Cisco rolls his eyes.

Harry huffs, "You don't like it, blame yourself. You gave me the idea. You're the one that said Devoe planned all this just like Thawne in order to stop Barry. And you said that Devoe became the Thinker the same night you became the Flash, and so I hacked into security footage of that night to see how he did it."

Harry types away, pulling up the footage, "This is why he's so smart. Devoe boosted his intelligence with neurochemical engineering powered by the dark energy from the particle accelerator explosion.
And if we build our own, we can do the exact same."

"Wait, you wanna blast your brain with 10 billion joules of dark energy?" Barry repeats.

"Uhm, Harry-" I clear my throat after swallowing a sip of my coffee, "That looks very painful."

"I've harnessed energy from the particle accelerator explosion before, and I can do it again." Harry puts down, crossing his arms.

Caitlin spoke up, "Yeah, but Harry, reengineering your brain's neurochemistry, that's-"

"Devoe did it." Harry cuts her off, "So can I. How many more metas have to die before we finally stop Devoe?"

"Uh. Not me." Ralph holds his hand up, "I mean I say we go for it. Right, guys?"

"What do you think?" Barry looks down at me, wanting my opinion.

"I don't think it's safe-" I admit, "I mean, what if Harry gets hurt?"

"Since when is anything we do safe, Allen?" Harry argues with me.

"I get your point but-" I sat up, "What if this goes wrong and somehow affects your brain? We could lose one of our greatest minds- we don't even know how to fix whatever the effects could be."

"Allen." Harry places his hands on his hips, "This is the only way."

"I say we explore it." Iris shrugs lightly.

"Yeah, I agree." Caitlin nods.

"Ramon." Harry looks at Cisco.

"No, this is way too risky." Cisco sides with me.

"Of course it's risky, but if we succeed, we will save the lives of the four remaining bus metas, including a member of our team." Harry argues.

"You're talking about intense amounts of dark energy going right into your brain, right into that cap, that turned a mac and cheese loving pacifist into a homicidal maniac." Cisco fought back, "You put that cap on, what's it gonna do to you?"

"I've run the numbers dozens of times." Harry says, "The math and the chemistry check out. I can do this."

"I don't think you can." Cisco crosses his arms, admitting his fought.

"I can with your help." Harry shot back

"Not this time." Cisco shakes his head, "All right, let's keep coming up with more ways to solve this."

Cisco walks out the room, Ralph speaking up, "Just so I'm clear on this, someone finally came up with a way to stop this La-Z-Boy riding lunatic and we just might not do it? That's really cool, guys."

Ralph leaves, causing me to get up, "I got this one."

Barry weakly smiles at me, as I got up, chasing after Ralph, "Ralph, hey. We're gonna figure this out, you don't need to worry."

"Yeah, everybody keeps saying that, and each time we almost get Devoe, he gets away. Every time he gets away, he's one step closer to getting me." Ralph shot back at me, standing at the elevator.

"Hey, that is not going to happen-" I touch his arm, "You have a whole team that cares for you. We're going to make sure he doesn't take you from us."

"Well, I can't take that chance anymore, Zee." Ralph sighs, "So if anyone needs me, I will be downstairs in my tiny guest quarters until this is over."

"Ralph, when you decided to become a hero- and a part of this team- you practically signed an invisible contract where you'd help us save people. There are still three bus metas out there, and we're gonna need your help to find them and protect them." I stare R him.

"Yeah, and I'm the only one with a body that Devoe is trying to snatch." Ralph argues, "Zee, the only person I need to protect from now on is good old Ralphie boy. You don't have any concept of how dangerous it is for me out there."

"The hell I don't." I shot back at him, moving my hand away from him, "You have no idea what it's been like the past three years before you joined this team, Ralph."

"How could you? How could you have any concept of how dangerous it is for me out there?" Ralph questions.

I cross my arms, "Because I'm the leader of this team."

"Yeah, that's right, you are." Ralph exhales, "But you're always back there hiding safe and sound."

Ralph walks into the elevator, raising his voice at me, "While the rest of us are out in the field putting our lives on the line."

I sigh, placing my hands on my hips, looking at the hall, my eyes landing on Iris West, who had seen the whole thing.

-

"You know-" I shove some ice cream into my mouth, pointing at Barry with my spoon, "You're a great husband."

"Go on." Barry laughs quietly, eating some of his ice cream.

"You, Barry Allen-" I wiggle my spoon, "You asked Iris to go question that Matthew Kim guy with Joe instead of you so you could come home- change into sweats- bury ourselves in blankets- and eat ice cream with me. You have proven your loyalty. This being one of many ways."

"Well-" Barry scoots next to me, "You looked upset. And it is your day off from CCPD, so- here I am. Your comfort. At your service."

