OKAY GUYS LETS JUST BRUSH OVER THE FACT THAT I AM THE WORST AUTHOR EVER FOR NOT UPDATING IN A MILLENIA BUT I AM NOT GONNA GIVE YOU SOME CRAP EXCUSE- INSTEAD, ENJOY THIS NEW CHAPTER, BECAUSE WE'RE BACK BITCHES! (if its any consolation my writing's a little better?)

Episode 14

"Maya," Barry's voice came through the comslink, "Maya where are you taking Dr Stein?"

Maya sighed, "I'm not taking him anywhere, Bear. He's leaving. I just don't think he should die alone."

"He's not dying, period," Barry said determinedly.

"He's got an unstable energy matrix inside him which could go nuclear any moment. I think that's a tiny bit life-endangering," Maya pointed out, glancing sideways at F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M.

The comslink went quiet, and Maya sighed, her breath coming out in a white puff of smoke. The air was considerably colder, them now being thirty miles out from Central City. The Badlands was dusted with a thing coat of snow over all the rocks and dirt, the frozen sun's beams of light shone over the treetops of the forest a mile or so in front of them.

"Thank you for coming with me, Miss Black," Dr Stein smiled, or was it Ronnie?

Maya shook her head, "Like I said, no one should die alone. I don't think you should die in general."

"I'm afraid there's no other way, my dear," the man sighed, looking skyward.

"Nah," Maya disagreed, "They would've come up with a solution, they would've found a way- they always do."

He frowned, "You have a lot of faith in them."

Maya shrugged, "They're my friends, and they've saved my life on more than one occasion."

"Then it's almost poetic that someone saves them," the brunette raised his voice over the harsh wind.

The two of them stopped and Maya shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, she grimaced, "I'm sorry we couldn't save you."

"You tried. That's enough," Ronnie/Dr Stein huffed, before pulling out a gun.

"Whoa, hey," Maya exclaimed suddenly, pulling her hands from her pockets and placing them over the cold metal, "What're you doing?"

"If I shoot myself the explosion might not be as destructive," Stein stated, raising the gun.

Maya's eyes widened, as she pulled the gun from his hands, "Okay, okay- I guess now's a good time to come clean."

"Come clean?" he frowned.

"I was stalling- I was hoping they'd figure something out last minute, I never would've guessed you'd try a-," Maya explained.

"Professor Stein!"

Barry Allen's voice cut Maya off as he skidded to a halt a few feet behind them, dropping Caitlin to her feet as he looked over at the duo. They made their way down the slope, heading towards them in a hurry, Caitlin clutching a device close to her chest.

"What're you doing?! You can't be here!" Stein yelled, his voice filled with worry and concern, "Get her out of here- now!"

"Caitlin what are you doing?" Maya frowned as Barry appeared at her side, looking at the gun, the blonde sighed, waving it in the air for effect, "he was going to bloody shoot himself."

"Please, look, Ronnie's still in there somewhere!" Caitlin pleaded as she stopped in front of Maya and Ronnie's body.

Stein shook his head, "All those people- Clarissa, I won't let them die. Better I end this now."

He snatched the gun from Maya's hand, raising it to his head. All of their eyes went wide at that, Maya lurching forwards slightly as Barry raised his hand in a pacifistic manner, Caitlin looking mortified.

"We can separate you!" Barry exclaimed, "We can stop the explosion."

Stein frowned, lowering the gun, "How?"

"A Quantum Splicer, it's a fission device designed to bombard your atoms with as much energy as they experienced in the particle accelerator explosion," Caitlin explained, holding out the machine, "Should be enough to separate you. Please, Professor, you have nothing left to lose."

Maya's eyes flickered to Ronnie's face, where she saw the look of contemplation behind his eyes; she frowned before looking over at Barry, who looked overwhelmingly worried. When he didn't say no, Caitlin slowly placed the device on his chest.

"Ronnie?" Caitlin hesitantly asked, "If you're in there... I love you."

