— 𝒮 —

"𝐎𝐇, 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐍, Soph," Cisco whined playfully, leaning over the circular table that they and Caitlin were sitting at. "When's the last time you got drunk?"

"A long, long time ago," she groaned, pushing away the shot glass that he was continuously advocating for her to down. "And it's not going to happen again for a long, long time."

The three of them, along with Barry, Iris, and Iris' boyfriend, Eddie, were all at the bar, and for once, they were simply having fun. No powers, no meta-humans to take down, nothing of the sort. Just . . . fun. She had almost forgotten the concept of doing something non-work related.

"I'm sure one drink won't do too much," Caitlin reassured her, raising her eyebrows as she gestured towards the glass. "Just one!"

"You're peer pressuring me, too?" Sophia questioned incredulously, rubbing her forehead. "Great."

"This isn't peer pressure," Cisco scoffed, shrugging his shoulders before drinking the vodka himself. "This is peer love."

"Just shut up and drink your beer." Sophia sighed as she shook her head.

"Gladly." Cisco gave her a grin before picking up the glass that was filled to the brim and taking a long sip, not breaking eye contact with her as she scoffed.

They then turned to see that Iris was making her attempt at darts, with Eddie watching beside her with an amused smile. As she threw darts that landed nowhere near the board, Barry came to them with a tray of drinks and set them down as he sat.

"Guys, I have a problem."

Cisco took another sip of his beer, eyeing the couple in front of him as he shook his head. "We all do when guys like him exist."

"Yeah," Caitlin sighed dreamily as she turned back to face Eddie, who was giving a high-five to Iris, "he's so hot."

"Caitlin!" Sophia giggled, slapping her playfully in the arm and bringing her back to reality.

She immediately turned around, her eyes wide as she tried to make up for what she had said. "Uh, I mean, genetically speaking. Because I'm a geneticist, of course." Her eyes widened even further as she looked toward Sophia. "God, do I sound like Felicity?"

Barry rolled his eyes as Sophia gave a small nod. "I'm not talking about Eddie. I'm talking about this."

They watched as he sped-drank the five shot glasses on his tray, and he shrugged once he was done. "I can't feel anything."

"Yeah," Cisco said with a grin and nod, "that's usually what happens when you drink too much."

"No, the alcohol is not affecting me." Barry quickly shook his head. "I mean, I literally feel nothing."

Sophia shared a knowing look with Caitlin before leaning forward on the table and telling him, "It's your hypermetabolism."

"I need a sample," Caitlin said excitedly before beginning to rummage through her purse.

Cisco quickly turned around, murmuring, "I'll get more shots."

Caitlin frowned as she continued searching through her bag, shaking her head as she murmured to herself, "I swear I had a Vacutainer in here."

"Wait, you carry a blood-collection kit in your purse?" Barry questioned, wrinkling his nose.

Caitlin paused and looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "You have your hobbies . . ."

Cisco came back, a wide grin on his face and a tray full of shots in his hands. He set the tray down on the table, careful to not spill any of them before gesturing for everyone to take one.

Barry raised his eyebrows as he and the other two took their own glass. "Soph?"

"Not for me." She shook her head, giving him a broad smile. "Someone needs to drive these two goofs home."

"Make that three." Barry grinned before frowning and adding, "Hopefully."

The three of them clinked their cups and downed their drinks before all of their attention turned toward Barry.

Seeing that Barry's expression was downcast, Cisco asked in disbelief, "Still nothing?"

"I can't get drunk." Barry shook his head, a distressed expression coming across his face as he straightened up. "I mean, I'm only twenty-five, and my drinking days are already over."

Eddie came from behind them, a grin on his face as he challenged, "Come on, Allen, you're up." His phone then buzzed, and his eyebrows furrowed as he took it out of his jacket and read the message. "There's a bombing on Eighth and Pass."

He gave a quick kiss of goodnight to Iris and said an apology to the group before swiftly heading out.

"I've got an early shift at Jitters," Iris excused as she got her bag. "We'll catch up tomorrow."

