"What's happening?" I ran into the Med Lab with Barry as Ralph was trembling uncontrollably on the bed, Killer Frost and Cisco struggling to keep him held down.
Killer Frost looks up at us, "Give us a hand!-"
"What happened?" Barry questioned as him and I joined, trying our best to hold our friend down.
Cisco looks at us, exhaling deeply, "Ramsey."
"Come on, Coach, we- we still gotta go on that road trip, right?" Killer Frost's voice shook and varied.
Killer Frost stares at Ralph with eyes filled with horror, "He's gonna die."
Barry looks up at her, "Frost, how do we save him?"
"I don't know! I can't fix this." Killer Frost bursts, then steps back, breathing heavily, "Uh, maybe Caitlin can."
Slowly, her hair fades back along with her eyes, Frost disappearing while Caitlin appeared.
"Welcome back." I pushed Ralph's leg down as it kicked up at me, "What do we do?"
Caitlin got right to work, looking at the screen behind her, "Ralph's elastic cells aren't mending like they used to, Ramsey must be getting stronger."
Cisco looks back at her, "So- Ralph can't heal himself?"
"No-" Caitlin faces us and points at Barry, "But, maybe you can."
Barry was confused, "What?"
"Your speed healing is the only thing we've seen that can repair damage this severe." Caitlin came up with a theory, "Maybe if we gave him a blood transfusion, that would fix him."
"What are you saying?" Barry stammers, "I- I could give Ralph my speed healing?"
"Theoretically, temporarily, yes." Caitlin nods, "I don't know, we're sort of in uncharted medical territory here."
Caitlin then adds in, "But- your blood type is O-negative, so you're a universal donor."
I looked between them all in alert, "Whatever it is- just do it before we lose him!"
"Guys, Ralph is elastic." Cisco reminds us, "No needle can puncture through his skin!"
Barry looks up in thought, "I can phase him."
"Will that work?" Cisco looked at Caitlin for confirmation as she nodded, "."
-
I walked into the Med Lab the next morning after just going home to change, seeing Barry asleep on the chair next to Ralph's bed.
He refused to leave his side.
I had changed into a pair of medium ripped skinny jeans, a black cropped t shirt that ended where my jeans began, wearing one of Barry's flannel's overtop, leaving it unbuttoned, my hair straight as I wore a white beanie over it and white sneakers.
I held two coffees, setting mine down as I ran a hand through Barry's hair gently, staring at him admiringly.
Barry's eyes open, sitting up from the slouched position he was in, a small smile on his face when he saw me, then looked at Ralph, "Hey- how is he?"
"He's stable, thanks to you." I handed him the coffee, looking at Ralph as I placed my hands on my hips, "We contacted ARGUS and they're gonna move Ralph to a secure medical facility for recovery."
"Cisco and Caitlin are prepping for transport right now." I told him as he set the coffee down, staring at the ground with a worried expression on his face.
"Hey, don't worry." I noticed the look on his face, "He's gonna pull through, Ralph's a fighter."
"It's not that." Barry whispers quietly, then looked at me, "What if I hadn't been here?"
"Ralph's fight was nothing compared to what's coming." Barry crosses his arms and looked back down, "Crisis is only two days away."
I crouched in front of him, "And we're all ready, I promise."
"Zee, if I haven't prepared the team-" Barry covers covers his face with his hands, sighing deeply.
"You prepared us, Barry, more than anything." I grabbed his hands and held them, "I know what happened to Ralph put you in some doubt, but don't let it to you."
"You've done the work." I squeezed his hands lightly, "We're ready- for whatever's coming our way."
-
"Drop what you're doing!" Iris chirps when her, Kamilla and I walked into her office where Allegra sat, "The Citizen has a new story."
"I can't believe I agreed to do this on my only day off." I muttered tiredly after being with Barry at Ralph's side all night.
"Oh, relax- I know my dad will give you some extra days off." Iris hit me gently with the photos in her hand, then puts them on her desk for Allegra to see, "Look at these."
Allegra held a newspaper in her arm, hiding it from us as she stared at the photos, "Where did you get these photos?"
"I pulled them from a bow tie camera." Kamilla told her, a proud smile on her lips.
"Long story." Iris interjected, "Look, the point is, this is the same guy that kidnapped your cousin Esperanza and turned her into a meta-assassin against her will."
"One of these photos, this one, shows our mystery man getting out of his car." I said blandly, pointing at the photo and playing with Barry's watch I wore, "I traced his plates and tracked the car to a rented parking space at a nearby lot."
Iris nods, smiling, "So- now all we have to do is to wait for him to show up."
"Cool." Allegra nods, her eyes glued to me, "Just checking, are there any other stories you wanna work on first?"
"What could need our attention more than this?" Iris answers, despite Allegra's eyes on me, "Your cousin was a victim, Allegra, and now some secret organization is using her- I mean, how many others are they using?"
I simply agree, "She's right."
Kamilla nods, "We need to help them."
"Right, I mean, no one wants to find out what happened to Esperanza more than me, but-" Allegra looked at me once more, "Is this really what matters the most to you right now?"
"As I was dragged here against my will, I don't have any other choice at the moment-" I grabbed the photos, "While Iris and Kamilla see if they can recover any other photos- you're stuck with me."
Allegra exhales deeply, "You're the boss."
-
I stood behind the man as he got out of his car, placing my hands on my hips, "Hello."
The man lightly jumps when he turns, seeing me.
"My name is Zee Allen." I introduced myself formally, "I'm a Detective at CCPD, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions."
"Yeah, right." He eyed me, then walks past me, "Sorry, not interested."
"Hi." Allegra stood in front of him, making him stop, "Same department, same question- she's legit."