And for a moment Ronnie was back, Maya knew it, because he moved forwards and grabbed Caitlin, pulling her into a kiss to which she reacted to quickly. You could feel the sadness, love and loss radiating from them as all the months they'd been apart melted away and it was just the two of them. Maya smiled.

"That was from him," Stein said, as he took back control.

Caitlin smiled thankfully, "I look forward to meeting you in person, Professor."

Maya took a few steps back, ending up next to Barry, grimacing as the watched the splicer activate and spread out over Ronnie's chest; the machine hummed to life, a whirring noise filling Maya's ears as red lights lit up.

The abruptly, his hands set on fire, shortly followed by the rest of him as Ronnie's body was engulfed in bright flames and nuclear energy

"It's not working!" Caitlin yelled in distress, her face falling.

Energy continued to fall off Ronnie and Martin in waves, growing and growing as the nuclear energy built up. Wells started shouting at them to get out of there as Martin and Ronnie did the same, Caitlin dissolved into hysterics as she strained against Maya's arms.

"Barry get her out of here!" Maya yelled, pushing the woman to the red clad hero.

"What about you?" Barry shouted back as he swept Caitlin up.

Maya shook her head, "I can teleport- go!"

Ronnie threw his head back, letting out a pained scream as the energy built up even more, the light from it causing Maya to squint against it. She waited, for something, for the energy to die and Martin and Ronnie to be left, separated. She waited until the last moment, until the energy finally vanished before the eruption, until Ronnie's face became visible again and the two of their eyes locked.

Maya saw the look of pain and sadness in his eyes, her heart breaking that she couldn't save him. Go Stein mouthed, and Maya nodded, vanishing into thin air just before the combined met let out a final yell and clenched their fists as F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. exploded in a blast of nuclear energy.

Reappearing only a few moments later, Maya's feet connected with grey ash, she looked down to see Barry and Caitlin on the floor and hurried to help the latter up as Barry pulled his mask off and looked around at the destruction.

"Are you guys okay?" Cisco's voice came across the comslink, worry obvious in it.

"I think so," Barry replied, checking Maya and Caitlin for any damage.

"Yeah, we're good," Maya agreed, pulling Barry to his feet.

A mushroom cloud expanded upwards miles away from them, the exlosion's shockwaves still drifting outwards. Debris and ash floated down from the sky and the air was still humming with heat, an explosion still visible at the centre of the cloud.

"Oh God," Caitlin stated, "The nuclear explosion- there's no telling how much radiation we were exposed to."

"Great. Am I gonna turn into the Hulk or Spiderman?" Maya commented, earning a glare from Barry at her badly timed humour, "Yeah, I know."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Cisco mumbled, "This can't be right- the Geiger counter in the suit, its reading less than one milirad."

Barry frowned, "But that's normal."

"There was no radiation," Maya stated, crossing her arms, "How can that be possible? It was a nuclear explosion."

Everyone went silent, thinking the same thing.

"Let's go," Barry swept Caitlin up, nodding to Maya before running off.

Taking a deep breath, Maya disappeared, reappearing next to Barry and Caitlin again on top of a dirt mound, smoke still made the air blurry and there were no figures in sight. Caitlin quickly started making her way down the slope, Barry and Maya exchanging a look before following after her shortly.

They slipped down the hill, feet creating deep holes in the dirt the same way they would with snow, as they finally reached the bottom and Cisco's voice came through the comslink.

"Did it work? Did we separate them?"

Maya looked around them, at all the carnage, "I have no idea."

Caitlin was striding ahead of them, and finally the smoke began to clear- and they could see one figure, battered and exhausted, lying in a small crater. Ronnie Raymond.

"Ronnie?" Caitlin said hopefully, rushing forwards to the man's side, "Tell me your name."

The may slowly sat up, confusion on his face until he saw Caitlin, to which a smile broke out on his face, "Ronnie Raymond."

A grin spread over Caitlin's face as the two kissed, hugging each other tightly as Ronnie assured her it was him, and Caitlin clung onto him tightly. A smile graced Maya's lips as she watched the sight, resting her head on Barry's shoulder as the man in red wrapped an arm around hers.