"Ralph Dibny." I scoop some ice cream, "He makes some sense sometimes."

"Uh oh, what'd he say to you?" Barry questions, his eyes watching my every move.

"Ralph- he's really scared." I looked at Barry, "And I tried to be there for him. I tried to give him a good- talk- but I'm no Barry Allen. I don't know Ralph Dibny- I don't know what to say to him. It's like everything I'm saying- or doing is wrong." I sigh, "He lashed out on me and told me that I had no concept of how dangerous it was for him to be out on the field- helping us find and keep the last three bus metas safe- because I'm Team Leader. And all I do- is sit behind the console- safe and sound- while the rest of you go out- and put your lives on the line."

"But- you've done it a countless number of times." Barry runs a hand through his messy hair, confusion falling over him.

"Rarely." I correct him, sighing.

"Oh come on." Barry shot me a look, eating some ice cream, "I could literally list a number of times you've stepped out on the field and kicked ass."

I hum in response, challenging him, licking the last of the scoop of ice cream off my spoon, "All right, shoot."

"For real? Okay." Barry sits up, dropping his spoon into his bucket of vanilla ice cream, looking at me, "Remember when Patty almost killed Mark Mardon? You stepped in there. You helped with the Alien Invasion. You were out on the field when you fought Reign the night you and Iris were supposed to die. You just helped with the everyone on Earth X- and there's so much more."

"I didn't think you'd actually do it." I scoff lightly, setting spoon into my bucket of rocky road ice cream in a sigh, "Well- clearly Ralph doesn't know that. But he's right."

"About?" Barry questions.

"About me- safe and sound behind the console. Since you went into the Speed Force- I've rarely gotten back out on the field. Not that I'm cut out to be a superhero- I'm better behind the action- and for the backup-" I huff, "But, still."

"Zee." Barry wraps an arm around me, pulling me into his side, scooping some of his ice cream, "You're the bravest girl I know. You're fearless. Whenever you've been needed on the field- you're gone without anyone even instructing you to. You can't let Ralph get into your head. He's just afraid."

I smile lightly, leaning back into him, "I needed to hear that more than I thought."

Barry smiles, kissing my cheek, as I place the containers of ice cream on the coffee table, cuddling into his side, looking at the scoop that sat on the spoon he held, "What's that taste like?"

"Like what vanilla ice cream usually tastes like?" Barry says in a questionable tone, his eyebrow raising.

"Oh yeah?" I raise my hand up, catching his hand, turning his hand, causing the spoon to turn, pushing the ice cream against his nose, "Does it smell like what vanilla ice cream usually smells like?"

Barry lets out a laugh, his eyes crossing when he looks at his nose, "Really?"

"Yeah-" I laugh quietly, taking the spoon, dropping it into the bucket, using my middle finger to wipe away the ice cream, licking it off my finger.

Barry bites his lip lightly, the corners of his lips turning up as he presses his lips into mine. I melt into the kiss, grabbing onto his face, as he lays me back on the couch, on top of the blankets that were previously on us, climbing on top of me, between my legs.

My hands go to his already messy hair, tugging on the ends. He deepens the kiss, his hands slipping under his hoodie I wore, resting on my waist. His hands snake up my body, ready to unclasp my bra until both our phones buzz on the other side of the coffee table, next to the ice cream.

"I'm gonna ignore that-" Barry mumbles into the kiss, a hand slipping into my sweatpants. I tug on his ends once more, a pleasurable grunt leaving his lips at the pull, as he starts to kiss down my neck.

My eyes openly slightly, glancing at the screens of our phones that rested on the table, "Barry-"

"Yeah-" He mumbles, kissing me again, lightly biting on my lower lip.

"It's-" I pull away from the kiss slightly, looking at him, holding his face, "It's Joe's distress alert-"

Barry lets out a small groan, his head falling onto my chest, as he took a breath, looking back at me, "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Go-" I nod, slowly starting to sit up, Barry running off, disappearing.

-

Iris West giggles when she comes to a stop, throwing her arms out to try and balance after running at full speed, "This is amazing."

Barry laughs lightly from besides me, "Yeah, it is."

Caitlin walks in, holding her tablet, "Well, I've run every test I can think of. EKG, cellular regression synthesis, brain chemistry, and dark matter confirms it. Iris is a speedster."

"And what about Barry?" I place a hand on Barry's back, looking at Caitlin.

"Um, everything that was a part of you Your speed, connection to the Speed Force, the dark matter It's all a part of Iris now." Caitlin explains.

Barry starts to question, "Can you-"

"Reverse it? I don't know." Caitlin answers, "I can try."

"So, Matthew Kim isn't just removing DNA." Joe sighs, "He's transferring it to anybody he touches."

"He's not getting rid of metas. He's creating new ones." Ralph looks down.

