I don't own The Flash. All rights go to their respective owners.

Chapter Thirteen

A Bar In Central City

How often do you think about why your friends came into you life? Was it random, by design, or maybe a little bit of both? Barry ponders as he looks across as his best friend Julian stood beside his sister in all but blood, Iris, her boyfriend Eddie and his newest of friends Cisco and Caitlin as they drink and play darts..

Regardless of the reason, some friends, you just know are gonna be by your side for a while and then there's that one friend who, well, you hope someday becomes something more. Barry thinks as he looks to Caitlin, smiling widely at her.

But friend will have to do for now and that's okay, I guess, he thinks to himself as Iris walks towards him.

"I'm glad you invited Caitlin and Cisco." She remarks.

"They're cool, right?" Barry nods.

"They saved your life Barry. That makes them the coolest people I have ever met. Look, even Julian doesn't mind them because of that and he is the most antisocial person I have ever met." She laughs.

"You got that right." Barry smirks.

"It's nice that you guys became friends." She adds, patting his arm.

"You listening to me?" She enquires.

"Yeah, sorry." Barry smiles, he'd been glancing over at Caitlin again, thinking of how pretty her smile is when Cisco told her a joke of some kind. Iris gasps.

"Bartholomew Henry Allen."

"No." Barry groans, resting his head on the table as Iris cackles.

"You like Caitlin?" She whispers.

"Iris West. I swear to god…"

"Ohh my god Barry, you do! No wonder you wouldn't ask Felicity out. You like Caitlin!" She practically cheers.

"Could you say that any louder?" Barry asks in a sarcastic voice.

"Does she know?" Iris whispers.

"No, of course not and anyway I'm not saying I ever do like her…"

"Barry. You forget how long we've known and lived with one another. You like her." Iris continues as Barry starts slamming his head repeatedly against the bar.

"Iris. Just, drop it." Barry practically begs.

"I am so not ever going to drop this one Barry." She grins.

"But, for you, I will for tonight." She adds, before raising a glass.

"To friends, old and new." She says before the two down there shot glasses.

"Just to let you know, if you want any advice on asking her out, or anything. You know who to come to." Iris grips his arm.

"Why do I get the feeling like you're just going to start giving me advice on that whether I ask for it or not?" Barry sighs.

"Because, Barry. I want you to be happy and after a nine month coma you deserve to be happy and Caitlin." She glances to her.

"Is a wonderful woman." Iris says approvingly and Iris's seal of approval makes Barry smile.

"Anyway, I'm up, wish me luck." She says before practically skipping towards the dart board where Julian has just finished beating Eddie.

"Please tell me you all were witnesses to that?" Julian glances around.

"Yep we were." Cisco grins as Barry nods as Julian and Eddie start squabbling about the dart march between the two of them, a squabble Iris abruptly shatters

"I am going to destroy both of you." She rips the darts from Eddie's hands with a confident smirk.

"Don't get cocky, West." Eddie warns her as she begins to throw the darts, Julian and Eddie watching on in horror as she beats both of their scores by a mile, whilst Barry heads toward the table where Cisco and Caitlin are.

"Guys, I have a problem." Barry whispers to Caitlin and Cisco so as to not attracted the attention of Julian, Eddie or Iris.

"Are you alright?" Caitlin asks anxiously.

"Watch." Barry says before using his super speed to down all the shot glasses on the trey he had carried over.

"I can't feel anything." He whispers.

"Yeah, that's usually what happens when you drink too much." Cisco sniggers.

"No, the alcohol is not affecting me. I mean, I literally feel nothing." Barry admits.

"It's your hypermetabolism. I need a sample." Caitlin says, suddenly excited.

"I'll get more shots." Cisco moves from the table.

"I swear I had a vacutainer in here." Caitlin muses as she rummages through her bag.

"Wait, you carry a blood collection kit in your purse?" Barry frowns at her.

"You have your hobbies."

Somewhere In Central City

"Fourteenth floor, secure." A security guards in a high rise building calls through his comms.