Slowly another figure emerged from the mist, an older man looking disorientated and bedraggled, his clothes singed and glasses wonky.

"Oh my God," Maya breathed, taking her head from Barry's shoulder as she took a step forwards.

The white haired man looked over at them, "Uh, pardon me, but obviously I need a change of clothes."

"Nice to see you in the flesh again, Professor Stein," Barry grinned.

"Let's go home," Maya smiled, looking around at the five of home, "all of us."

The S.T.A.R. Labs elevator pinged open, revealing a grinning Caitlin and Ronnie, with a smiling Maya and Barry trailing behind and finally a dubious looking Martin Stein.

"Ronnie Raymond," Cisco's face was full of relief and joy as he shook his head, striding forwards.

"Cisco," Ronnie beamed, the two of them clapped hands before pulling each other into a hug.

"I missed you so much," Cisco smiled, holding onto her returned friend tightly, they pulled back and Cisco's face fell, "I shouldn't have locked you in there."

"Hey," Ronnie cut him off, "Don't."

"Welcome back, Mr Raymond," Harrison Wells wheeled to a stop, looking up at his former employee.

"Dr Wells," Ronnie took a few steps forwards, grimacing, before shaking his hand, "Caitlin told me what happened to you, I'm so sorry."

"I am responsible for putting myself in this chair," Harrison rebuffed, "You are responsible for my still being alive. Thank you."

"You said you'd bring him back," Caitlin said, smiling as she wrapped an arm around her husband, "and you did. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Wells nodded.

Stein slowly stood up, "Excuse me, are we all planning to sing kumbaya next?"

Maya patted him on the shoulder, "Ever the pessimist, Professor."

"Professor Stein, I presume?" Harrison guessed, looking over at the fellow brilliant mind.

Martin nodded, "Harrison Wells. Do you have somewhere I could freshen up and get a change of clothes?"

"Course," Harrison nodded, leading the way with them all trailing behind him.

Maya hung back, giving Barry a knowing look, "Hero once again, Bear. You saved them. You saved both of them."

Barry shrugged, "Had a little help."

The two walked at the back, Maya's eyes traced the lightning bolt on Barry's chest, her mind drifting back to her thoughts from earlier; her thoughts on how Barry had resurrected her with his lightning, jump started her heart and brought her back from the dead.

"You okay?"

Barry's concerned voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Maya smiled.

"Yeah, just thinking," Maya assured him. She caught Dr Wells looking back at them and felt her eyes go cold as she looked away. She couldn't look at him- not after knowing he was the Reverse Flash, that he killed Barry's mom.

Barry was still frowning at the look on her face, obviously not convinced that nothing was worrying her, but he stayed quiet.

Maya and Barry walked down the drive belonging to the Stein's, the two metahumans watching as Martin's face lit up at the sight of his home and eh took it all in. The look reminded her of the one she must've worn when she'd stood outside her home for the first time in ten years.

"Can't believe it," Martin smiled as the trio strode up the steps onto the porch.

Maya smiled, "No place like home I'm sure, Professor Stein."

"Please, call me Martin," the white haired man corrected her, "you stood by me when I needed a friend, Miss Black, I think first names should be no barrier."

"Well in that case, please call me Maya," the blonde smiled back brightly, before quickly finishing her sentence, "Martin."

The Professor smiled, chuckling to himself before he remembered something and quickly called out to the two heroes, who were about to leave, "Wait! W-what... what should I say?"

"I don't think you're gonna have to say anything," Barry smiled reassuringly at him as the front door opened.

Clarissa Stein appeared in the doorway, and a flood of emotions washed over her face as her features lit up and she pulled her husband into a tight hug.

Pulling away, Martin looked at his wife, "Clarissa, I'm so sorry I put you through this."

Shaking her head in a silent way of telling him it was okay, Clarissa pressed a kiss to her husband's lips before hugging him again, tears of happiness flooding her face. Finally pulling away, Clarissa mouthed a thank you at the duo before stepping back in the house, Martin about to follow suit.