"Well, that's not the only thing." Cisco began, "Guess who's got an apartment just a block away from the 405 bus line and rides it every day to get to work?"

"So Matthew is our bus meta, not Fry." I cross my arms, "Devoe's gonna come after him sooner or later."

"And if Devoe gets Matthew's abilities, he could take away all our powers." Barry shoves his hands into his pockets.

"Unless we get him on our side first." Joe suggests, "Then he can remove the meta DNA from DeVoe."

Ralph questions, "Could that work?"

"I mean, yeah." Caitlin nods, "It could. As best I can tell, Matthew's abilities work by melting down the highly concentrated bonds between DNA. That makes them totally pliable so he can extract them and infuse somebody else with the exact same meta DNA."

"Melting highly concentrated bonds." Cisco repeats, "Melting Point. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I gotta write that down."

"Okay, great, so you guys figure out how to get this  Mr. Melting Point in the same room as Devoe and not get his brains sucked out." Ralph starts to leave, "I'm gonna go get a couple of bear claws and go back to my room."

"It's not Mr. Melting Point. Look, it's just Melting Point." Cisco follows him out.

"You know, somebody out there has Fry's fire powers right now." Barry sighs, "We need to find them as much as we need to find Matthew."

"I'm on it." Joe nods.

"And I'll see if there's a way to reverse this." Caitlin nods, leaving.

"Well until then, what do we do?" Iris looks at Barry and I.

I shot Barry a look, not knowing what to tell her, Barry speaking up, "We train."

-

"She can move." Barry mutters from beside me as we watched Iris West run on the treadmill.

The computer starts to beep, my head snapping up, "Uh oh."

"Hey, Iris, you might just wanna-" Barry began to instruct.

She cuts him off, "I can't slow down."

"That's okay." Barry spoke, "All right, just gradually ramp your speed down, otherwise you're gonna-"

Barry's words were cut off when Iris flys off the treadmill, falling into boxes, glass shattering, a grunt leaving her lips, "Do that?"

"That must've hurt-" I blurt out, walking over to her, Barry following me, as we helped her up.

Iris groans, Barry questions, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yep, I'm straight." She nods, "I'm straight. Thank God for speed healing, huh?"

"Yeah." Barry mutters.

"Hey, I know this isn't easy on you." Iris starts, "Barry-"

"I'm fine. I am." Barry sits on the treadmill, sighing, "It- I lost my speed. I lost my job at the CCPD. Just feels like Devoe is slowly taking everything away from me."

Guilt washes over me as I stared at Barry, Iris slowly walking over to him, touching his shoulder, her other hand pointing back at me, once I sit down in a chair, "He hasn't taken everything away."

"What if I never get it back?" Barry looks at her, "What if I never get my speed back?"

"Hey." Iris stops him, "Caitlin is gonna find something, okay? Until then, you just have to watch me like I've watched you these last three years."

"Yeah, I guess so." Barry nods, the alarm blaring loudly, Iris whooshing past us, Barry flinching back, Iris's speed resulting me my chair knocking over, my body hitting the ground when she whooshes past, "Wow, that's super annoying."

I clear my throat, dramatically yelling at the ceiling, "Ow."

I sat up, looking at Barry, "Now, you know how it feels when you whoosh past us- now let's go-" I got up, rushing into the cortex, Barry right behind me.

"What's happening?" Barry asks, as we walk into the cortex, over by everyone else.

"Baldwin Tower's on fire. CCFD's responding, but there's people on the top floor they can't reach." Cisco informs us, his eyes landing on me, "What do we do, boss?"

I snap my fingers, pointing at them one by one, "Caitlin, Killer Frost is on fire duty- Ralph, Cisco, suit up."

"Not a chance." Ralph sits down, propping a chip into his mouth, "This could just be a trap for Devoe to get us out in the open."

"Hey, I think we got a bigger problem." Cisco stares at him, "We don't have a Flash anymore."

"Yeah, we do." Caitlin looks at Iris.

"I don't think she's ready for all that." Barry blurts out, "I mean, she just got her- you just got your powers."

"Um no, I wanna do this." Iris nods at us.

"Okay." I nod towards her, "We'll monitor from here, then."

"Okay, well, you can't go out there wearing that." Cisco points out.

"Oh. Right." Iris exhales, running around Caitlin, switching their outfits, "Sorry, Cait. Mask?"

Cisco grabs a small case, opening it, revealing a eye mask, "Thank you, Jesse Quick."

"Nice." Iris nods, putting them on.

"Please, be careful." Barry pleads at his best friend, before she nods, running off.

"Guess you're on comms." Ralph tells Barry.

"Yeah." Barry walks over to the console, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, how do I-"

"Other monitor." Cisco points.

"Wrong monitor." Barry mumbles to himself, grunting, sitting in my chair, the chair hissing as he brought it down so could fit under the desk.

