112

"It's not permanent, is it? They wouldn't have given you your ID back if it was for good." Caitlin lightly shrugs from beside me.

We were all at Star Labs the next day, Barry Allen telling us about how he had been assigned a leave of absence due to the incident with Devoe.

I was dressed in a pair of lightly ripped jeans, a black tank top tucked into them, boots on my feet and one of Barry's button ups, leaving it unbuttoned, my hair straight as per usual. I was seated in a chair, looking at Barry, Caitlin and Iris standing by me.

"I mean, he said it was indefinite." He sighs.

"I mean, maybe this is for the best, Barry." Iris shrugs, "I mean, you need to prove that DeVoe is still alive. And you can do that now as The Flash."

"Yeah, maybe." Barry nods, "How are we doing with him, by the way?"

"We know that we still have four bus metas left to find." Caitlin began.

"And that DeVoe has absorbed the powers of Killgore, Hazard, Black Bison, Brainstorm, and Dwarfstar." I listed, continuing.

"Fallout is safe with Tracy." Caitlin adds.

"But the Weeper is M.I.A." I finish, leaning onto my elbows, them resting on the desk.

"Then DeVoe must have him." Barry shoves his hands into his pockets.

"Well, that just leaves Ralph." I look up, "Ralph is safe with us."

"But the other four metas aren't." Barry says, "Devoe will absolutely kill them and take their powers."

"But why does he need their powers? I can't figure out his end game." Iris puts a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I don't know." Barry admits, "I just know that these last four metas are the key. That's why we need to find them."

"And find them we will." Ralph Dibny spike, walking in with a cardboard box, Cisco Ramon following after him.

"Where have you guys been?" Caitlin questions.

"A little home away from home, otherwise known as the bus depot." Ralph sets down the box, "But I showed Cisco here an old P.I. trick I learned from my mentor, Columbo. Lost and found box from meta bus 405."

"Question for the room, how did I get stuck doing the buddy system thing with Ralph?" Cisco looks at us.

"It's the best way to keep Ralph safe, Cisco." I run a hand through my hair.

"Yeah, it's the best way to keep Ralph safe, Cisco." Cisco mocks me, "Well, clearly you've never had to stay over at an apartment that uses neon beer signs for lamps and the kitchen sink for a shower." Cisco looks at Ralph, "Ralph, I love you. But you sleep on a futon."

"Futon's not that bad." Caitlin shrugs lightly.

"It is when it's damp." Cisco shot back.

"Why is it damp?" Iris asks.

"I sweat a lot when I sleep." Ralph admits.

"Oh- ew." I clear my throat, swallowing a gag.

"Oh, hey, my retainer." Ralph grabs it from the box, propping it onto his mouth, "Been looking for this."

"Oh- I might throw up." I cover my mouth, blinking long and hard, Caitlin rubbing my back.

"What? It's been a while since I've had this one in my mouth." Ralph laughs at his own sentence.

"I wish I still had the ability to step on you right now-" I mumble.

"You stepped on him?" Barry's tone is filled with question.

"I'll explain later." I sigh, rubbing my eyes.

Cisco lets out a distressed laugh, "Retainer."

"Okay, you made your point. Not that the point needed to be made." Barry spoke, "I'll take the next shift."

I open my eyes, Cisco nodding, "You're a good man, Barry Allen."

"Really? Who uses CDs anymore?" Ralph picks up a CD.

"A musician trying to catch their break." Iris takes it, taking the dvd out and playing it, "Izzy Bowen."

Country rock starts to blare through the speakers, Ralph shutting it off, "Ugh, country. Music's tone deaf stepchild."

"All right, remember anyone on the bus with a fiddle?" asked Caitlin Snow, slight tease in her tone.

"There was a guy with a cowboy hat on sitting behind me. Maybe it was him." Ralph shrugs.

"Boy, I sure wish we had a way of finding out." Cisco sarcastically says, as I grab the CD, handing it to Caitlin, as she hands it to Cisco, "Izzy Bowen."

Cisco vibes her, then looks at us, "Okay, well, it's a her, not a him. And she's playing a gig at the Busted Saddle."

"All right. Ralph, let's go." Barry starts to walk.

"No, no way." Ralph shakes his head, "I hate country music."

"Well, buddy system." Barry continues, "It's my turn. Come on."

Ralph sighs, "If you insist."

-

"You two are lucky." Caitlin spoke, "Barry, your ear is almost healed, and Dibny, yours just stretched."

"Well, I still can't hear all that great." Barry touches his ear.

"Consider that a blessing in disguise." Ralph shoves his hands in his pockets, "Less twang in your future."

"Give it an hour." Caitlin looks at them, waving them off, "You'll be fine."

"So Izzy Bowen can control music?" I guess, looking at Cisco.

"More like sound waves." Cisco lightly shrugs.

"Soundwave." Ralph points at him, "That's a great name."

"It would be, if it wasn't already taken by a Transformer." Cisco stares at him.

"Okay, well, it looks like billions of tiny shrapnel- ripped through this." Iris looks at what I had pulled up on the screen.

"Exactly." Cisco nods, "Sound is just the force of billions of tiny gas molecules colliding into one another."

"So if you can harness and amplify kinetic energy, you get-" Barry began.

"Molecular shrapnel." Caitlin finished.

"Okay, well, we gotta keep searching." Barry shoves his hands into his front pockets, "If we can't track her down soon, she's gonna fall right into Devoe's hands."

Ralph questions, "Speaking of tracking people down, when's Harry getting back from Earth Two?"

-

"Satellite's been running all day, but it's still not picking up any irregular sound variances." I told Ralph, Caitlin and Cisco through a mumble, my head resting down on my arm, exhaustion running through my veins.

Barry runs in, placing my usual iced coffee next to me, "I checked the city. I can't find her."

My eyes widen with excitement, seeing the coffee, sitting up quickly, grabbing it, "Oh-"