Barry and Maya exchanged smiles at the woman's relief, nodding accordingly to her before moving to walk away.

"UH, Mr- Barry, a-and Maya," Stein sighed, "I know I can be difficult, but... thank you, for bringing me home."

"We'll see you soon, Professor," Barry turned and walked away, Maya following close behind with her hands shoved into her black jacket pockets.

Walking into Barry's CSI lab, Maya spotted Joe worryingly staring at the small computer screen displaying the news, which was talking about the nuclear explosions in the Badlands.

"Hey," Barry finally said as the two came to a stop.

Joe looked up immediately, relief washing over his face, "I left you three messages- each."

"Yeah," Barry sighed, guilt making him grimace, "I know, I'm sorry."

"About the lack of communication, or that new hole out in the Badlands?" Joe inquired, looking between them expectantly.

"We're all fine, thanks," Barry assured him.

"Totally didn't nearly get obliterated from the earth by a nuclear explosion," Maya commented.

Joe sighed, shaking his head, "I wasn't calling about the explosion. I have to show you something- Maya, you might wanna come too."

Maya frowned, watching Joe grab his coat before following after him, her interest peaked.

Joe swung open a wooden door, slipping the keys into his pocket and leading Barry and Maya inside. The house was old, and seemed to hold a lot of tragedy, That paired with the look of pain on Barry's face and the caution on Joe's, it didn't take long for Maya to figure out it was Barry's childhood home- the one his mother was murdered in. The one Harrison Wells killed her in.

Closing the door behind them with a click, Joe watched Barry take in the house and Maya see it for the first time. Both their expressions contrasted each other, and it didn't take long for Maya to notice Barry's sadness and slip her hand into his comfortingly.

"Smaller than I remember," Barry mumbled, his voice full of sorrow.

"Yeah, because you're bigger," Joe nodded, stepping passed the duo and glancing back briefly, "Have you been in here? I mean, recently."

Barry shook his head, "No. I haven't been in this house since that night."

"It's a beautiful house," Maya voiced, her hand leaving Barry's as she traced the grains in the wooden beams.

Walking into the room conjoined to the living room, Maya frowned as she saw the glowing blue piece of machinery sat in the middle of it. It has Cisco written all over it, and Maya had no doubt that it did so intense science with whatever device was fixed to the top of it.

"Bear," Joe called, gesturing for him to join him," This mirror, remember it?"

Slowly, Barry made his way over and instantly recognised the wooden mirror secured on the panel of the machine," Yeah- belonged to my grandma. How is it still here?"

Joe shrugged, "Just be glad it is."

"This is about to get wibbly wobbly timey wimey, isn't it?" Maya raised an eyebrow, her Dr Who reference leaving smiles on the men's faces.

"Look," Joe let out a heavy breath, "I don't fully know how Cisco did it, but-."

"Did what?" Barry frowned, glancing over at Maya, "Joe, what're we doing here?"

Realisation hit Maya and she looked at Joe with wide eyes, "You found something, didn't you? You and Cisco, you got something."

Joe opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to change his mind an instead signalled with his finger for Barry and Maya to move around the side of the machine to stand by him.

As soon as they did so, he clicked a button on the machine and it soon clicked to life, pictures slowly beginning to appear in holographic form in the living room. A scene appeared, shown in pictures recovered from the mirror, they were pictures from the night Nora Allen was murdered.

Barry soon began to walk back as Nora Allen appeared, knelt on the floor and looking around herself in fear. His voice was sad, "Mom."

The picture held two distinct blurs- a red one, and a yellow one.

Joe pointed to them, "I can definitely see two very fast people, fighting around your mother."

"Two speedsters," Barry put together, staring at the colours.

Maya frowned as she noticed a splatter if blood on the curtains across the room, "There's blood. Did you-."

"Cisco and I had the DNA tested," Joe confirmed for her, before looking at Barry, "It's yours."

"No, it's not. It's impossible- I wasn't even downstairs yet," Barry quickly went defensive, moving his head and adjusting his stance.