I walk behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, Iris, there are five people trapped on the 14th floor. First thing you need to do is get them out as fast as you can."

"I did it." Iris lets out an relieved sigh after she had done what I told her to do.

"Great work-" I continue to instruct, "Now you gotta get back in there and put out the fire. Barry's gonna take it from here-"

"I am?" Barry looks up at me.

"Do I look like someone who knows how to describe putting out a fire with using your abilities?" I shot him a look.

"Yeah- yeah, yeah." Barry nods, rubbing his hands together.

"Guys, I'm here." Iris' voice came through the comms, "What do I do?"

"You know what to do." Barry began, "Use your arms. Create wind funnels. Suck all the oxygen out of the room."

"And the fire will go out." Iris mumbles, "Just like he's done a thousand times."

"You got this, girl." Caitlin assures her.

"It's making it worse." Iris says through the line, the computer beeping in front of us, the red on the screen spreading, my head snapping towards Barry.

Ralph questions, "Is she rotating her arms the wrong way or?"

"Just go the opposite direction, okay?" Barry instructs.

The sound of rumbling and Iris West's scream follows, causing me to press my palms against the desk, "Iris, what was that? Are you okay?"

"My leg is pinned." She whimpers through the line, "I can't move."

"Okay, you have to phase through it." Barry tries, running a hand through his hair.

"What? I don't know how." Iris shot back.

Barry tries to explain, "You have to vibrate your whole body, okay? You just you have to feel it."

"I can't." Iris whimpers, "I can't move. I can't do it."

"We're running out of time, Barry." Cisco looks up, "The integrity of the room is failing. The ceiling's gonna collapse."

"Barry!" Caitlin calls, "The whole place is going up."

"Cisco- breach me over there." I walk away from Barry, Cisco nodding, walking over to me, opening a breach, I run right through, making my way over to Iris immediately.

My hands touch the huge piece of ceiling that had her pinned, using my abilities to melt it right here, my other hand using a force field under it so Iris didn't get burned.

I pull Iris up, holding her up, my hand shooting up, creating another force field, blocking the fiery piece of ceiling falling onto us, Cisco pushing us right through a breach, us ending up in Star Labs again.

Iris held onto me, breathing heavily, Barry walking over to us, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah-" Iris nods, her breathing uneven, standing on one foot, holding onto me for support.

-

I walk into Barry's and I's loft, locking the five locks that were on the door. I walked into the living room, noticing the emptiness, dropping my coat on the couch. I unbutton my blouse, slipping it off, tossing it onto the couch, grabbing Barry's flannel off the couch, slipping it on, leaving it unbuttoned, making my way upstairs into our bedroom, my eyes landing on Barry Allen.

He sat on our bed, holding a beer, his eyes holding a tint of red behind them, tears streaming down his cheeks, his eyes scanning over what's written on an unfolded piece of paper over and over.

"Barry-" I trail off, my voice quiet, "What happened? What're you reading?"

Barry looks up at me, the look in his eyes crushing me within, a sniffle leaving him as he looks down at the paper, his voice weak, "The letter- you wrote to me. The night before Reign was going to murder you."

I rushed over to him, seating myself next to him, grabbing onto the letter, staring at it, "Where did you find this?-"

"It was in my nightstand, Zee." Barry sniffles, taking a swing of his beer.

"Why- why are you upset over this?" I look at him, "This is over- I'm alive- we're married. I completely forgot to throw this away-"

"Reading it made me think I actually lost you." Barry admits, his voice growing weaker, "The thought of losing you-"

"Hey-" I face him, looking at him, "You did not lose me. I'm right here."

"You wrote your vow in the letter." Barry's voice cracks, as he sets down the beer, "You wrote that- you took me as your husband."

"Barry-" I exhale, wrapping my arms around him tightly, pulling his head into my chest, as he held onto me tight. Barry goes silent, laying in my arms, his crying stopped, the two of us just laying in silence.

He broke the silence, the subject changing, "I never knew how much pressure you've been in since you took on being Team Leader."

"I handle it pretty well if I do say so myself." I lightly shrug, running my hands through his hair.

"You do." Barry mumbles, "I'm proud of you."

I go silent about the subject, starting a new one, "Are you okay, Barry?"

He looks up at me, "I'm fine- I just got upset over the letter- I'm okay now-"

"Dude-" I scoff, looking at him, slipping away from him, sitting up, looking at him.

"Dude?" Barry repeats, sitting up also, looking at me, wiping his dry tears away.

"I know you better than anyone." I shot him a look, "You've been bothered since you lost your speed."

Barry looks up at me, a sigh leaving his lips, "It's just- I'm missing a part of me. Having my speed- that's what makes me The Flash."

