F O U R T Y - S E V E N:
an old friend of a friend

"I'm going to destroy you," Barry said. The sound of pins dropping, balls rolling, and music filled Bibiana's ears. Barry took her out bowling and he thought he was going to win.

"Don't get comfortable," Bibiana replied. A smirk rested on her face.

"I'm pretty sure, I'm going to win," Barry said, smiling at his girlfriend.

"That's what you said when we went out mini golfing," Bibiana said.

"Ah, but this is my favorite place. I basically grew up here," Barry replied. The smirk changed into a smile on Bibiana's face. They both looked at each other and got closer. Their lips met before they pulled apart.

"Hi, guys," Iris said from a lane. Bibiana shifted her head and saw her friend.

"Iris. Eddie. Hey," Barry said, walking towards them. He had put his arm around Bibiana.

"Hey," Bibiana greeted. To be honest, Bibiana felt her mood go down by one percent. She thought it would just be her and Barry. "What are you guys doing here on this wonderful day?"

"We thought it would be fun. Barry and I have been bowling here since we were kids. Why don't you guys join us?" Iris asked. Barry and Bibiana looked at each other and tried to have a telepathic conversation.

"We don't wanna interrupt your date," Eddie said, watching the two struggle.

"No, it's okay," Bibiana answered.

"Are you sure?" Barry asked, surprised. He knew how much their dates meant to Bibiana. It was the only time the two could spend together when they weren't saving the world.

"It'll be fun," Bibiana replied. "I mean, I haven't hung out with Iris in a while."
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"Ha, ha. Do you smell that, Barry? That's defeat," Iris said, after scoring a strike. Bibiana shook her head.

"You never told me you were such a big fan of bowling," Eddie told Iris.

"Sure, I have" Iris replied. "This is one of my favorite places in the world."

"Hey-oh!" Barry yelled after getting a strike.

"That was impressing," Bibiana admitted.

"I heard the owner is thinking of selling," Barry told Bibiana. That shocked her to heard the news.

"They can't do that," Bibiana said, shaking her head. "This place holds history and a special place in people's hearts. From the stains on the floor to the actual game. The memories people make of the friendships and rivals that had formed. I say that this place should stay open for business."

"Bibiana, you should write for the article," Iris said. "There is always a small selection that we have people submit their work."

"I'm not much of a writer," Bibiana admitted. "I could give out a good speech but putting them on paper is hard for me."

"I'm debating whether bowling is actually a sport," Eddie commented.

"Well, sport or hobby, I am still better than you," Iris said. Barry chuckled and Bibiana shook her head.

"Well, I'm serious. With a little bit of press and a speech from Bibiana, the lanes could be designated as, like, a landmark or something," Barry said, taking a seat. "Oh, Eddie, you're up, man."

"Oh, right," Eddie said, getting up.

"Go get them, babe," Iris told Eddie.
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"I gotta go. Emergency at the morgue," Eddie told them, after getting an alert. He was originally giving up his bowling shoes.

"Bye," Iris said to him.

"I'll see you at home," Eddie told Iris.

"Who would rob a morgue?" Bibiana questioned. "What would you want to do with a dead body? Wait, don't answer that."

"Bibiana, I'm sorry but I have to go," Barry said, giving her a quick kiss. "They're gonna need someone from the crime lab. I'll see you."

"Well, this was fun," Bibiana said, with a smile. "And this is what we get for dating people who fight crimes and figure out the crimes."

"Yeah," Iris said. "Promise me we'll hang out soon."

"I promise," Bibiana promised.

⇝⇝⇝

A strike of purple electricity hit the floor in the morgue, not leaving behind evidence that she was there. Electric Storm stood up and the Flash was soon by her side.

"What's going on? What do you see?" Cisco asked the two heroes. Electric Storm's eyes widen at the sight.

"A dead body," the Flash replied. The two took steps closer towards the freshly dead body.

"Barry, you're in a morgue. You're gonna have to be more specific than that," Cisco pointed out.

"We're getting to that," Electric Storm said, looking at the body.

"The coroner. He's dead," the Flash elaborated.

⇝⇝⇝

"So Clyde Mardon has a brother?" Caitlin asked after Barry explained what he learned from the scene. Mark Mardon was out seeking revenge since Joe killed his brother, Clyde.