"It's getting late, anyway," Barry said with a nod, "so I'm just gonna . . ." His eyes flickered over towards the three, silently telling them that he was heading towards the crime scene, and Cisco quickly grabbed his phone.

The three of them sat around the table once more as the phone connected to Barry's earpiece, and only a few moments later did Barry speak to them.

"Guys, there's a window washer, and he's gonna fall."

"Don't try and catch him," Cisco quickly advised. "You don't have super-strength."

"Is there a bed store near here? What if I get mattresses and stack them?"

"Barry, this isn't a Road Runner cartoon," Caitlin said exasperatedly, shaking her head.

There was a moment of silence before Barry questioned, "How fast would I need to go to run up a building?"

Sophia's eyebrows furrowed as she slowly asked, "How far up do you need to go?"

"Uh, I don't know, fifty meters give or take."

She let out a sigh, "Really fast."

"Helpful."

"Just make sure to maintain your velocity on the way down," Sophia continued. "Or . . ."

"Or what?!"

Sophia exchanged a dark look with Cisco before she leaned forward and answered, "Splat."

— 𝒮 —

Luckily, Barry had gone fast enough to both save the window washer, and not splat on the ground like a Looney Tunes cartoon. Unluckily, the group still had no idea who had caused the explosion in the first place.

After having done a sweep of the crime scene in the morning, Barry and Joe visited the rest of the group at STAR Labs to deliver some information that Cisco was not happy about.

"A VA file number is all the info you have on the bomber?"

"CCPD's been ordered off the case," Barry confirmed with a sigh.

"Well, who has the power to do that?" Caitlin questioned as she walked over to the main desk.

"The Army," Barry answered as he folded his arms. "Yeah, some general. His name was Eiling, I think."

Dr. Wells came out of the room to quickly inform them, "General Wade Eiling."

Barry's eyebrows furrowed as he turned to the man. "You know him?"

"Yeah, I know him." Dr. Wells nodded, a humourless smile playing upon his lips. "About ten years ago, General Wade Eiling contracted STAR Labs to develop enhanced gene therapies for soldiers. I was interested in the potential medical benefits for civilians. General Eiling really wanted to develop mind-reading capabilities for interrogation purposes. I stopped the study when I saw his techniques up close, but our split was less than amicable."

"He took all the evidence I collected on the bombing." Barry handed over the file that Cisco eyed with distaste. "Everything but the folder."

"Well, lucky for us, the VA finally joined the millennium and digitized their records," Cisco said as he turned towards the computer and typed for a few moments. "A lot of redacted info but our girl's name is Bette Sans Souci, an EOD specialist for the Army."

Caitlin tilted her head as she peered over at the computer. "EOD?"

"Bombs," Sophia explained as she sat down in the chair next to Cisco.

"Is there an address?" Barry asked.

"Hold on . . ." Cisco squinted his eyes for a moment as he looked before nodding. "Here we go. One person in case of emergency: Cameron Scott, Anglewood."

Barry nodded, and only a second later was he and his suit gone with a gust of wind.

Cisco walked over to the side desk on the left and spoke into the comms, "Barry?"

Silence.

He tried again. "Barry? You there?"

Nothing.

"Barry, can you hear me? Barry?"

Cisco turned around, his eyebrows furrowed as he walked back to the other two at the main desk while Caitlin tried to reassure them, "There must be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why he's not answering." She paused for a moment before shouting into her microphone, "Barry!"

They looked to the side to see that Barry had arrived—in his underwear.

Sophia's eyes widened. "Uh—"

"Don't ask," he sighed as he slipped on a STAR Labs t-shirt.

"I'm gonna ask," Cisco said as he leaned forward on the desk. "Where's my suit?"

Sophia elbowed him.

"Where's Sophia's and my suit?"

"It's . . ." Barry looked down, his expression becoming solemn before he looked up at them and continued, "gone."

Sophia's eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed as she slowly asked, "What do you mean, 'it's gone'?"

Cisco's eyes were murderous as he stared at Barry and added, "What did you do with my suit?"

"It blew up, dude," Barry answered blatantly. "I managed to get out of it before it went kaboom."