"The speed isn't what makes you The Flash." I put a hand on his shoulder, "Your heart. Your mind. The goodness in you- that's what makes you The Flash. The urge to keep innocent people safe- to protect. Your speed is just what helps you do it."

Barry smiles at me, cutting me off by pressing his lips into mine, pushing me onto the bed, climbing right on top of me. My hands grab his face, as his slowly slip off his flannel off me, tossing it to the side.

My hands move to his hair, tugging on it lightly, a small grunt leaving him, unbuttoning his shirt, slipping off his t shirt along with it, discarding it, pressing a few kisses down my neck.

His hands go to the button of my jeans, sucking on a piece of my skin, my hands trailing up and down his body.

-

"Any updates?" I walk into the cortex, fixing Barry's flannel that I wore, clearing my throat.

Iris' eyes land on my neck, "What's on your neck-"

"I- burnt myself with my flat iron." I stand behind the console, typing away on the screen, my eyes scanning over the search grid Cisco has set up.

Barry walks in behind me, standing directly behind me, looking over my shoulder at what I was looking at.

"Since when does your flat iron walk?" Cisco questions from where he sat, looking at Barry.

"Hi, flat iron." Caitlin cheekily waves at Barry.

"Guys-" I scoff, covering my face.

"What're you guys talking about-" Barry starts to say, but the alarm starts blaring, my eyes snapping down at what I was looking at before.

Caitlin's voice catches my attention, "I think we've found Fry's missing powers."

"Satellite is tracking temperature at the same intensity as the bank robbery, so-" Harry walks in, crossing his arms, "That's him."

"So who's that?" Caitlin questions, looking at the live footage of what was happening.

"Matthew Kim." Harry answers, "Kim's gonna try and steal his powers."

"Zee-" Iris grabs my arm, "I can do this. I have to."

"I'm coming with you." I pull my arm from her, walking towards my suit, pointing at Cisco and Caitlin, "You guys on point, Barry- on comms."

"All right, but remember, he can't touch you." Barry grabs my arm, looking at Iris and I, "Or he'll take both your powers away, too."

"Right." Caitlin nods, "Also I'm not sure my clothes are gonna work this time."

"I have a fix for that." Cisco brings something out, "It's the best I could do on such short notice, though."

"Thanks, Cisco." Iris nods, running off, changing into the suit, changing me into mine without me realizing, both our clothes dropping to the floor as she runs us to where we needed to be, placing me somewhere, grabbing Matthew Kim, saving him, placing meta cuffs on his wrists, "I think you've done enough saving for today. We'll take it from here."

"How about we just end this right now?" Iris walks over by me, as we stood in front of the man who used Fry's powers.

"That sounds fun." He chuckles, using his abilities to erupt flames right in front of us, the heat being too hot for us- even me to withstand, "Cause I was just warming up."

The fire crackles as he pushes himself more, the heat increasing, "What's wrong? Can't stand the heat?"

"All right, Iris, we need you to run around him. Create a vortex. The lack of oxygen should extinguish the flames." Barry's voice came through the comms.

"I can't get close to him!" Iris squeaks, my entire body stumbling back at the increasing heat, "Guys, we need a plan!"

"Oh, I got a plan, lady." The man smirks, creating some sort of cyclone around him of flames, my eyes widening at the sight, "And it's called give me my money before I unleash hell!"

"What the hell is that?" I press my fingers to the comm, staring right at what had become in front of us.

"That is a thermo cyclone." Harry's voice comes in.

"That fire's gonna get too close to those apartments." Cisco exhales, "And thousands of people will die."

I jump off the ground, lifting to the air, moving up until I met in the middle with the cyclone, Barry's voice coming right through immediately when he sees my actions, "Zee- what're you doing?"

"I have- an idea." I mutter, before using my force field to contain the cyclone as best as I could, the heat burning into my skin, as I held myself there.

"Barry, come on, I need an answer!" Iris shrieks into the comms, the heat being to strong for her to even come near.

"Barry-" I mutter, "I can't hold this for long-"

"Hang on, guys- hang on." Barry pushes, a small whimper of pain leaving my lips as I squeezed my eyes shut, using as much power in me as I had to hold the force field.

A few moments later, Barry was instructing, "Iris, I need you to run as fast as you can. On the water."

"On the water?" Iris repeats, "What?"

"Make sure when you run you dig your heels in and you move back and forth in a tight formation." Barry told her, "So you drag as much water ashore as possible. Put out the cyclone."

"You want me to create a 100-foot tidal wave?" Iris asks, "Are you crazy? I can't do that."

"Yes you can." Barry shot back, "You just need to focus. Focus on who you need to save. Thousands could die in those apartments."

"Iris-" Caitlin's voice comes in through the line, "If you don't do this- with the amount of heat Zee is being exposed to trying to contain it- if she doesn't get away from that heat soon, she could die."

