"Barry- let go of me." I pulled away from him forcefully when we came to a stop in the cortex, "That was our daughter- you locked her up without even giving her a chance to explain-"
Barry stares at me, hurt crossing his features, "She lied to us, Zee."
"Since the first day she got here, about Thawne!" He went on, "She knows what he did to us. To me. To my mother. I can't believe a word she says."
"We don't know that." I softly said, trying to calm him.
Barry raises his voice at me, "Yes, we do!"
And that's where I threw being the master of Zen out the window.
"We don't even know why she's working with him." I firmly said.
"Now the pressing question is not why Nora is working with the Reverse Flash." Sherloque crosses his arms, "Maybe I can talk to her and shed some light on the matter."
"Sherloque-" I face him, "Please- not right now."
"Why, are you upset at me?" Sherloque stares at me, "What I should do? I should just- I should not have told you?"
"No- I'm not upset-" I sigh, running a hand through my hair, "I- just- think we all need a minute."
Joe doesn't take acknowledgment of what I said, "How long has it been since you suspected her?"
"Since I arrived." Sherloque honestly told us.
This catches us all off guard, "Wow."
"I don't know where this trail leads." Sherloque stares at all of us.
"Are you kidding me?" Barry scoffs in disbelief, crossing his arms.
"If Sherloque told us before, without all the facts- would we have believed him?" I looked at Barry, "Would any of us believed that Nora was hiding something? Because I know I didn't."
Barry's eyebrows furrow, "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"I knew he was investigating her." I honestly told him, "I told him to stop- I didn't think he'd keep going and decide to expose her like this."
"Are kidding me?" Barry stares at me, as I could see the anger flash in his eyes over the hurt.
"I'm not kidding you." Sherloque spoke up, "You don't come to a conclusion without facts. All the facts."
"Shirley, I think, uh, maybe you should just give us all a minute here." Ralph sighs, noticing the tension between Barry and I.
"What, you're mad at me for doing what a master detective does. Figure out something that you cannot." Sherloque spoke as he walked out, "I give you that translation. Your anger is misplaced."
"Look, whatever reason Nora didn't tell us, I don't think she did it maliciously." Cecile looks at us, "Guys, even from here, I can feel how upset she is."
"All right, babe, you've been around Nora for months." Joe said, "You never felt that she was hiding something before."
"No, never." Cecile shook her head, "Never."
"Well, Thawne lied." Cisco walks over, "He was a master at it. It stands to reason he must have taught Nora some- of his same tricks."
"Maybe- maybe not." Caitlin sighs, "There's gotta be some way to figure it out."
"There is." Ralph picks up Nora's journal, "I'm guessing this has everything from the day she arrived. Maybe before."
"Read it." Barry sat down, "From the beginning.
-
[ ]
"Uh, excuse me-" I ran through people, "Excuse me, pardon me-"
The device on my arm speaks, "."
"Mom, come on." I decline, running right into someone, "Ooh! I'm so sorry. I just- I'm really late. I'm- I'm really late for an important date.Not a date, date. Not that I don't date, date. I date, date. It's just, I have a meeting. I'm making myself later- sorry."
"Anyone seen CSI?" Detective Curtis' voice fills my ears as I ran towards the scene, "Where is Allen?"
"Ah, I'm so sorry, Detective Curtis-" I jerk to a stop in front of her, "I didn't mean to be late. I tried to hail a hover-taxi, but they kept passing me by and then- I had to run all the way from-"
"I really don't care what your reason is this time, Allen." She cuts me off, "I just wanna find what meta did this."
"Of course." I nod quickly, setting down my case, stepping into the truck.
"Chemical transport truck on its way to Dayton Labs." She explained, "It was attacked earlier this morning."
"But that makes two labs and another two transports this week." I stare at her.
"And like the others, no one saw anyone." My mother walks over, running a hand through her dark hair.
"Captain." Detective Curtis greets my mother.
"Detective-" She nods, looking at me, "Nora."
"Hey-" I weakly smile, then use the device on arm to scan, "God, there's residue everywhere-"
"Benzene Methanol." The device spoke.
I looked at them, "That's what they stole."
"What's that used for?" Detective Curtis questions.
"Anything from nanotech to treating lice." I answer, scanning once more.
The device on my arm spoke, "Halothane."
"Halothane?" I repeat, "Wait a second-"
"What?" Detective Curtis pushes.
"This truck has an Affinity 4,000 security camera. God, Lia's gonna be so jealous." I grab the camera, "Whenever the 4,000's tampered with, its failsafe releases a incapacitating agent- Halothane."
"So- you're saying whoever did this picked the lock, disabled the camera, and stole might-be-lice medicine?" My mother pieced together, "All before this incapacitating agent could do its job?"
I nod, "And no one saw them."
"How is that possible?" Detective Curtis look between us.
-
"A speedster?" Lia repeats, walking into the Lab, "Nora, labmate, friend of mine, you didn't happen to pitch your speedster theory to Detective Curtis, did you? Or worse- your mother?"
"It is not a theory, Lia." I walked in with her, "It is the only explanation."
"You know I'm equally a fan of our fleet-footed super friends. I mean, honestly, if I could have ever met Jesse Quick, it's like, hello, new best friend." Lia laughs, then clears her throat, "No offense, um-"
"Some taken." I took off my jacket, setting it down.
"Okay, but there hasn't been a speedster in Central City since that crisis piece your aunt wrote about, like, decades ago." Lia mentions, "I mean, Flash, Kid Flash, Jay Garrick, that that weird purple speedster that just showed up one day. They're all gone. So what you're suggesting, highly unlikely."