"What? Whoa." I heard Barry's voice come from the living room as I slowly walked downstairs, yawning quietly, he laughs, "No! Huh?"

My footsteps halt when I walk into the living room, "What- did I just walk into?"

I stood there, rubbing the sleep away from my eyes, yawning again, which is cut off with a small shriek, due to Barry scooping me into his arms then plopping onto the couch with me on top of him.

I opened my eyes, my eyes falling onto the tv, Barry speaking up, "I'm just catching up on all the TV I missed while I was stuck in the Speed Force. When you've been gone six months, the world is a minefield of spoilers. But Cisco hooked me up with the 1,000-times sped up version of my favorite shows."

"Aw, Jon Snow died." Barry pouts, but then suddenly his features turn into a shocked pleasing expression, "Oh, he's alive!" Then his expression falls confused, "Huh-"

"Okay- wow." I scoff, looking at him, "That just screams instant headache."

"Not when you're the fastest man alive." Barry winks at me, leaning up, pressing his lips into mine, but pulls away at the sound of his phone buzzing, as he pulls it out, "Joe needs us at a crime scene-"

"Oh- I can go get dressed then-" I start, moving off his lap, standing up.

Barry cuts me up, catching my waist as he stood up, "You know what- take your time. I'll give you all the details about the crime scene."

"If you insist-" I dramatically say in a jokingly way, dropping back onto the couch, grabbing the binder on the small table by the couch, "I should get through this binder with the time on my hands though- it's filled with our neglected wedding plans and it'll most likely take me all day."

"Oh, no. Don't worry about it." Barry slips on a jacket, "I'm done with it."

"You're- done with it?" I repeat, looking up at him.

"Yeah, I finished it this morning-" Barry smiles, "I locked in a caterer, I got you your favorite flowers, I put a deposit on a venue with an amazing view, I got that seven tier triple chocolate cake-"

My eyes are wide, "I don't know if I should hug you or kiss you right now. I mean- you got everything covered."

"So my lovely fiancée can remain stress-free." Barry leans over, pressing a kiss to my lips, then fixes his jacket, "Save me a bear claw?"

"I'll bring one by when I meet you at Star Labs-" I smile lightly, placing the binder down where I picked it up from, as he shoots me a smile, then whooshes off.

-

"The Cortex's quantum algorithm should decrypt this code in no time." I heard Cisco's voice come from the cortex as I walked down the hall, heading into the cortex, "That should help us ID our new hacker."

Cisco's words fade when his eyes landing on me, the corners of his mouth turning up, noticing my appearance, "Oh- ho- ho- she's back!"

I roll my eyes lightly playfully, as he referred to my freshly cut medium length hair, and the missing septum ring that I had just taken out and decided to only put in once in a while.

Iris nudges my shoulder, "We missed you."

I smile at her, walking over to Barry, holding up the small foam plate, a bear claw resting on it, "I brought you a bear claw."

He smiles, thanking me, kissing my cheek, stealing the bear claw, taking a bite, as I threw out the plate.

"Anyway," Cisco began, "While we wait, I got a little welcome back gift for you." Cisco signals for us to follow him, "Come, come. Walk with ya boy. Gather round, class."

He rips off the sheet, revealing to us the new suit he had made for Barry, "Ka-blam!"

"I mean, that was cool reveal and everything, but I've seen that suit. I've actually already worn it." Barry shrugs, finishing the last bit of his bear claw.

"Yeah," Wally sat in a seat, "We all know you gave Barry's suit a nice little fancy makeover."

"Yeah, but you don't know what you don't know.
And underneath all thisthed beautiful, I've built in self-repairing armor, nano-liquid circuitry, full-spectrum scanning, and a whole bunch of other big words." Cisco brags, as he presses a few things on his tablet, the suit whirring, "Chief among them. Your very own custom-made HUD. This thing is loaded with maps, schematics, delivery menus.You know that Thai place you like so much?

"Yeah, love the Pad See Ew." Barry smiles.

"You know how we Pad See do." Cisco and Barry do a handshake, causing me to let out a laugh.

"Dude, this is awesome." Barry steps closer to the suit, "What else does it do?"

"Well, lucky for you, I even wrote you an instruction manual." Cisco hands him a huge binder.

"Yay." Barry says sarcastically.

"You act like you can't read that in less than a millisecond." I pat his shoulder, patting Cisco's shoulder next, "Really good work."

"I know." He smiles cheekily, leaving the cortex.

"I'll look at this later." Barry sets the binder down, "Um, I gotta get back to CCPD-"

"That's where I'm heading-" I grab my car keys, starting to head out, as Barry catches up to me.

