more Bees

So, after hearing the story about the mechanical bee thing, I stayed back at STAR Labs for the night. Everyone else had already split, leaving me to tinker with the tech. Not that I minded; I had a lot on my mind anyway. Plus, who needs sleep when you've got a mechanical bee to reverse-engineer?

For hours, I was scribbling down designs—not just copying the bee, but making little adjustments here and there. The final sketches didn't even resemble a bee anymore. I was already imagining cramming it into that high-tech watch I'd been planning. Yeah, totally overcomplicating things, because I can.

After I'd lost track of time (and probably skipped dinner), I figured I'd try reactivating the bee. Not a full reboot or anything crazy. I made sure to dampen its signals first—couldn't risk any "surprise visits." But then something weird happened. I noticed that the bee was still trying to transmit something. Like, it was locked onto a signal, and it had somewhere it wanted to be.

So, naturally, I tracked it. And guess where it was headed? Mercury Labs. Not exactly a place you want rogue tech pointing at in the middle of the night.

I quickly made my way to the Cortex, barely holding my sketches together. Cisco and Caitlin were still around, so I hit them with the news. "Hey, guys. We've got a problem. I reactivated the bee to see if there is anything and it turns out it's started transmitting a signal, not a call signal but rather a follow signal, the bees are being called and they're going to mercury labs."

Caitlin asked me, "Are you serious? look, while Cisco raised an eyebrow. "You sure it's not, like, just rerunning its old program?" Cisco asked.

I shook my head. "Nah, this is fresh. It's trying to follow something. We need to shut it down or follow it before things get out of hand."

Without wasting any more time, we called Barry, filling him in on the situation. Not even a minute later, he's suited up and ready to bolt.

"Are you coming with me?" Barry asked, looking a bit tired.

"Yeah, man, I'll be right behind you." I replied, grabbing my gear.

But just as we were about to leave, Caitlyn and Cisco stopped us.

"Barry, you can't go again, you almost died last time and the defibrillator in your suit is finished."

Before they continued I butted in.

"Dude, you almost died, and no one told me?"

I gave them all an incredulous look.

"Seriously?"

They were quiet for a second, looking everywhere but me, but then Ray spoke up.

"His suit might not be bee proof, but mine is."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. I've been working on it all day and night—upgraded the power source and everything. It hasn't been fully tested yet, but it's stable enough. I'm confident in my work."

Ray gave a slight nod, trusting my words without any fuss.

"Alright, Barry," Cisco called out. "We've tracked her down to an abandoned greenhouse just outside the city."

Caitlin was already grabbing her coat. "Okay, I'm driving."

Cisco added, "I'm coming too. Let's move."

As they geared up to head out, I crossed my arms, waiting for someone to tell me what the plan was for me. "Uh… and me?"

Barry glanced back at me, his expression a little hesitant. "I don't know, man. It's dangerous out there, and you're not fast enough to keep up."

I scoffed. "Really? Dude, I'm Sure i can outrun mechanical bees. Plus you should be able to short circuit them with some lightning"

"Look," Barry said, "well, actually, I don't know how to do that."

"Wait seriously? It shouldn't be that hard to generate an electric field. But how about this, you teach me about phasing, and I'll teach you about making that field?"

"deal." and with that he spread off.

Barry zipped out with a quick nod, followed by Caitlin and Cisco, leaving me, Felicity and Wells.

Ray turned to me and said "Mercury Labs is about to be overrun with bees. So I need to get there and stop it."

I smirked, rolling my shoulders. "Yeah yeah, off you go. We'll make sure nothing blows up."

Ray nodded and headed out, leaving me with Felicity and Wells. The lab was quiet for a moment, just the hum of the equipment and the subtle glow from the monitors.

Felicity broke the silence, looking over at me. "Do you really think Barry can pull off generating an electric field?"

I leaned back in my chair, spinning slightly. "Honestly? Yeah. It's not that hard. He just has to focus. And then later, he's going to teach me how to phase."

Wells raised an eyebrow. "You two are trading abilities now?"

"Something like that," I said, a small grin on my face. "It'll be useful for both of us."

---

Ray POV

Ray was flying, his voice calm but focused. "I've attracted the bees. They're following me."

---

Barry POV

Barry arrived at the greenhouse, speaking into the comms. "I'm here, but the problem is, the bees are after her."

—

Felicity POV

"I'm on it," Felicity said, fingers flying over the keyboard. For a good 20 seconds, she hacked into the bees, rerouting their signals. But before long, Queen Bee—Bree—hacked back into her own bees, regaining control.

I jumped in, quickly typing commands, my eyes glued to the screen. "Hold on, I've got this." With a few swift keystrokes, I disabled the bees completely. "Bees neutralised," I said, watching as Barry handcuffed Bree.

---

Ray POV

Ray's voice came through the comms again. "The bees are still following me."

Cisco chimed in. "You're going to have to go into the ocean. Get those bees to short-circuit."

Ray hesitated for a second. "But I'll short-circuit too!"

Despite the risk, Ray dove into the ocean, the bees following him. As he flew back out, drenched but alive, his suit started to fail. "Okay, my suit's shutting down. What should I do?"

"You see our van?" Cisco asked, his voice slightly panicked.

"Yeah," Ray answered.

"We're going to catch you."

"We are?" I could hear Ray's scepticism, but there was no time for doubt.

---

The van screeched to a halt just in time, catching Ray in the back as he fell out of the sky, suit barely holding together. As everything started to calm down, Ray climbed out of his suit, shaking off the water.

But then Cisco's eyes widened. "Ray, watch out!"

A rogue mechanical bee zipped toward Ray, but Cisco jumped in front of him, taking the sting. He collapsed, going into cardiac arrest from the venom.

---

Barry arrived just as it happened. "What do I do?" he asked, panicking.

I jumped in over the comms. "Okay, Barry, you're getting that lesson early. I need you to generate an electric field, now."

"How?"

"Listen carefully," I instructed, taking on a serious tone. "Feel the electricity running through you. It's already there. Now, rub your hands together—fast—build up static energy. You're going to use it as a defibrillator."

Barry hesitated but followed my instructions. "Like this?"

"Exactly. Now push it onto Cisco's chest, and shock him."

Barry did it, a burst of electricity sparking from his hands. Cisco's body jolted, but he didn't wake up.

"Do it again!" I said urgently.

Barry tried once more, pressing his hands against Cisco's chest. This time, Cisco gasped and his eyes fluttered open.

…

Back at STAR Labs, everything wrapped up. Caitlin ran over to give Cisco a hug. "Glad you're okay."

Ray and Felicity were packing up their gear, ready to leave. "Looks like we've got to head out," Felicity said with a smile. "It was great working with you."

We all said our goodbyes, and I waved as they left. Once everything was quiet again, I stretched, feeling the exhaustion from the long day finally catch up to me. With a yawn, I headed home and crashed into bed, finally getting some well-deserved sleep.