S E V E N T E E N:
kaboom went the heart

The charts were saying horrible things to them. Bibiana sat with the rest of the team, speechless from it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Barry asked, walking into the cortex. "Did Eiling find out you're here?"

"No," Bette answered. "Caitlin was about to give me the not-so-good news."

"The shrapnel in your body had merged with you on a cellular level," Caitlin explained. There was a small frown on Bibiana's lips from the news.

"The technology required to unspliced your DNA," Dr. Wells said. "It hasn't been invented yet."

"And I wouldn't know how to code it in order to make one," Bibiana added. Bette nodded her head and looked like she was ready to cry.

"Bette," Barry said.

"It's okay," Bette assured. "Roger that. I-- I just need a minute. Don't worry. I'm pretty sure I can cry without blowing stuff up."

Bette walked out of the cortex. She still took it better than Bibiana. The hacker can really get emotional when she doesn't guard herself.

"What now?" Cisco asked.

"She joins us," Barry replied. "Becomes part of the team."

"Would it even be safe?" Bibiana asked. "I mean, she's cool and all. But would it be safe for the team and everyone else?"

"Barry, you have an amazing ability to help people. So does Bibiana," Caitlin explained. "Bette makes things explode."

"She's the first metahuman we met that's not hell-bent on destroying the city," Barry pointed out.

"It's too dangerous," Dr. Wells said.

"She's not going in the pipeline," Barry stated.

"I'm not suggesting she go in the pipeline," Dr. Wells explained. "But were she to remain at S.T.A.R. Labs, it would pull all of us at risk."

"From who, Eiling?" Barry asked.

"Eiling is a dangerous man, Barry. We do not want him as an enemy," Dr. Wells answered.

"After the lightning bolt, what if you hadn't found me?" Barry asked. "It could've been me. Hunted, on the run, cut off from everyone I know and care about. You guys saved me and Bibiana."

"And I want to save her just as bad as you do, Barry," Caitlin replied. "We all do."

⇝⇝⇝

Bibiana walked into her kitchen to make herself breakfast and saw a stack of pancakes on the table. Chocolate chip pancakes. Her favorite that only her mom made.

The girl immediately dropped onto the floor into a push-up position, the second she heard footsteps. A body tripped over her and fell onto the floor.

"Nice try, Kai." Bibiana laughed, getting up. Her whole family entered the kitchen, minus her brother's wives. It made her wonder why Kai wasn't in college and why Chang Jr. wasn't with his wife.

"Soldier, we came to ask you to hack into S.T.A.R. Labs technology," Chang Solace said.

"I work at S.T.A.R. Labs and I can not betray them, sir," Bibiana said. She walked over to her fridge and pulled out the syrup. The girl took a seat at the table and started to eat.

"This is a military request," Chang Jr. said. Bibiana turned to look at him and pointed a fork at him.

"I'm disappointed in you, Chang Jr," Bibiana stated. "You missed your child being born."

"Bibiana, just hack into the systems," Ross Solace told his younger sister. Bibiana pointed her fork at him too.

"Sirs and ma'am," Bibiana said. "I can not hack into my own unhackable computer. That is saying I'm not trusting my friends."

"But we are family," Kai said.

"And family supports the family through whatever choice they make," Bibiana pointed out. "Like deciding not to join the Army, the Navy, the Marines, or the police."

⇝⇝⇝

"I love them but I hate them," Bibiana told her friends. She was typing quickly onto her personal computer.

"You aren't hacking us, right?" Cisco asked.

"No," Bibiana replied. "I'm hacking into the Pentagon again but this time I'm not leaving behind a trail."

"Where's Bette?" Barry asked, walking into the cortex. The girl didn't dare glance up for her work was important.

"She left," Cisco said.

"What do you mean?" Barry asked. "Where'd she go?"

"She didn't say," Dr. Wells answered.

"Well, where the hell could she be?" Barry asked. Bibiana's eyes widen. She remembered why her family was in the town. They were looking for Bette.

The hacker immediately hacked into the Army feed from the Pentagon. Good thing she had already started to hack them.

"Good thing I was hacking the Pentagon," Bibiana said. She mirrored it information on Cisco's screen.