Cisco's eyes only widened as his voice quivered. "My—ow, okay, sorry—Sophia's and my suit went kaboom?"

"Fun fact about Bette Sans Souci: she's not carrying bombs," Barry told them, the humourless smile that he held on his face then dropping. "She touched the emblem on the suit and turned it into a bomb." Barry paused for a moment as he shrugged. "She's a meta-human."

"With the ability to cause spontaneous combustion upon tactile contact," Dr. Wells said as he entered the room.

Cisco turned to him, an incredulous expression on his face as he put his hands on his hips. "She blew up my—okay, Sophia, stop elbowing me, it hurts, bro—Sophia's and my suit!"

"You guys have, like, three more," Caitlin pointed out.

"Okay, we have two," Cisco corrected, an offended look clear on his face. "And I loved that one."

"All right, what else do we know about her?" Barry sighed as he leaned against the desk.

"Oh, I don't know, she's pure evil?" Cisco scoffed as he turned back to the computer and started working. "We're gonna find this girl and send her butt into the Pipeline. No one blows my tech to smithereens and gets away with it." He pulled up her record, which showed a picture of a red-headed girl, wearing an army uniform. His face suddenly softened as he raised his eyebrows and sat down. "Unless she looks like that."

Barry shook his head, his eyes meeting Sophia's as he softly spoke, "I don't think she meant to hurt me."

"Or her being a meta-human explains General Eiling's interest in her," Dr. Wells added.

"And why he stole the case from us," Joe cut in as he walked in, an exasperated look upon his face as he walked up to the side of the desk. "He didn't want anyone to know what she could do."

A smile came onto Dr. Wells' face as he gave a nod of greeting. "Detective."

"Doctor," Joe acknowledged. He looked towards the three who were sitting at the desk and raised his eyebrows. "So, human bomb. Must be Tuesday in Central City."

"Yes," Dr. Wells sighed as he pressed the tip of his finger against the tablet that was connected to his wheelchair. "And General Eiling's not one to give up a potential asset without a fight."

Barry folded his arms as he let out an exhale. "We have to find her before he does."

"Barry," Joe said as he nodded towards the hallway, "can I see you for a second?"

The two of them went out into the hallway and Sophia shifted her attention to Cisco, who was still ogling at the picture of Bette Sans Souci.

She rolled her eyes and hit his arm. "Stop being a creep."

Cisco let out a small giggle before nodding and beginning to type furiously into the computer, his eyes now fixated on the information rather than the picture.

Sophia watched as Cisco typed, her eyebrows knitting together tightly as she read over everything.

About ten minutes later, they had the information they needed.

When they had shouted for Barry, Joe told them that he had had something to attend to, so Cisco called Barry up with the comms.

"Hello?"

"We've piggybacked onto General Eiling's own surveillance," Sophia told him.

Cisco added on, "According to what they're saying, the . . . lovely Ms. Sans Souci—"

Sophia rolled her eyes and smacked Cisco's arm again before speaking into the microphone, "She was just spotted in Anglewood."

"The same neighbourhood as Dr. Harold Hadley's office," Caitlin interjected as she walked down from the medical station and over to the desk. "The military surgeon who performed several procedures on her. That's why she was looking for the folder."

"You gotta get to her before Eiling does," Sophia sighed.

"Okay."

— 𝒮 —

Having been just in time to save her from the grasp of General Eiling and his men, Barry brought Bette Sans Souci back to STAR Labs.

It was the next day, and, just as they had done with Barry a few months before, Dr. Wells explained to Bette what had happened with the particle accelerator, with the help of the animated portrayal on the TV monitor.

"As the detonation dispersed through Central City . . . a number of people were exposed to a wave of unquantifiable energy," Dr. Wells explained before turning around to face Bette. "One of those people . . . was you. You were in Central City ten months ago."

Caitlin handed her her pair of gloves as she crossed the room, then sitting down at the side desk that Sophia and Cisco were already sitting at.

