74

The date with Barry went well. Shortly after, once we arrived at ccpd, Joe had pulled me in, where he was being told by a young girl named Frankie, who seems in her teen years, what had happened.

I listened in on everything that was said, before Joe excuses us the minute we see Barry come down, as we make our way over to him, "Hey, Barr, what'd you find out?"

Barry stops, looking at me and Joe stood next to me, "Okay, get this. So, The outer layer of the lamppost is half an inch thick, but to bend even a quarter inch of steel requires 177 tons of tensile strength, so-"

Joe begins, "So we're looking for a meta with super strength?"

"Well, I'm not sure yet, but that's as much as I could find." Barry lightly rocks back and forth on his feet.

"What? Why?" Joe questioned.

"Because I showed up." Julian interrupted, joining the conversation.

"And I'm not surprised." I roll my eyes lightly, clapping my hands together once, trying to keep my attitude on a low as Barry looks at me, a small grin on his lips due to my reaction.

"Yes, the only problem with Barry's little theory is there were no fingerprints on the post." Julian explained, simply ignoring my comment.

"Again, Julian, not my theory, and the meta human could've been wearing gloves." Barry crosses his arms.

"Yes, perhaps." Julian starts, "But the curvature on the post suggests that equal amounts of pressure were applied to the whole thing at the same time. So unless our strong man has a wingspan of over 20 feet-"

"Something else caused it." Joe nodded.

"Yes." Julian nods, before looking over my shoulder, his eyes landing on Frankie, "Who's that, sir?"

"That's Frankie Kane. The victim's foster kid." Joe answers.

I follow up, "She's been in and out of times for years." My voice comes out quiet, feeling a strong wave of empathy due to going through the same thing before staying in one that was very crappy.

"Listen, she said she blacked out during the incident." Joe informed them.

"Blacked out?" Julian repeats.

I nod, "Mhm."

"Repressing memories is a coping mechanism for lots of foster kids." Barry says, shrugging lightly.

"Hm. Is it?" Julian kept his stare on Frankie.

"It is." Barry mocked his accent, his eyes wide when he mocks him, causing me to smile, and going to cover my mouth to try and hide it, but he caught me before I could, the grin that was once on his face returning, knowing he had made me smile.

"Could be something else." Julian moves past us, walking into the room Frankie's in, before we could protest.

Julian and Frankie trade a few words, before Julian grabs the glass and walks past us once more, his gaze on me, "Gonna need another glass, Detective."

"Follow him." Joe told Barry, Barry humming in response before he continues, "See what you can get."

"What are you two gonna do?" Barry questions.

"Zee- you can finish this up- and I need to go convince my son that he's not meant to be a superhero." Joe hands me the folded, before patting us both on the shoulder, walking away.

"See you later." Barry says, planting a kiss on my cheek, before following after Julian.

A smile crosses my lips as I slowly walk back into the room where Frankie stayed, continuing what Joe had started.

-

"You! You, girl! Stop!" Julian's voice sounded ccpd as he stepped down the stairs, calling after Frankie who was leaving.

"Hey, ease up, Julian." Barry called out behind him, following him down the stairs.

"Stop!" Julian shouts, as Barry slows down, coming to a stop at the steps as Julian walks by Frankie, standing a few feet away from her.

"Me?" Frankie turned, looking at him.

"You did it, didn't you?" Julian called her out in front of everyone.

"What?" She questioned.

"The lamppost, you did it, didn't you?" Julian continued, the amused look on his face causing me to hold onto the folder I held tighter.

"What? No- no- no- stop." The girl cried out, holding her head, looking at her feet.

"You're a liar!" Julian shouts.

"Julian!" Joe yells, needing him to stop, watching how Frankie reacted to this.

"You're a meta-human." Julian continues, ignoring Joe, letting it known out loud.

I lightly slam my folder down on my desk, walking towards Julian, standing with my back towards the staircase, Barry behind me on the stairs, I raised my voice, "Julian, that's enough. You're being out of line."

"No- no- stop!" The girl cried out, gripping her head, bending over.

"You put your foster father in the hospital, didn't you?" Julian continues, ignoring everyone's attempt to try and shut him up.

"Julian!" I shout, taking a step closer, my tone softening when my eyes land on the girl who was at the point of begging.

"Julian, enough!" Joe shouted right after me.

"Didn't you?" Julian shouts one last time, Frankie fully turned, as she stands up straight, going still.

Her tone changes, "Oh I wanted to do more than just hurt him. Now I'm going to do the same to you." Her hands go to her sides, as with that one motion, all the metal railings start to bend, the lights above us going out.

"Frankie! Frankie stop!" Joe shouts.

"Frankie- calm down- this isn't you." I spoke in a softer tone now then everyone else, slowly walking towards her as I looked back at Barry, nodding for him, signaling for him to suit up.

Within seconds, Barry runs off, coming back, saving Julian from being crushed under what has broken off the wall, then looking back to see that Frankie was gone.

-

Magenta was yet another one of Alchemy's creations. While trying to find out how to stop her, Wally had risked his life to try and get his speed, which wasn't there.

He had gotten so upset that Jesse had gotten her speed even after they both got affected and he didn't, that he had stepped in front of a car to attempt to jump start his powers.

Now we were still at Star Labs, Joe and I were following Barry as Barry shouted at Wally for his actions.

"Seriously, what the hell were you thinking?" Barry shouts, "You can't just go stepping into the street like that. I mean- you gotta use your head."

"Nothing happened, Barry. Chill out." Wally shot back, as we walked by the elevators.

"Didn't you talk to Joe about this?" Barry asked as we all came to a stop.

"Yeah, so?" Wally asked.

"It clearly didn't help." Barry called out, as I folded one arm across my chest, my other elbow resting on my hand, as I covered my mouth.