"Looks like they've gone to the waterfront to rendezvous with Bette," Cisco said. "She's turning herself in."

"She's not turning herself in," Barry said. He ran off to go and get Bette. Bibiana stayed in her seat. She did not like the idea of going as Electric Storm in front of family.

"Please let him get there in time," Cisco said.

"We have a problem," Barry said over the comms.

"Is my family okay?" Bibiana asked.

"Is Bette okay?" Cisco asked.

"No. Eiling killed her," Barry answered. Bibiana was nervous when Barry didn't answer her question. "She's glowing. She's gonna detonate."

"Oh, my God," Caitlin said. "A mass that size, the explosion would be--"

"Devastating," Dr. Wells finished off.

"You have to get her away from the city," Caitlin said. Bibiana nervously bit her lip with every thought that ran through her mind.

"But there's no time," Barry replied. "Can I run on water? I built enough speed to run up a building. How fast do I need to go running on water?"

"A Dash move," Bibiana said, her voice cracked. Her family could be dead. She should've gone with Barry. Maybe she could've saved them. And the last time she saw them, she had an argument.

"Assuming your weight," Cisco said. "450 pounds of force per step for vertical suspension. Accounting for fluid drag . . ."

"Approximately 650 miles an hour," Dr. Wells said.

"You have to outrun the blast, or you'll die too," Cisco said. They watched the tracker on the screen as Barry ran across the water. They saw him make a U-turn. Then he was on land.

⇝⇝⇝

Bibiana whipped away her tears as she saw her family being treated on the news. They were alive. The camera then turned to General Eiling. Bibiana glared at the man. He was part of the reason why her family was in danger.

"He murdered Bette right in front of me, and there's nothing we can do to him?" Barry said.

"Powerful men have a way of avoiding consequences," Dr. Wells said.

"You gonna be okay?" Caitlin asked.

"Yeah," Barry answered.

"You can walk on water," Caitlin said. "Puts you in a pretty interesting company."

"Go Dash go," Bibiana muttered.

⇝⇝⇝

Caitlin, Cisco, and Bibiana walked up to Barry in the bar. They were on a mission to bring the speedster down. Or try too.

"Hey," Cisco said.

"Hey," Barry said. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We thought we should have a toast," Caitlin said.

"Doesn't work on me or Bibiana, remember?" Barry told them.

"Barry Allen, you of all people should know that nothing is impossible," Caitlin said, setting a homemade alcohol drink on the table. "I distilled a highly fermented potent suspension. It's basically 500-proof. I figured if anyone could use a drink tonight, it was you. So here's to Bette."

"Bette," everyone said. Bibiana held out a shot glass filled with water. She was not in the mood to drinking when there was no effect. Everyone took their shot.

"Whoa. Oh!" Barry said, from his drink. "That hits you quick."

"Are you buzzed?" Caitlin asked.

"Um . . ." Barry said. "Yeah. Heh. Yeah, I'm buzzed for sure. Whoa. Oh, that is good stuff. And it's gone."

"Work in progress," Caitlin said.

⇝⇝⇝

Bibiana sat in her apartment, laying on the floor watching Agents Of Shield. She was fast asleep and wasn't able to hear the knocking on the door. The door slowly opened and Barry walked in. He saw Bibiana laying on the floor at an awkward angle.

Barry picked Bibiana up, which caused her to wake up. The girl tried to wiggle out of his grip.

"Can you let me go?" Bibiana asked. Barry set her down.

"How did you wake up?" Barry asked, confused.

"How did you get in my apartment?" Bibiana asked. "I'm a light sleeper."

"The door was unlocked," Barry said. Bibiana cursed herself for forgetting to do that.

"So what brings you to the lovely parts of my apartment?" Bibiana asked.

"I need to a place to crash while Iris is mad at me," Barry answered. Bibiana then noticed his things.

"Ahh," Bibiana said. Barry's crush and best friend was being difficult. How was Bibiana going to deal with her own small crush staying in her apartment? "Take the guest room across from mine. We won't have any problems if you don't get all the pop tarts."

•○•

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

JMC