"Uh, I had just returned from Afghanistan," Bette told them as she began to slip the gloves onto her hands. "I was there diffusing roadside bombs . . . and shrapnel ripped through me. I was flown back Stateside. Spent months at the base recuperating. And next thing I know . . ." She finished putting her gloves on and looked back up towards Dr. Wells. "I became the thing that almost killed me. And Eiling's favourite new lab rat."

"The dark matter must have combined with the bomb particulate inside your body," Sophia sighed, crossing one leg over the other.

Bette's eyebrows knit together tightly in confusion as she looked back towards Barry. "I thought Eiling did this to me."

"Eiling . . ." Dr. Wells shook his head as she turned towards him before continuing, "is not smart enough to create someone like you, but clever enough to see your value.

"Do you know of any others who were changed?" asked Bette.

"There have been a few," Caitlin answered with a small shrug.

"But no one that looks like you," Cisco added with a growing grin, causing Bette to look over at him with raised eyebrows.

Sophia suppressed a giggle as she shared a look of amusement with Barry, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry," Cisco said a moment later, then realizing his mistake as everyone shot him a look to shut up. "That was inappropriate," he gave a nervous chuckle before his face grew serious. "Please don't leave."

Caitlin leaned towards him, her face dead serious as she whispered, "I know how to perform a lobotomy."

About ten minutes later, they had put Bette inside Barry's training room as they analyzed her cells and data from the computers just outside.

"Cell structure's unlike anything I've ever seen," Dr. Wells remarked, his gaze focused on the computer screen in front of him.

"Her nitrogen levels are off the charts," Caitlin sighed before going inside the room.

Barry, who was standing behind Sophia's chair, exhaled as he looked down at her. "Do you think we can help her?"

She turned her head to face him as she gave a small shrug. "To answer that, we have to understand how she works." She turned to the window to watch as Caitlin stepped toward Bette.

"To understand that, we have to study her in action," Dr. Wells added with a sigh.

Barry nodded, folding his arms as he began to pace around the room. "You want her to blow stuff up."

"Yes." Cisco did a small fist-pump in celebration. "Now we're talking."

"Not in here," Sophia quickly said with a humoured smile, putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking her head. "She's too unstable."

Cisco suddenly became sheepish as he muttered, "I know."

Sophia grinned. "I know you know."

Their attention was suddenly turned to Bette as she lifted up her sleeve to reveal a bullet wound that had stained her skin red.

Caitlin grabbed a large pair of tweezers as she bent forward, and they watched with apprehension as she pulled something out, before turning around and showing it to them with alarm—a tracker.

Suddenly a beeping alarm began to ring from the tablet, which was displaying the security system, and they looked over to see footage of General Eiling and a group of soldiers huddled in the elevator, on their way up.

Dr. Wells immediately turned to the three beside him and ordered, "Lock down the Pipeline. Get Bette out of here. I'll take care of Eiling."

— 𝒮 —

Once the group of soldiers and General Eiling had left STAR Labs—unsuccessful on their mission to capture Bette—the team took her to an abandoned area that lived around a half-hour away from STAR Labs in order to test out her abilities.

In front of the STAR Labs truck, Cisco had set up a table full of toys that she could toss and explode, along with a couple of laptops that he was monitoring.

Bette grabbed a blue frisbee, staring down at it for a moment before throwing it into the air.

Carefully, the group watched as it exploded mid-air, the only thing left of it being a cloud of smoke.

"Four hundred twenty-seven kPas. Her Trauzl rating is around forty-five," Cisco read out for them, a grin growing on his face. "That's the same as any plastique." He suddenly paused, a look of realization dawning on him. "Plastique. Ha! First try."

Sophia crinkled her nose as she picked up a boomerang and showed it off to Cisco. "Didn't really think this one through, did you?"

"Shut up," he grumbled before nodding towards the couple of burnt remains of the frisbee that had scattered on the pavement. "Make yourself useful and get those for me, will ya?"

"Hey, watch your tone," Sophia chided as she playfully slapped him in the arm, receiving a giggle in return from the boy.

She grabbed a plastic bag and a large tweezer before walking up to the dust and a couple of burnt pieces of plastic. Carefully, she bent down and picked them up with the tweezer, making sure not to get the outside of the bag dirty as she slipped the leftovers in.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked a few feet ahead of her to see Barry, who seemed distressed as he spoke to someone on the phone—Joe, she assumed, as it usually was.