"And you can blame this on Cisco, but I'm thinking Thai tonight?" Barry suggests, his arms held out as a shrug.

"Sounds good." I kiss his cheek.

Before we can even made it out the cortex, the alert starts beeping rapidly, causing me to halt in my tracks and run right back into the cortex, hopping into the seat, looking at the monitor that sat in front of me, "There's a car going 120 swerving between lanes. You both need to get out there-"

"That's one car." Barry scoffs, "I got it." He disappears, his suit along with him.

"But, I can help-" Wally's voice fades when Barry is already gone.

"Sorry, Wally." I sigh, looking at the monitor.

Barry voice comes in through the comms, "Okay, guys, it's a runaway. Driver's trapped inside. I'm gonna change his trajectory."

"Okay, then turn him left." I instruct, "There's a turn-off for runaway trucks coming up. Just clear a path and the car will come to a stop there."

"No, no, no." Barry goes against my orders, "I'm gonna push him right. That street's empty. I can help him there."

"Barry, don't-" The sound of tires screeching meant he had already done it, causing me to sigh, "You can't go down that road."

"What? Why?" asked Barry.

"They started construction on that street three months ago. It's completely blocked-" I told him.

The sound of tools cranking and the vanished screaming revealed that Barry had saved the man, causing me to sigh and fall back into my chair, crossing my arms.

Soon enough, Barry shows back up, as we all crowded around the parts of the car Barry had brought back, Cisco speaking up, "I know a guy almost died, but what happened to this sexy beast here today- is the real tragedy."

"That could've been a lot worse." Wally tells him.

"I'm sorry, guys." Barry apologizes, "This one is all on me."

"Okay, so my dad talked to the driver, Tim Kwon. He's fine. He's gonna question him and see if they can figure out who did this." Iris tells me.

I exhale, "Cisco? What do we got?"

"Beginning auto-topsy. Now." Cisco pulls whatever part he needed into his monitor with a wire.

"That is the same weird code from the elevator murder scene." Barry stares at the screen.

"Wait doesn't that mean-" Wally starts, but Iris finishes his sentence for him, "Our hacker's got a hit list."

"Can you crack it?" asked Barry.

"Man, I've been trying to crack this code all day." Cisco stares at him.

"It looks like a virus." Caitlin types away on the screen, "It looks like an organic virus."

"But with a digital sub-base." Cisco caught on, "Our killer isn't just hacking machines. He's controlling them."

"Our hacker's not a hacker-" I look up.

"He's a meta." Barry finishes my sentence.

"Is there any connection between the two victims?" I look at Cisco.

"There's nothing online." Cisco told me, "But their names Weaver, Kwon They sound very familiar to me. I started collecting these tech magazines in high school."

"Those are the magazines you collected in high school?" Wally was holding back a laugh.

Cisco starts laugh, "Okay. That's- that's hurtful. That's really hurtful. Anyway. I'm 90% sure that's where I read those names."

"Start digging." I told him, patting his back, looking at Barry, "Can I talk to you?"

Barry hums in response, following me into the hall. I turn, and look at him, crossing my arms, exhaling deeply through my nose.

"Hey, about what happened- I am sorry." Barry apologizes again, "I should've listened to you, it's just, sometimes when I'm out there, things move so fast and I'm really excited to be the Flash again.
Anyway, I hope you're not mad." His expression changing at the look on my face, "And you are. You're mad, aren't you?"

"Just- a little." I put a strand of my hair behind my ear, I sigh, a small nervous laugh leaving my lips, "I mean- Tom Kwon could've died out there, Barry. I don't want to rain on your parade, because I'm so happy you're back- and you're out and about again, but."

Barry was already piecing everything together, "You want me to follow orders."

"Please?" I plead, "I'm not trying to be bossy- or anything- I just want you to, you know- be a little safer out there? I don't exactly know how to word it anymore-"

"No- I get it." Barry grabs onto my forearms, pulling me close, "I got it. Follow orders."

"Thank you." I gave him a weak smile, giving him a quick kiss.

-

I sat at my desk at CCPD, my eyes running over Tim Kwon's statement that was written on the document. I tone out half way, not noticing that I was hitting my desk with my pen, my leg shaking in its place out of habit.

I run a hand through my hair, feeling the thoughts that flooded get under my skin. I sigh, tossing my pen with full force in front of me, it hitting Detective Patterson right in the arm, as I quickly sat up in my desk, my eyes wide.

A small gasp leaves my mouth once it hits him, embarrassment washing over me. Patterson turns towards me, looking right at me, "That wasn't funny, Young."

"I- wasn't trying to be funny." I stammer out, too embarrassed and shocked to let out anything else, now Barry and Joe's eyes on me while they were in mid conversation.