"What?" Barry snips, as I could just imagine Barry's head snapping towards her, in panic, "Iris- you can do this. Now run, Iris. Run."

Before I could even look back, Iris was gone, doing exactly what Barry had told her, Barry encouraging her through the comms and telling me to hang on. I clench my teeth with all my strength, pushing myself harder, my entire body shaking slightly.

Within seconds, a huge wave of cold water showers over the man and I, the cyclone completely diminishing, a gasp leaving my lips as the water came in contact with my burns, my body falling and hitting the ground.

Iris runs over to me, helping me up, "Are you okay?"

I nod, blinking, completely soaked, breathing heavily, small bits of blood dripping from each cut and burn I had on my body.

"Nice work, Flash." Joe West smiles at us, cuffing the man, "You too, Reign."

Iris smiles back at him as I barely gave him a nod, Iris running us back to Star Labs, Barry engulfing me into a hug the minute he saw me, not caring about how I was still soaked.

I melted into his embrace, using the smallest bit of my powers to dry off, drying his shirt also, my hair still slightly damp.

Cisco points at me once I pull away from Barry, "Your eyes-"

"What- about them?" I question, putting a strand of my hair behind my ear, ignoring the pain from the burns and cuts as Caitlin was already preparing some tests to run on me, along with things to fix me up.

"They're practically glowing crystal white- instead of red." Cisco spoke, "Actually, it's like the white is clawing onto the red so there's marks of it- wow that's super cool-"

"Wait- why are they changing color?" I touch my under eye.

"I'll have to run some tests-" Cisco nods at me.

-

"I'm so sorry I did this to you." Matthew Kim spoke to us, as we all stood in the cortex, "I thought I was cleaning up the city, but I was just making it worse."

We all stood in the cortex a little later, Barry in his suit to hide his identity from Matthew, all of us gathered there. I was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and Barry's Star Labs t shirt, tying it up in the middle. Caitlin had treated my burns and cuts, telling me that I would heal soon, which I already was. I was almost fully recovered.

"Well, we stopped him." Barry crosses his arms, "He's in Iron Heights, and that's all that matters now."

"You sure you both wanna do this?" Matthew Kim looks between Barry and Iris.

"It's your call." Barry looks at her.

"I have to say running on water is really fun." Iris turns and looks at us, a small smile on her face, "But, if you guys will have me back, I would love to get back behind the console with Zee again."

"Of course." Caitlin smiles.

"Please, and thank you." Cisco dismisses.

Matthew nods, "All ready?"

Barry and Iris nod, Matthew touching Iris' shoulder, absorbing the power. I walk over to Caitlin's desk, looking at my feet as I walked, accidentally bumping into Barry, my eyes wide, Matthew grabbing my arm to stop me from falling, Barry grabbing my waist.

"Geez-" I mumble, "I'm clumsy- I'm sorry." I apologize, shaking my head in embarrassment, walking over to Caitlin's desk, grabbing someone, then returning to the console, typing away on the screen.

Matthew places his arm onto Barry's shoulder, transferring his powers back into him from Iris, or so we all thought.

"That's it?" I question, turning off the screen, looking up, my arms crossed.

"You okay, baby girl?" Joe asks Iris, Iris nodding with a smile, What about you, Flash?"

Barry shot us all a look, raising his hand to vibrate it, only to see it not working. My eyebrows furrow as I slowly step next to everyone else, "Did it not work? Iris, do you still have his powers?"

Iris shook her head after raising her hand, trying to vibrate also, "No- I'm all human again."

"Then what happened to them?" Barry questions, fear sparking in his eyes, "Where did they go?"

"We need to run tests. See what's wrong." I nod at them all, crossing my arms, "Matthew- you're gonna need to stick around for a while."

-

"Barry-" I shot him a look from across the room, my arms crossed. I had changed into an oversized large orange sweater and a pair of black leggings, my hair a slight mess, as I was seated in the kitchen, Barry in the living room, "We're going to find out what happened to your speed."

"Zee-" Barry sighs, breaking his eye contact with the floor, "My speed just- disappeared. Iris doesn't even have it. And we ran tests on Matthew- he doesn't have my speed. Where else could it be?"

"I don't know-" I shrug, "If it got into the wrong hands- that wouldn't be good."

"It wouldn't be in the wrong hands." Barry exhales, slouching in his seat on the couch, "It has to be someone at Star Labs. Someone of the team."

"How does he transfer meta powers again?" I question, rounding the counter.

"He touches a meta- and transfers their powers by touching someone else." Barry crosses his arms.

I sat next to him, my voice going quiet, thought filled in my tone, as if I was preparing him for something, "Barry."

"Yes?" Barry looks at me.