"And both brothers survived the plane crash and then the dark matter released from the particle accelerator explosion affects them both in a virtually the same way," Dr. Wells explained.

"I can barely survive a season of Pretty Little Liars," Bibiana muttered. She sat behind the computer looking at the picture of Mark.

"Yeah, only Mark's powers seem to be a lot more precise," Barry said. "To be able to control the weather like that indoors."

"Sort of like Black Out and I," Bibiana commented.

"You'd have to be a Weather Wizard. Ooh," Cisco said, taking a sip of his cold drink. "Been waiting for week one to use that one. Mm!"

"A trigeminal headache?" Caitlin asked, seeing Cisco have a brain freeze.

"What?" Cisco asked confused.

"A trigeminal headache. Brain freeze," Caitlin answered in a simpler answer.

"Then why don't you just call it brain freeze?" Cisco asked.

"Oh, put your tongue up against the roof of your mouth. I hear it works," Bibiana suggested.

"Guess running around a twister in the opposite direction isn't gonna do the trick this time," Joe said. Bibiana remembered their first mission. Saving Central City from a twister that would've caused a mass of destruction.

"I just remembered, during out run-in with Mardon, Clyde Mardon, I was tinkering with something to help attract unbound atmospheric electrons," Cisco said.

"Like a grounding mechanism?" Barry asked.

"Yes," Cisco answered. "The only way Mardon can control the weather is if he can tap into the atmosphere's natural electrical circuit. And if we take away that circuit, clear skies."

"And that's it for the weather, back to you Joe," Bibiana said with an impression of a weatherman.

"Singh's checking in. I gotta go," Joe said, after checking his buzzing phone.

"Yeah, I'll meet you at the station," Barry replied.

"Joe. We'll find Mardon. Don't worry," Dr. Wells assured Joe.

"I'm not worried at all," Joe said, walking out of the cortex.

"Well, he's taking being targeted by a revenge-seeking metahuman rather well, I must say," Dr. Wells said. "Don't worry, Barry. Joe will be fine. I promise."

Bibiana's phone started to buzz, causing her to leave the cortex. She entered the room with the treadmill and answered her phone.

"Hello?" Bibiana asked.

"Hey, Bibiana," Kai's voice filled Bibiana's ear. It was just her brother.

"What's up, Kai?" Bibiana asked her younger brother. She ran a hand through her dark chocolate hair, wondering what Kai wanted.

"So this is classified information but you are my sister and the whole family knows," Kai said, rambling off. "But Eiling is missing and dad being Lieutenant General, he is now acting General until Eiling comes back."

Everything Kai told her was frightening her. How could Eiling be missing and what did that mean for S.T.A.R. Labs? With her dad being a general, how could that affect her?

"Is he going to try and get me out of my job or try to shut down S.T.A.R. Labs for good?" Bibiana asked. Those were the questions she wanted to be answered.

"I don't know," Kai said, with a sigh. "Look, I'm about to go and take an exam. Can you just not tell anyone about this and I'll try and find out more. Promise,"

"I promise," Bibiana replied. She's been making a lot of those and she is a woman of her word.

⇝⇝⇝

"I call it the Wizard Wand," Cisco said, holding out his new invention. He had Bibiana to thank for helping him make it.

"Very Harry Potter," Bibiana commented. It was hard to believe but she had never read the books.

"Subtle. How does it work?" Caitlin asked.

"Just think of it like an active lightning rod," Cisco answered. "Just point it up in the sky and it'll sick up whatever energy's floating around it like a sponge."

"And it'll stop Mardon?" Barry asked, taking the Wizard Wand away from Cisco.

"Would it be a good idea to have me there?" Bibiana added.

"It'll slow him down and it's best if you stay here, Bibiana," Dr. Wells answered. "If there are no atmospheric electrons available to him there's no way to control the weather. Good work, Cisco. As always. Excuse me. I'm gonna go and stretch my legs."

"You okay?" Caitlin asked Barry after Dr. Wells left. "You seem a little off."

"Yeah, uh, somebody at Picture News got it into Iris' head that something suspicious is going on with Dr. Wells," Barry confessed. Bibiana crossed her arms and wondered what Iris could find Dr. Wells guilty of? Of course, the man had many secrets. But didn't they all?

"Like what?" Caitlin asked.