"It was an accident, Patterson. It won't happen again." Barry Allen was next to me, his hand on my shoulder, looking directly at Patterson.

Patterson rolls his eyes, walking away, as I let out a breath, burying my face into my hands.

"What's wrong?" asked Barry, putting a hand on my back.

I shook my head, "I'm fine." I stood up, shifting away from his touch, closing the case folder.

"No, you're not-" Barry looks at me, "Something's bothering you."

"No, there isn't." I walk away from him, walking up the steps and into his CSI lab, sitting myself into his chair, putting my head in my hands.

Footsteps follow right in not even a minute later, and I already knew it was Barry, his soft voice filling my ears, "What's all this really about?"

"What're you talking about?" I look up at him, keeping my mouth shut, sucking on my teeth, my teeth gritted behind my lips.

Barry shook his head, "There's something else bothering you."

"Barry-" I start.

He cuts me off, walking over, leaning back against his desk, his arms crossed, looking at me, as I sat completely straight in his chair, "After everything we've been through together, you should know I know you better than anyone at this point- you and me, we're Barry and Zee. We're the gold standard."

"Gold standard, huh?" I mutter under my breath, exhaling, running a hand through my hair.

"Yes." Barry looks at me, "I'm so in love with-"

Before I could stop myself, I blurt out, "Then how could you leave me?"

"What?" Barry's voice fades.

"You left me- for six months." I stared at him, tears stinging in my eyes, as I stood up, "You were gone, Barry. I couldn't look at photos of us without completely breaking down. Whenever you were mentioned, I stepped out of the room. I turned into a completely different person. I lost myself. I was so convinced I had lost you."

"And I actually felt guilty for being upset when you finally got you out. When you were out- I felt guilty for being upset about this. Because you were just trying to save all of us. But- now that you're back. You've been acting like none of it happened- and we're just a completely- fine- problem free couple." A small tear slipped from my eye, "How could you ever leave me like that?"

Barry stayed silent.

-

"Hey." Barry's voice caught my attention as he walks into the Time Vault, where I sat alone on the ground.

My head snaps up, "Barry- I'm sorry-"

"No-" Barry sat next to me, exhaling, "I don't know why I thought that we didn't have to talk about what happened."

I look at him, sighing as he spoke, "You were so happy I was back."

"I am-" I told him, "I really am. I just-" I exhale deeply, "I completely lost myself when you left. It was almost like without Barry Allen, there wasn't a Zee Young. I changed my appearance- in hopes that I would become who I was in high school. Someone who didn't care about anything that happened to her- because of how much she had already dealt with. But- all I became was- someone so- hurt and broken. That- all I could do was throw myself in my work, and lie about how I felt."

Barry stays silent, as I went on, "It really sucked lying about why you were gone. Trying to explain- why you disappeared. Knowing that- eventually the lies would become too much and everyone would find out that you weren't coming back."

"Zee," Barry sighs, grabbing my hand, "It's not like I wanted to leave you. I had to put on a brave face for everyone, but it was killing me inside. And I think part of why I didn't talk it through with you is-
I was afraid. I was afraid that you would tell me to stay. And I wouldn't have been strong enough not to."

"I would've." I admit, looking down, slightly ashamed, "I would've. I didn't want you to be a hero that day. I wanted you to stay with me- and become my husband. As much as I wanted you to stay- you couldn't."

"But sometimes it's not about us, or the team. Sometimes the weight of the whole city falls on my shoulders, and it's up to me to carry it." Barry said, "I'm the Flash."

"You're The Flash." I nod, "But- you have a team. A team- to help you carry that. You're not the only hero in the city, ya know." I playfully nudge his side. "You just have to let us."

He shot me a small smile, as an entire weight felt like it was just lifted off my shoulders from this conversation we had just had.

"Guys." Cisco's came in through some sort of connected computer, "We need you. It's about Deacon."

Barry and I got up, heading into the cortex, my eyes landing on what showed on the screen, it being a live stream of Tim Kwon, sweaty, and out of breath, held captive, "I have something to confess. Kurt Weaver, Sheila Agnani, and I, we stole the Kilgore malware program from Ramsey Deacon. We sold it for billions. But it was all his idea. We got rich. And he got nothing."

"I guess that explains why Deacon's got such a vendetta." Iris sighs.

I look at Cisco, "Cisco, if he's livestreaming, can you track the signal?"

"In, like, two seconds." Cisco padded away on his touch screen, "Papa loves having his own satellite."

"What are you gonna do when you find him?" Joe asks.

"Hit him with this." Caitlin held up a vial filled with a purple substance.

"What is that?" Iris asks.