"That's not the only thing. Maya, your DNA is present too," Joe added, causing Maya's eyes to widen.

Taking a step back, Maya crossed her arms, "Now that really is impossible- I was not in this house that night, I-I cant be."

"Not that you, neither of you," Joe pointed to the blood, "This you. The yous that are standing in front of me. Adult Barry, and adult Maya. Cisco had the samples analysed and the proteins in the blood were that of an adult, not a child."

"But that means-," Barry started, stepping forwards.

"The second speedster, the one trying to stop the Man in Yellow-," Joe began.

Maya's eyes met Barry's, "Is you. It's the Flash."

Analysing the room again, Maya saw a flicker, a blur of sorts, hovering in the air. It was blue, barely visible, but seemed as though it was appearing. The blue flicker hovered just behind the speedsters and seemed to be a figure, a blurry shape that was either appearing or disappearing.

"What's this?" Maya turned to look at Joe.

The cop peered at it, before grimacing and looking down at Maya, "Judging by the fact that your blood is here and that's Barry, I'm willing to bet-."

"It's the Ghost, that blue blur is you," Barry said, his voice growing more determined and sure by the second.

"Time travel," Harrison breathed, his eyes calculating.

Maya was leant against the desk in between Cisco and Barry, her arms folded and her look sceptical. Finding out she had been present at the place of her best friend's mothers murder, three years before she'd ever even visited Central City had shaken her up.

Barry shrugged, "If the last five months have proven anything, it's that anything can exist... but actually travelling through time...?"

"Well, I mean, if we prove anything, it's that the impossible is possible, and very real," Maya pointed out.

"The greatest minds in human history put their genius towards solving that puzzle," Harrison sighed, shuffling a few papers in his hands.

"So? Is it possible?" Joe inquired.

Harrison pursed his lips, "Yes, it's possible. But problematic, I mean, assuming you could the conditions necessary to take that journey, well that journey would then be fraught with potential pitfalls, the Novikov principle of self-consistency, for example."

"Wait, the what now?" Joe was instantly lost, placing his jacket down.

"If you travel back in time, to change something, then you end up being the causal factor of that event," Barry explained, only getting a blank look.

"Kinda like, you go back to change an event but end up being the thing that makes it happen- a loop of some sort," Maya attempted, still getting a frown from Joe.

"Terminator," Cisco stated, the one word getting a more understanding look from Joe than Barry and Maya's explanations.

"Or, is time plastic, is it mutable where by any changes to the continuum could create an alternate timeline," Wells continued.

"Back to the Future," Cisco suggested to Joe.

Joe nodded, pointing to the rocket scientist with a nod, "Saw that one too."

Cisco nodded, grinning brightly, happy with himself.

"Doc Brown!" Harrison imitated, nodding, "tremendous picture."

"Nah, more of Dr Who person," Maya scrunched her nose up.

"Oh God," Barry groaned, laughing slightly at her.

"Hey!" Maya scoffed, scowling playfully, "I'd take a TARDIS any day."

"Right," Joe trailed off, getting them back on course, "So what's the answer?"

"I might be a clever guy, Joe, but if you're asking me to give you a working theory on how to travel through time," Wells sighed, raising his shoulders, "I'm afraid I just can't do that."

"There is someone else you can talk to about this," Cisco looked over at Barry, a thought coming to mind.

"Stein," Maya smiled, turning to Barry with the same look as Cisco.

Pushing open the glass doors, Maya walked into CC Jitters, the smell of coffee and the ever-present warmth washing over her as the door swung shut behind her. Heading straight towards the bar, Maya caught sight of Caitlin and Ronnie and sent them a smile as she passed.

Ordering a cappuccino to go, Maya payed the barista and waited patiently for her drink, tapping her nails rhythmically on the hard surface. The blonde's sharp eyes roamed the room, picking up the smallest details as they went; eventually they landed on Ronnie and Caitlin, and immediately she saw the red dots on the former's chest and the latter's back.

In seconds, Maya was racing across the room, "Get down!"