"Roger that." Another guard replies, just as said guard comes across a red headed woman rummaging through a file cabinet.

"Hold off on that check." He murmurs as the woman turns her head in the man's direction, the man edging forward with his gun, just as the woman suddenly races past him.

"Lock down the building!" He yells through his comms.

"Hold it!" The yells to the woman.

"Don't come near me." She warns the man.

"You need to come with me. Come on." The guard beckons her over.

"Get down!" She calls as she drops her backpack and runs toward the window.

Suddenly, an explosion takes out the top floor of the building…

Meanwhile…

Clinking their shot glasses together, Barry, Caitlin and Cisco down their drinks.

"Still nothing?" Cisco glances to him.

"No. I can't get drunk. I mean, I'm only twenty five and my drinking days are already over." Barry groans miserably.

"Come on Allen, you're up." Eddie calls.

"I can't wait to see this." Julian adds with a smirk just as Eddie and Cisco's phones begin to buzz loudly.

"There was a bombing on Eighth and Pass." Eddie murmurs.

"I gotta go, babe." He turns to say goodbye to Iris.

"Okay." She nods, kissing him goodbye.

"Sorry, guys." Eddie apologizes to them before leaving.

"I better go and open up the lab. I'll see you down there." Julian pats Barry's shoulder.

"I've got an early shift at Jitters, Barry, we'll catch up tomorrow." Iris calls as Barry, Caitlin and Cisco all fake yawns of their own.

"It's getting late anyway,so I'm just gonna…" Barry trails off before speeding away…

Later…

Reaching the site of the bombing at top speed, Barry looks up at the high rise that had been attacked by the bomb, only to see a window cleaner dangling dangerously from their broken platform.

"Guys, there's a window washer and he's gonna fall." Barry calls through his comms.

"Don't try and catch him. You don't have super strength." Cisco points out.

"Well, is there like a bed store near here? What if I get mattresses and stack them?" Barry enquires, desperate to find the solution to this problem.

"Barry, this isn't a road runner cartoon." Caitlin sighs.

"Help! Help!" The window cleaner yells. Barry knows he has to act fast.

"How fast would I need to go to run up the side of a building?" He questions.

"How far up would you need to go?" Cisco frowns.

"Uh, I don't know. Fifty meters, give or take." Barry winces as he watches the window cleaner cry out again and struggle to hang on.

"Ok. Thirty two point fifty seven…" Cisco begins to calculate.

"Guys hurry!" Barry yells urgently.

"Just run really fast and you'll be fine." Caitlin assures him.

"But, you do need to maintain velocity on the way down or…"

"Or what?" Barry calls when she stops.

"Splat." Comes her reply.

"Great." Barry groans, directing his attention toward the window cleaner when he yells for help again.

"Alright, alright, alright." Barry whispers, preparing himself for what he's about to do.

"Here it goes." He says before beginning to run at top speed, racing up the side of the building as fast as he possibly can, grabbing a hold of the window cleaner just as the platform collapses, running back down the building and getting the man to safety.

Yet, as he begins to speed away he sees that, in front of him, is none other than Iris West...

Quickly, Barry uses his speed to blur his face before Iris can recognize him before speeding away…

Central City: Next Morning

"Barry, Julian, what have you got?" Joe West asks the next morning as Barry and Julian analyses the scene of the crime.

"Well, those who decide to bomb a place, usually have their own unique signatures, crimped wires, fragmentation." Julian lists.

"The level of sophistication is telling once we've analyzed it." Barry adds.

"You show us a bomb and we can find a clue in it." He folds his arms.

"Sounds like there's a 'but' coming." Joe sighs.

"That there is, we haven't found any hint of an oxidizing agent. From what I can tell, it appears as if the floor literally just blew itself up." Julian informs him.

"And yet, things don't just blow up." Barry points out.

"No, they don't." Joe agrees.

"Security guard said our bomber was a woman, red hair. Also cut the security cameras. There's no footage." Eddie says upon approaching the three.

"So basically, nothing useful from you, then." Julian mutters.

"Actually, Albert, there's this." Eddie beckons them over.