"Deacon's powers are derived from the binary code in his DNA. So, we created a compound encoded with a numerical string pattern of ones and zeros to invert the order of the code. Ones become zeros, and vice versa." Cisco told us, "One plus one plus one."

"All right, we're on it." Barry takes the vial, starting to leave with Wally, "Send us the location once you have it."

-

"Listen, I know you feel wronged, Deacon, but that doesn't give you a right to take his life." Barry's voice came through the comms, as we stared at the many monitors.

"I smell technology in your suit." Deacon's voice came through, "What have you got in there?"

"Oh, crap." Cisco spoke.

"Barry? What's happening?" I ask, seated in my chair, drumming my fingers against the table.

"It's Deacon, he's done something with my suit." Barry told me.

"Remote access complete." Cisco's voice came from the suit, my head snapping towards him.

"You put your voice in Barry's suit?" I stared at him.

"Well, it had to be somebody and my voice is soothing." Cisco reasons.

"How much tech did you put in this suit?" Caitlin questions.

"So much." Cisco sighs, a groan leaving his lips, his computer beeping, "Frack me, he's locked me out of my own programming."

"Do something." Iris told him.

"Uh Barry, get away from him." Cisco blurts out, earning a look from everyone as he quickly tried to explain himself, "It might lessen his technopathic hold over you."

"I can't!" Barry's voice came in, and suddenly it was cut out.

"Barry? Barry." Cisco presses his screen, "His comms are offline."

The phone rings, as I pressed a button, answering it, everyone staring at me, a confused expression on my face, "Hello?"

"You have a collect call from-" A robotic voice came through the line, followed by Barry's distressed voice, "Guys, help me!"

"We accept the charges." I quickly blurt out, "Barry?"

"The suit's still freaking out." Barry's voice sounded the line.

"Well, get it off!" Iris throws out an idea.

"Nope- yeah, I can't get it off." Barry tells me.

"That would be the deadlock function." Cisco says, "I built it in case he ever got knocked out so a bad guy wouldn't reveal his identity. It seemed like a smart idea at the time.

"Flotation mode activated." The robotic voice came through, causing Joe to speak up, 0What the hell does he need a raft for, Cisco?"

"He runs on water. He might lose his speed out there. What's he gonna do then? He might drown." Cisco reasons, backing up his choices.

"You couldn't just put an oxygen tank in the suit?" Caitlin threw out the idea, staring at him.

"That's a good idea-" Cisco points at her.

"Cisco!" Barry shouts into the line, stammering, "What's Babel Protocol? Why am I ticking?"

"It's the self-destruct sequence." Cisco says quietly.

"Cisco!" I raise my voice, staring at him, my eyes wide.

"What?" Joe said, his eyes wide.
"Self-destruct?" Caitlin said in unison with him.

"I-I'm sorry, have we not faced an evil version of Barry before? My mistake!" Cisco stammers out, seeing the backfiring of his tech now.

"Well, how do I stop it?" Barry asks.

"Cisco, there must be something we can do." Iris looks at him.

"Not as long as this thing's powered up." Cisco runs his hands through his hair; stressed.

"Barry? Listen to me-" I inhale deeply, staring at my ring.

"Zee! I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry." Barry shouts into the line, "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

"I need you to throw a lightning bolt." I say carefully, "At yourself."

Joe looks at me, "You want him to do what?"

"It might short the suit out, give him back control." I explain what was behind my thinking.

"Or it might set off the self-destruct early." Cisco says a possibility.

"Or it might stop his heart." Caitlin spoke.

"Well- do you have any better ideas?" I shot at them, "Barry- just- try. For me."

"Okay." His tone softens, "No- I trust you, Zee."

"Then do it." I say in a rushed tone, "You have ten seconds before that thing blows."

-

Barry had captured Kilgore, safely locking him away, without any way to get anywhere near technology.

"I brought brownies-" Barry barges through the our bedroom door, holding a paper bag with the logo of the bakery down the street.

I jump up and jogging over to him, "Gimme-"

Barry smiles lightly, opening the bag, handing me a brownie. I took a bite, the savory flavor causing me to let out a moan, Barry letting out a small laugh as we sat down on the bed.

"I love you." I say, taking another bit of the brownie.

"Were you talking to me- or the brownie?" Barry asks, wrapping an arm around me.

"Do you want me to lie to you?" I look at him.

His eyes squint suspiciously, as the answer slips hesitantly from his mouth, "Yes?"

"You." I smile innocently.

Barry laughs, kissing my head, "I'll never get enough of you, Zee Young."

"Well- let's hope you won't get enough of Zee Allen either." I shot him a soft smile.

authors note:

jonas brothers. all i gotta say.