"When I almost fell at the Labs earlier-" I clear my throat, "Matthew grabbed my arm so I didn't fall."

Barry stares at me for a second, catching on, sitting up quickly, "You think you-"

"It's a possibility." I shot out quickly, putting a strand of my hair behind my ear.

Barry grabs a mug from the coffee table, tossing it in the air, everything suddenly moving in slow motion. My eyes grow wide at the sight, watching everything frozen around me, as I stood up, grabbing the mug, everything suddenly going back to normal.

Barry's eyes snap towards me, his eyes slightly wide, "Zee-"

"Hang on-" I held up the mug, "You threw my favorite mug-"

"Zee." Barry snaps me out of it, taking a taste of reality.

"Wait- I just-" I stare at the mug, slowly setting it down, lifting my hand, vibrating it, "What the hell happened to my powers then?"

Barry stood up, "I might of mistakenly gotten yours-"

"How do we know for s-" I began, shutting myself up when Barry's eyes flash red, crystal white clawing onto it.

"First of all-" I inhale sharply, "Man- was that hot."

Barry shot me a look, causing me to correct myself, "We need to get back to the Labs." I exhale, "Now."

-

"Just one more time-" I held onto Barry's arms, smiling up at him innocently, "Just one more."

"She said two hours ago." Cisco shot me a look.

"Fine." Barry gives in, a soft smile forming on his lips, "Knock yourself out."

I clap my hands together, smiling, before running back to where I was before, running laps over and over. We were all in the Speed Lab, and I just couldn't get myself to stop running. Knowing I had to give Barry his speed back eventually, I was using the time we had to my advantage, begging for more.

"Is she ever gonna stop?" Cisco yawns, sitting in his office chair.

"Eh-" Barry shrugs, stood next to him, watching me run, the purple lightning following right after me, "We might have to man handle her."

"I got it!" Cisco claps his hands together, "Just kiss her."

Barry laughs, as I come to a stop next to him, Barry holding me so I could keep my balance, my breathing heavy, "Man- that is fun."

"I know." Barry nods lightly, rubbing my back.

"I finally understand why you love running so much-" I turn, unintentionally using the speed, running into boxes, groaning, laying on the ground, "Okay, I don't want em anymore."

Barry shook his head, laughing at me, helping me up, "You okay?"

"I'm fine." I nod, looking at Matthew.

"You two ready?" Matthew asks us, a small nod coming from the two of us, his hands touching our shoulders simply, our powers switching.

"How do you feel?" Iris asks me.

"Fine-" I answer, my eyes shining red and white, my head turning towards Barry, "You?"

The corners of Barry's mouth turn up lightly, fixing his cowl, his eyes connecting with mine, his eyes sparking with electricity, then running around the room, coming to a stop where he stood before, "I feel great."

Cisco laughs, "My boy's back."

"Well, that's the last time I'm using this power." Matthew sighs, "The city was almost destroyed because of me."

"But you had no idea that would happen." I step up, looking at him.

"Yeah, don't be so hard on yourself, pal." Ralph backs me up.

"I thought I was chosen for a higher purpose." Matthew admits, "This can't be the plan for me."

"But maybe you were chosen for a bigger one." Barry spoke up.

Matthew shot him a look, "What do you mean?"

"The guy we mentioned, Clifford Devoe, he isn't gonna stop until he gets all the bus metas." I exclaim, "Which means we have to stop him. We could use all the help we could get."

"Are you sure I can make a difference?" He questions.

"Absolutely." Caitlin nods, "Devoe's shown weakness against other bus metas in the past. With your help, we might actually have a chance."

"How do we start?" Matthew smiles.

"I'll give you the tour." Cisco walks over to him, Matthew holding up his hand to high five him, Cisco putting his hands up in surrender as they walked out the Speed Lab, "No offense, I like my powers."

"So, Bare. You never made your own tidal wave before." Joe laughs quietly.

"No, I haven't." Barry shakes his head, laughing lightly.

"I think I've found my new favorite speedster." I wrap an arm around Iris' neck, as she laughs at me.

"Hey now-" Barry shoots me a pout.

I simply wink at him, as Caitlin smiles, everyone slowly leaving Iris, Barry and I in the Speed Lab.

"I'm- gonna be back." I nod towards them, following Ralph, "Ralph- hey."

Ralph stops at the end of the hall, looking at me as I spoke up, "You know, Matthew is gonna need a buddy, too."

"Well, that's, uh- that's assuming he stays." Ralph shoves his hands in his pockets, "After he finds out that DeVoe has gotten everyone he's come after, he'll be terrified. Just like I am."

"Look, Ralph, I know what you're going through." I shove my hands into my pockets.

"No, Zee, you don't." He shook his head, looking down.

"Yes, I do." I shot back at him, "Do you know how many times I've been close to dying? Where it was written- for me to die?"