"Some kind of small charge blasted the doorknob off." He leads them into a room which is filled with file cabinets.

"Any idea what's missing?" Joe enquires.

"My guess is one of these files. It will take days to figure out which one." Eddie replies.

"Let's let Barry do his thing." Joe suggests before leading both Eddie and Julian out, leaving Barry alone in the room of files.

Using his speed, Barry flicks through each of the files in the cabinet at a rapid pace, going through each file until finally, he find the correct cabinet…

CCPD

"What's going on?" Eddie questions as he enters the CCPD.

"I have no idea but they came in here like they owned the place. Been talking to Singh for the last half hour." An officer informs Joe and Eddie as they eye the military men stood inside and outside Singh's office.

"This can't be good." Joe sighs as Singh exits his office, a man behind him.

"General Eiling. This is Detective West." Singh introduces them.

"Detective." Eiling notes as he and Joe shake hands.

"What's this all about?" Joe queries.

"The army's taking over the bombing investigation." Singh informs him.

"I'll need everything you have. Physical evidence, photographs, witness interviews, notes."

"I've been on the job nearly twenty years, never heard of the army investigating anything civilian." Joe cuts the general off.

"Well, it's not civilian. She's one of ours." The general replies.

"We'll send over everything we've got." Joe nods in acceptance.

"Very kind of you. I think, we'll take it now, though." The General responds.

"Give them what they want Joe." Singh commands quietly as the General smirks.

"You heard him, Joe. Give me what I want."

Meanwhile…

"Don't drop it." Julian smirks as Barry trips slightly upon stepping outside the elevator.

"I wasn't gonna drop it." He protests, the two friends laughing as Joe approaches them along with the military personnel.

"Hey. What's going on?" Barry frowns as he and Julian stop in front of them.

"General Eiling is relieving us from the bombing case." Joe informs them with a sign.

"Give these men everything that's relevant."

"Seriously?" Julian folds his arms.

"Yeah." Joe nods.

"Sure thing then." Barry replies before handing the box in his hands over, not before he snatches a piece of paper from it without anybody seeing him do so.

"There's some stuff up in the lab, suppose I better fetch that then." Julian mutters.

"I'll be with you in a minute." Barry calls before showing Joe the paper once Julian is out of its line of sight.

"You and a few civilians from STAR Labs might wanna check into that." Joe murmurs as Barry nods.

"I think we might." Barry says before walking away.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Joe?" An officer calls, causing Joe to look up.

"It's about Iris."

West Residence

"Hey, dad. You're home early." Iris smiles as her father walks into the house.

"What were you doing at the bomb site last night?" He asks her, Iris sighing instantly.

"Don't deny you were there. Officer Vukovich saw you." He says quickly.

"It's complicated." Iris replies.

"You can't be coming to every crime scene because you're worried about Eddie. He's a big boy, Iris." Joe says gently.

"I didn't go there to see Eddie. I… I went there to see the Streak." She admits.

"The Streak." Joe starts as he sets his bag down.

"Hmm, what is that?"

"My blog. I've been collecting posts about the Streak sightings and writing about them." She says with a beaming smile.

"Baby, there's no Streak." Joe lies to her.

"Yes there is. I saw him last night, dad. I looked right at him. Something incredible is happening in Central City and I'm gonna write about it." Iris says determinedly.

"Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to get to work." She moves to hug him.

"Blogging about supernatural events doesn't really pay well." She laughs before leaving the house and a Joe in despair behind.

STAR Labs

"A VA file number is all the info you have on the bomber?" Cisco questions in surprise.

"CCPD's been ordered off the case." Barry admits.

"Well, who has the power to do that?" Caitlin frowns.

"The army. Yeah, some General, his name was Eiling, I think." Barry replies with folded arms.

"General Wade Eiling." Wells announces as he wheels into the room.

"You know him?" Barry looks to him.

"Yes, I know him about ten years ago, General Wade Eiling contracted STAR Labs to develop enhanced gene therapies for soldiers. I was interested in the potential medical benefits for civilians. General Eiling really wanted to develop mind reading capabilities for interrogation purposes. I stopped the study when I was his techniques up close but our split was less then amicable." Wells informs them all.