Tackling the couple to the ground just as shots began to fire, shattering the glass and sending the whole coffee shop into chaos, Maya held Ronnie and Caitlin to the floor as she watched people collapse.

The trio moved to their knees, crouching under the table as civilians raced around the café in panic and more glass broke and cups cracked.

"Go!" Ronnie told Caitlin and Maya, urging them to leave.

"No!" Caitlin shook her head, "Not without you!"

"I'm right behind you, go!" Ronnie pushed Caitlin towards the exit, and Maya quickly followed, silently throwing up a shield to protect the two of them.

Reaching the exit quickly, Maya dropped the force field and ushered Caitlin through the door, making sure she was safely away before the blonde stopped and looked back. She yelled for Ronnie to hurry up and held the door open, following him out of it as he raced passed her.

The two hurtled out into the alleyway to the side of Jitters, skittering to a halt on the damp pavement as the gunfire inside the shop went silent. Maya looked up and around them, her heart not particularly pounding as much as she assumed Ronnie's was.

Everything seemed silent, calm.

Maya let her breathing slow to a normal rate, she stood straighter and was about to open her mouth when she heard the sound of guns clicking. Her eyes widened and she began to move, to reach out and grab Ronnie, but before she could a whizzing sound filled her ears and something latched onto her, only giving her a second to curse before she was yanked upwards.

Wind rushed past her ears, whipping her blonde hair across her face as Maya tried to grab on to whatever was attached to her and was dragging her on the less than fun joyride. Then all of a sudden the ride was over and Maya's back was hitting the edge of the roof.

"Ugh," Maya groaned, rolling over the edge and onto the solid rooftop, knocking another oof out of her.

Scrambling to her feet, Maya yanked the grapple arrow from herself and threw it to the ground, turning around quickly and puling the bō from the back of her jeans. Flicking her wrist down, the staff elongated until it looked lethal and Maya narrowed her eyes at the figure that was lingering in the shadows.

"So did you figure out it was me or not?" Malcolm Merlyn asked as he stepped into the dimly lit rooftop.

"I had my suspicions, not sure why you're associating with the League though..." Maya frowned mockingly.

"I'm not," Merlyn stated simply, "They were following me and must've gone after your friend thinking I was with you two- I mean three renegade League members in one city can you blame them?"

"Wait why are the League following you?" Maya inquired, folding her arms to the best of her ability with her bō.

"That's beside the point, not why I'm here-," the archer started.

Maya glanced over her shoulder, "Yeah I don't care why you're here. If I didn't make it clear before- I want you out my life, Malcom. You stole years of it, but not anymore. I've changed, I-."

"You haven't 'changed', Maya! You can't! Just like a leopard can't change it's spots," Malcom exclaimed, "You can run around this city wearing a mask all you want, save children and women till your heart pops and fight bad guys until you drop dead. It doesn't change anything. What you are, a weapon, its unchangeable. You don't come back from what happened to you. You know it, I know it and the League know it. How long do you think it is before this so called new family of yours figures it out too? Killing is in your bones, it's the scars on your skin and the callouses on your hands."

"Scars and callouses heal, Malcom," Maya spat venomously.

"No, but being an assassin for the League of Shadows will catch up with you one day, trust me," Malcolm shook his head, "You're even more naïve than you were when I left you if you think you're any different from the thing you were."

"I think you don't know one fucking thing about me, not anymore- I'm a better person and I like that person," Maya swung her staff around as she waved her arms, "I feel like me again! Like Maya Black! The same one you pulled from that car wreck- the same scared and half dead sixteen year old that took ten years to find her way home. God, if I knew where my life was heading I would've got a freaking taxi- or maybe been on time in the first place!"

Malcolm paused, and Maya could almost see the lightbulb hovering over his head, "Now that's interesting. That's really interesting."

"What? What're you on about now?" Maya looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing. Don't you worry. You have fun trying to save- well, what are you really trying to save, Maya- yourself or this city?" with that last insulting remark, Malcolm began to stride from the roof.