Ralph goes silent as I continued, "I've been doing this way longer than you have, Ralph. I know- exactly what you're going through."

"How?" Ralph questions, looking at me.

"Well," I began, shrugging lightly, "Once the Reverse Flash threw me off a- give or take- twenty story building. I was once almost choked to death by Zoom himself- who technically is my super-villain speedster brother. Oh- right, my evil doppelganger once had me drink regenerated snake poison- which also almost killed me; it stopped my heart. And then- that same doppelganger had teamed up with my husband's evil time remnant to kill me. Whenever Barry tried to save Iris from getting killed, he was screwing with my future. Oh geez- let's not forget about my lunatic ex boyfriend that has kidnapped me twice and had almost successfully murdered me both times."

"Geez-" Ralph exhales.

"So, yes, Ralph. I know exactly how you feel." I take a step closer to him, "Last year when I thought that Reign was going to kill me, I was scared out of my mind. I took- tons of Modafinil to keep myself awake- to figure out how to save myself. I kept myself hostage in my own loft- taking sleep away from myself- hiding away."

"How'd you stop?" Ralph questions, "How did you deal with the fear?"

"I had Barry." I let out a weak breathy laugh of relief, "I had Barry with me. I had my team- I had a people that- wouldn't let me believe I was going to die. So I didn't give into the fear. I stayed strong. I kept living."

"Look, uh-" Ralph clears his throat, "What I said before about you never putting your life on the line I was wrong. You make one hell of a superhero. In or out of the costume."

"Thanks." I smile weakly.

-

"Fresh from this little place in Keystone that Cecile recommended." Barry whooshes in, holding a box of pizza, his eyes landing on me. I seated in a different place then I was when he left, seated on the steps of the staircase, dressed in a pair of black joggers and a oversized sweater, my hair a small mess, my burns and cuts completely healed.

"Don't go to the living room-" I put my hands up, pointing directly towards the dining table, my laptop resting there, opened to articles I had written about when I used to work at CCPN.

"Why not?" Barry stares at me with question, handing me the box of pizza.

"There's a spider on the table." I held onto the hot box of pizza, looking up at him.

"Why didn't you just kill it?" Barry asks me, "You're trained superhero- and you can't kill a spider?"

"I have two hands. It has eight. That isn't fair." I lay the box in my lap, putting my hands up in surrender.

Barry shot me a look, a small chuckle leaving his lips, walking over to the dining, grabbing a tissue and killing the spider, throwing it out.

I walk over to him, grabbing a Clorox wipe, wiping the spot down, tossing it away, then setting the pizza box down, returning back to the seated I was previously seated in, Barry pulling a chair next to me, opening the box of pizza, grabbing a slice.

Barry's eyes furrow at the sight of what was on my laptop, "What're you reading?"

"Old articles I wrote-" I slouch in my seat, "When you first started being The Flash. The days of the Reverse Flash and Zoom."

"Man-" Barry chews on a bite of his pizza, feeding me a bite of his slice, "Those were the days."

I shook my head, my arms crossed as I let out a small laugh in amusement, "Of course. My favorite was when Reverse Flash threw me off a building."

Barry chuckles again lightly, swallowing his bite, as I sighed, staring at the words, "I really loved writing."

"I mean- I completely forgot how it felt to- write about insane- phenomenons." I continued when Barry's attention was glued to me, "To- tell the city about what is actually happening. To entertain them by telling them how The Flash defeated this weeks meta human."

"I'm sorry I took that away from you." Barry wraps an arm around me, pure guilt and regret in his sigh.

"Hey-" I look at him, giving him a weak smile, "I didn't exactly know how much I needed becoming a Detective."

"Journalism is your thing, though." Barry rubs my arm, "You loved being a Journalist."

"Solving mysteries has always been my thing." I nuzzle my cheek into his shoulder, "I just didn't know until you changed the timeline. So in some ways- I'm thanking you."

Barry lightly kisses my cheek, leaning his head against mine, his eyes scanning over the paragraphs on my computer screen.

"What's your strength?" I randomly question quietly, the question unexpectedly crossing my mind, my entire chest pushing the urge to ask him.

"You." Barry answers without hesitation, not asking why I had asked the question in the first place.

"And your weakness?" I push my cheek against his shoulder.

Barry instantly answers, softly squeezing my arm, "Still you."

My heart bursts with emotions as I looked up at him, moving my head from his shoulder, "I don't want to be a weakness."

"Zee, you're my wife." Barry emphasizes, then chuckles quietly to himself, looking down, "Man- I love saying that."

I smile weakly, grabbing a slice of pizza, taking a bite, "I love hearing you say it."

authors note:

I added a part in 107, if you wanna go back and read that you can. It's not very like huge but it's kinda eh.