She zipped the bag up and walked up to him to hear him frantically say, "What? Joe—"

Barry rubbed the back of his head as he lowered his phone, the call ending as he stared at the screen.

"What was that about?" Sophia asked gently, her eyebrows raised.

Barry let out a heavy sigh as he turned toward her. "Iris posted about the Streak again. She signed her name to it."

Her eyes widened as she uttered, "Oh . . . that's not good."

He shook his head, muttering, "No."

"If one of these bad meta-humans figures out that she knows something—"

"They may target her," Barry finished with a nod. His expression was grim. "I know."

— 𝐵 —

Barry walked into the Med Lab, his eyebrows furrowing as he picked up on the tension in the air. Everyone was staring at a scan of Bette's skeleton that spun on the screen.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he questioned quickly. "Did Eiling find out you're here?"

"No." Bette shook her head, swallowing. "Caitlin was about to give me the not-so-good news."

"The shrapnel in your body has merged with you on a cellular level," Caitlin said gently, her eyes flickering over the room.

"The technology required to unsplice your DNA," Sophia continued with a frown, "hasn't been invented yet."

Bette's eyes moistened as she nodded her head, lowering her gaze to the floor as she sniffled.

Barry's expression was remorseful as he began, "Bette—"

"It's okay." She shook her head as a tear ran down her cheek. "Roger that. I . . . I just need a minute." She shook her head once more as she stood up, her voice cracking as she headed out of the medical room. "Don't worry. I'm pretty sure I can cry without blowing stuff up."

Barry turned towards her as she left the Cortex before letting out a sigh, lowering his head as he put his hands on the back of his neck.

Cisco bit his lip as he leaned against the door and looked toward Dr. Wells. "What now?"

"She joins us," Barry answered as he turned around, giving a small shrug as he put his hands on his hips. "Becomes a part of the team.

"Barry, you have an amazing ability to help people," Caitlin started as she walked down the steps before giving a hopeless shrug. "She . . . makes things explode."

Barry stared at her for a second before taking a few steps forward and pointing out, "She's the first meta-human not hell-bent on destroying the city."

Dr. Wells tapped his lips for a moment before saying, "It's too dangerous."

Barry shook his head. "She's not going in the Pipeline."

"I'm not suggesting she go in the Pipeline," Dr. Wells quickly corrected, "but were she to remain at STAR Labs, it would put all of us at risk."

"From who, Eiling?" Barry asked as he raised his eyebrows.

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

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

"And I wanna save her just as bad as you do, Barry," Caitlin said earnestly. "We all do."

— 𝒮 —

Sophia, Barry, and Caitlin watched with anticipation as Cisco typed into the computer at the main desk, his focus on the map that was displayed in front of him as they searched for Bette, who had disappeared.

"I got back on the military feed," he told them. "Looks like they've gone to the waterfront to rendezvous with Bette. She's turning herself in."

Barry shook his head, his arms folded. "She's not turning herself in."

There was a gust of wind that caused their hair to fly backwards as Barry raced off, and, keeping his eyes on the map, Cisco breathed out, "Please let him get there in time."

They sat there in silence for the next few minutes, tension and anxiety thick in the air as they waited for the outcome of the fight. There were no security cameras for them to look off of this time, so all they had to rely on was Barry's comms.

Dr. Wells joined them some time later, rolling up to the back of the room and gazing at the TV monitor that followed the tracker on Barry's suit.

Suddenly, Barry's voice came over the comms. "We have a problem."

"Is Bette okay?" Cisco, who was now standing and leaning forward on the desk, immediately asked.

Barry paused for a moment before solemnly telling them, "No. Eiling killed her."

Sophia put a hand on Cisco's shoulder, rubbing it reassuringly as he slowly straightened up.

"She's glowing. She's gonna detonate."

"Oh my God," Sophia breathed out. "A mass that size, the explosion would be—"

"Devastating," Dr. Wells finished for her, still facing the screen.