"Save myself? Oh, you mean like you?" Maya called after him.

"Honestly at this point, I think both of us are past saving," Malcolm shouted back before finally vanishing.

Huffing to herself, Maya ran an anxious hand through her hair, taking a deep breath and began to regain her composure, only for her head to whip upwards as a yell filled her ears and the alleyway beneath her.

It was the same yell that she had to listen to during self-defence classes and attempted alleyway fights, the same yell that she heard when hands got trapped in doors and it always fired up the protective side of Maya. It was a yell that belonged to Barry Allen.

Maya cursed, quickly rushing forwards and vaulting over the side of the building and began to fall; as the bricks blurred passed her in bright oranges and browns, Maya vanished, teleporting to the ground where she appeared without a sound behind a camo clad figure she quickly recognised as General Eiling.

"F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. was tonight's main objective, but getting you," Eiling jabbed his finger at Barry, "that's just great."

Bouncing on her heels, Maya stepped forwards and slammed her bō into the joint of his leg, causing him to fall to one knee and cry out in pain.

"Yeah, sorry, but I can't let you take either of them," Maya shrugged as she walked around and almost flinched at the sight of Barry lying on the ground with thousands of needles sticking out of him.

A car came barrelling down the street, heading straight towards them at an alarming rate and swerving to a stop just before them. Caitlin Snow pulled the sliding door to the S.T.A.R. Labs van open and yelled for them to get in, Ronnie sprung to his feet and punched Eiling in the face, knocking the general down long enough for him to get in the van.

Maya knelt down next to Barry, pulling him to his feet and giving him an apologetic smile as the latter let out another yell of pain as he moved. Helping him into the van, Maya pushed him in before round house kicking an approaching soldier in the chest and leaping in the van herself, Caitlin grabbing her arm and tugging her in just as it started pulling away.

Groaning in pain, Barry lay on the metal gurney as Caitlin slowly eased the fragments out one by one with the metal prongs in her hand; Cisco held the metal basin to catch the metal as Maya watched on with a grimace and.

"You need to hurry," Harrison advised Caitlin, "Barry's wounds are starting to heal with the fragments still under his skin."

"This is just like that time I stepped on a sea urchin," Cisco muttered hurriedly, the traumatised look on his face making Maya raise an eyebrow.

Barry looked over at him in bewilderment, as if to sarcastically question him on why he was comparing a sea urchin to hundreds of tiny metal spikes stuck under his skin.

"Only much worse," Cisco amended quickly.

"Just don't pee on me," Barry warned as his face scrunched up in pain.

Frowning, Cisco corrected him, "Uh, you know that's a myth, right?"

"Can you guys discus old wives tales when Caitlin isn't pulling metal fragments from Barry?" Maya quipped, looking at Cisco pointedly.

As if on cue, Caitlin pulled another shard from Barry's skin and dropped it in the tray, everyone in the room wincing as Barry let out a yell of pain and the wound began to heal despite the dried blood around it.

"I'm so stupid," Caitlin sighed, looking around at them, "Jason Rush, the grad student who was helping Professor Stein with his F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. research, he said that the army took all of Professor Stein's material when he disappeared- I should've known it was General Eiling."

"Hey, this isn't your fault," Maya assured her, reaching over Barry to place a reassuring hand on the shoulder she wasn't using, "Eiling's a cunning and manipulative prick, you weren't to know he'd track down and attack Ronnie- or Jitters!"

Wells nodded in agreement before looking at Ronnie, "He still thinks you hold the keys to the ultimate human weapon, both of you."

"Okay," Barry cut in, his voice determined, "Let's just finish this- I've got to get to Stein's house, Eiling's gonna be after him too."

Ronnie frowned, turning around to look over his shoulder as if he sensed something, "Stein's fine."

"What? How do-," Maya cut herself off as she followed Ronnie's eyes to see Martin Stein stood at the entrance, "Oh."

Everyone looked over to where the two of them were staring as Stein moved forwards with a begrudging look on his face, "I don't think Mr Raymond and I are as... distinctive, as we'd hoped."