"That he knows what happened to Simon Stagg," Barry answered. The disappearance of General Eiling flashes across Bibiana's mind. She wondered if the two disappearances were connected. Could Iris be onto something? Bibiana shook out the thought. "Apparently, nobody heard from him or seen him since the night I stopped Danton Black."

"What did you tell her?" Cisco asked.

"That she's wrong. And she is," Barry replied. They all went their own ways, while Bibiana looked at her phone.

The thought of contacting her father was nudging her. If she contacted him, she knew it would go one of two ways; they would get into a heated argument about the Army or her love life or they could talk about Eiling disappearance. Bibiana stared at her phone and put it in her pocket. It was too soon for that.

⇝⇝⇝

"I'm heading home," Caitlin informed Bibiana. The girl looked up at her cell phone and gave Caitlin a smile.

"I'll walk with you," Bibiana said. It pained her that she didn't go to the C.C.P.D. with Barry to stop Mark.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault," Caitlin told Bibiana. The hacker got up and joined Caitlin on there way to see Cisco. Caitlin could tell how her friend was feeling because Bibiana was chewing on her lip.

"I just feel like I could've done something," Bibiana confessed. They were quickly approaching the area Cisco was at.

"All right Cisco. I'm heading home," Caitlin informed the boy. "Cisco? All right, fine, I will watch every episode of the Walking Dead with you."

Cisco wasn't replying. He was too deep into his work.

"Cisco?" Bibiana repeated.

"Hey," Caitlin said, touching his arm. "You couldn't stop Mardon from attacking the police station. It's not your fault. Either of you."

"No, that's not it," Cisco finally answered, turning around. Bibiana gave him a confused look. "What do you two think of Dr. Wells?"

"Excuse me?" Bibiana asked, confused. She was wondering what type of way were they to describe Harrison Wells. The girl had many answers to choose from.

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked, also confused.

"I mean, do you think he's capable of doing something bad?" Cisco asked. Eiling flashed into Bibiana's mind again.

"Is this because of what Barry said he heard?" Caitlin asked. The three friends went into the Cortex to talk. "Ever since the accelerator exploded, there's always someone who's got it in for Dr. Wells."

"That is true," Bibiana agreed. She had no idea which side she was on anymore. Team Electric Storm didn't sound bad to her.

"It's more than that," Cisco replied. "Joe said that maybe Dr. Wells was somehow involved in Barry's mother's death. In her murder."

"That's absurd," Caitlin responded.

"Are we talking about the guy in the wheelchair?" Bibiana asked. She didn't see Wells as the murdering type. Kidnapping and blackmailing, Bibiana could see that.

"Yeah, I know. And that's what I said," Cisco replied. "And we proved that that wasn't the case, but I'm just saying, some things aren't adding up."

"Like what, for example?" Caitlin asked.

"Come here. Look at this," Cisco said, typing on the main Cortex computer. Caitlin and Bibiana walked around the table and took a look. "The night, when we trapped the Reverse-Flash he escaped because the containment system failed. But I checked that data three times and Bibiana had doubled checked it. And the super-capacitors were fully charged when he got out. The numbers don't add up, Caitlin, Bibiana. No reason that the containment system should have failed."

"Reverse-Flash should've never got out. He would've been unable to get loose and get me injured," Bibiana noted.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation," Caitlin replied.

"One perfectly good explanation is that Wells did something to the trap," Cisco said. Bibiana thought back to the night of the accelerator explosion. Her numbers were correct, the accelerator shouldn't have exploded unless someone messed with them. Only one person was left with her work.

"Are you suggesting that Dr. Wells is in league with the man in the yellow suit?" Caitlin asked. "I mean, we all saw that thing nearly kill him that night."

"Unless that's what he wanted us to think," Bibiana muttered. "It's a perfect crime. It was done in the Army before so a cover wouldn't have been blown."

"Exactly what Bibiana said," Cisco agreed.

"Cisco, what you're saying doesn't make any sense. That's crazy," Caitlin said, waking over to the other side. There was a moment of silence before Cisco got up.

"Can the two of you keep Wells out of S.T.A.R. Labs tomorrow morning?" Cisco asked.

"I can try but I might be out trying to help Barry," Bibiana admitted.

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Thank you for reading! If you liked this chapter and want to spend 3 seconds to vote that would be great! Thanks!

JMC