"Barry, you have to get her away from the city," Caitlin instructed alarmedly, leaning forward slightly to speak into the microphone.

"But there's no time," he protested as he panted. There was a brief moment of silence before he asked, "Can I run on water? I built up enough speed to run up a building. How fast do I need to go to run on water?"

"Approximately six hundred and fifty miles an hour," Sophia told him nervously, exchanging a worried glance with Caitlin. "You have to outrun the blast, or you'll die too."

Their eyes then turned to the map on Sophia's computer screen that showed Barry's tracker along Central City, the quiet from before returning as they fixated on the beeping signal.

Sophia glanced over to Cisco to see his reddened eyes, and she leaned back in her chair and wrapped an arm around him, though she kept her gaze on the screen.

They followed as the tracker sped across the water before making a sharp turn, and there was a collective sigh of relief as Barry made it back to the shore.

— 𝒮 —

"Nothing out of the ordinary occurred," declared the General Eiling that was being broadcasted on the Channel Fifty-Two news as he sat down at the back of an ambulance. "The military was simply conducting an underwater weapons test. There is no need for panic or alarm. Central City is safe, I guarantee you."

"He murdered Bette right in front of me . . . and there's nothing we can do to him?" Barry asked as he looked towards Dr. Wells, who kept his eyes on the TV as he answered.

"Powerful men have a way of avoiding consequences."

Sophia sighed as she turned to Barry, placing a hand on his arm as she raised her eyebrows and gently asked, "You gonna be okay?"

He gave her a small smile as he nodded. "Yeah."

"You can walk on water," she pointed out with a small grin. "Makes you one step closer to Jesus."

He chuckled lightly, shaking his head in amusement before giving them a smile of goodbye.

"Well . . ." Cisco exhaled, rubbing his forehead. "I could use a drink. Or two. Or ten."

"Me too." Caitlin nodded. "A nice toast for Bette."

"And I'm assuming you need a driver, so . . ." Sophia shrugged. "Let's go."

"Hold on!" Caitlin's eyes suddenly widened. She raised a finger to signal a second before disappearing into the Med Lab, and the sound of rummaging was clear.

Sophia turned to Cisco, whose gaze was on the floor.

"Hey," she said softly, causing him to look up at her. "You need a hug?"

"Desperately."

She smiled before tightly embracing him, planting a kiss on the side of his head as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Got it!" Caitlin reappeared, slipping a small vial into her purse before she nodded towards the exit. "Let's get a move on."

Once they had arrived at the bar, they quickly spotted Barry, much to Sophia's and Caitlin's delight—although, their delight was rooted from two different sources.

"Hey." Sophia smiled as they approached him, who was sitting at the counter.

He looked up at them in pleasant surprise, and asked, "Hey. What are you guys doing here?"

"We thought we should have a toast," Caitlin told him, sending Cisco a quick smile as she looked back at him.

Barry gave them an amused smile as he pointed out, "Doesn't work on me, remember?"

"Barry Allen, you of all people should know that nothing is impossible," Caitlin said, clearly unable to hide her excitement while she pulled out the small vial that was filled with brownish liquid and placed it on the counter. "I distilled a highly fermented potent suspension. It's basically five-hundred-proof."

With a tempted smile, Barry uncorked the vial and brought it up to his nose. As soon as he got a whiff, his face scrunched into disgust, but that didn't bring a stop to Caitlin's grin.

"I figured if anybody could use a drink tonight, it was you. So," Caitlin said as she picked up a shot glass and raised it, "here's to Bette."

"Bette." Barry nodded, then clinking his vial against Caitlin and Cisco's glasses.

The three of them downed their drinks as Sophia watched with a crinkled nose, though she giggled as Barry coughed and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Whoa," he choked. "That hits you quick."

"Are you buzzed?" Caitlin asked with raised eyebrows, watching him expectantly.

"Um . . ." Barry shook his head slightly to steady himself before he answered, "Yeah. Heh. Yeah, I'm buzzed for sure. Oh, that is good stuff." Barry chuckled for a few moments before his look of happiness faded. "And it's gone."

Caitlin shrugged. "Work in progress."