As soon as Caitlin had finished helping Barry, she led Ronnie and Martin to a separate room where she hooked them up to brain monitors and brought up their brain activity and waves on a small screen in front of them.

Barry changed out of his suit before following Cisco and Maya into the room where the trio watched Caitlin assessing the scientist and the engineer.

Stein sighed as he looked at the data, "I'm still inside Ronald."

"There has to be a better way to phrase that," Cisco turned to Maya and Barry in disbelief.

Barry grinned impishly as Maya rolled her eyes, "Get your head out the gutter, Ramon."

"Beta alpha, beta delta," Caitlin shook her head, "All your brain waves are perfectly in sync- the chances of that happening are next to impossible."

"Impossible is just another Tuesday for us, remember," Barry nodded his head confidently, smiling at them all.

"Yeah, but this is some Twilight Zone level stuff," Cisco pointed out, giving Barry a knowing look, "And I say this knowing full well we have a guy locked up in our basement who can turn into poison gas."

"And then some," Maya muttered.

"Really?" Ronnie asked in disbelief, looking between the three of them.

Cisco scoffed, "Dude, that was like week three."

Maya crossed her arms, "Besides, we have no clue how to entirely separate them. Like Dr Wells said, there's a difference between splitting an atom and splitting a man- how do we know where it went wrong?"

"Maya has a point," Caitlin agreed, "There's no way to know what to do without running more tests- and that's only the start!"

"Okay," Stein interrupted, "If this Eiling guy is as dangerous as you say, then I need to warn Clarissa."

Getting out of his chair, Stein moved towards the door only to be blocked by Barry, "I promise I can get Clarissa out of the city in time, but we need you to stay here. Professor, I need you to trust us."

Stein looked over to Maya, who gave him a nod and a reassuring smile before the Professor looked back at Barry, "Very well."

With that he walked out, passing Astrid on the way, who walked into the room and looked straight to Maya.

"Maya? Can I have a moment?" Astrid had a pointed look on her face, and blood dripping from a cut on her cheekbone, which put Maya on edge as she followed her from the room.

Making their way through the Cortex and stepping into the corridor, Maya turned to Astrid with wide eyes, who stared right back at her with an urgent look as she reached into her pocket.

"I went looking for clues, reasons why the League would be after us- well, probably more likely to be you, but anyway," Astrid sighed, "Guess who I just had a run in with? Malcolm fucking Merlyn."

Maya closed her eyes, letting go a sigh. She could almost feel Astrid stiffen.

"You knew that already though, didn't you?" Astrid let out a frustrated noise, "Seriously?

Maya groaned, rubbing her face, "I know, I know- I'm sorry! Look, Oliver's missing and when Malcolm showed up and I just want to know what happened to my best friend. He can't be dead."

Astrid sighed, before nodding, "Okay, well what now?"

Suddenly Maya's phone rang, a Script song blaring out as the screen lit up with "Cece". Maya shot Astrid an apologetic look as she walked at a quick pace from the room, pressing accept as she went.

"Hey," Maya answered as she moved the phone to her ear.

Cece's voice was somehow different, "Hi... I just, uh, just thought I'd call you and let you know..."

The other end went silent, as if Cece wasn't sure whether to speak or not.

"What?" Maya's voice changed, "What is it Cece?"

"He's back, Maya," Cece's voice was a whisper, "Oliver's back."

Maya froze, her mouth hanging open as she clicked end on the call, cutting Cece off as she called her name. Maya slipped her phone into her pocket, turning back around to face Astrid, the latter's face pulled into a frown at the look on the blonde's face. She knew she should be happy that he was back, relieved he was alive- but Oliver's being alive meant something else.

"Now?" Maya started, her voice barely a whisper, "Now, we go to Starling City."

SO I'M ALREADY WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER YAY, IT'S SET IN ARROW IN CASE Y'ALL HADNT GRASPED THAT AND I'M REALLY EXCITED TO REVIST CECILIA AND THE REST OF THE BLACKS!