"He took the evidence Julian and I collected on the bombing, everything but the folder." Barry hands it to him.

"Well, lucky for us, the VA finally joined the new millennium and digitized their records." Cisco says whilst turning to his computer, typing quickly.

"A lot of redacted info, but our girl's name is Bette Sans Souci, an EOD specialist for the army." He reports.

"EOD?" Caitlin frowns.

"Bombs." Cisco informs her.

"Is there an address?" Barry requests

"Hold on, here we go. One person in case of emergency: Cameron Scott, Anglewood ." Cisco tells him. Barry already looking towards his suit…

Somewhere In Central City

Upon receiving the address from Cisco, Barry races down the streets of Central City in order to get to the place.

Meanwhile, at said place, Bette Sans Souci is already making her way down a flight of stairs, walking down the street until Barry appears right in front of her.

"Bette Sans Souci?" He asks as she immediately breaks into a run.

Sighing to himself, Barry speeds so he's stood in front of her, cutting her off.

"I need you to come with me." He states firmly.

"Don't touch me, please." She begs when Barry reaches for her arm, he ignores her warning anyway and grabs her arm, yet as she pushes him off of her, her hand makes contact with the emblem on his chest.

"Get whatever you're wearing off of you!" She instructs as Barry looks down at the mass of purple substance that is beginning to form on his suit from where she had touched it.

"Hurry!" She cries, Barry racing away from her.

She watches the explosion from afar as a now predominantly naked Barry zooms out of the fiery blaze, a look of shock etched onto his face.

STAR Labs

"Barry, can you hear me? Barry?" Cisco calls worriedly through the comms.

"There must be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why he's not answering." Caitlin says, trying to remain calm when, really she isn't.

"BARRY!" She yells through the comms moments later just, as he arrives suddenly, tugging on a grey t-shirt as he approached them both.

"Uh…" Caitlin tilts her head to the side, a frown forming on her face.

"Don't even ask." Barry groans.

"Well, I'm gonna ask. Where's my suit?" Cisco questions as Barry looks away.

"It's gone." He admits, not sure if he should look at Cisco at this moment in time.

"What do you mean, it's gone? What did you do with my suit?" He asks in a stern tone.

"It blew up, dude." Barry says in a matter of fact tone.

"Wait, it blew up? And you were in it? Are you okay?" Caitlin asks worriedly.

"I am thank you." Barry nods gratefully as Cisco just looks horrified.

"Because you know, I managed to get out of it before it went kaboom." He mutters.

"Thank god for that. I mean, Cisco it's only a suit. You can make another one. You can't make another Barry." Caitlin points out.

"But my suit went kaboom?" Cisco continues.

"Yep it did, fun fact about Bette Sans Souci, she's not carrying bombs. She touched the emblem on the suit and turned it into a bomb. She's a metahuman…"

"With the ability to cause spontaneous combustion upon tactile contact." Wells fills in for them as he wheels into the room.

"She blew up my suit!" Cisco protests again.

"Ohh my god Cisco, you have like three more and as I said, you can always make another one!" Caitlin groans.

"Okay, I have two and I loved that one." Cisco grumbles.

"All right, Cisco's obsession for the suits aside, what seek do we know about her?" Barry questions with a sigh.

"Oh, I don't know, that she's pure evil? We're gonna find this girl and send her butt into the pipeline. No one blows my tech to smithereens and gets away with it." Cisco grumbles as he pulls a picture of Bette Sans Souci up on his computer screen.

"Unless she looks like that." He says, sitting down, a little dazed as Barry and Caitlin roll their eyes at him simultaneously.

"I don't think she meant to hurt me." Barry admits.

"Or her being a metahuman explains General Eiling's interest in her."

"If she didn't mean to hurt me, she probably can't control her abilities. I mean, she did look like she was afraid…" He trails off, eying Caitlin for a moment.

"Could be." She nods in agreement.

"She could be worried that they're controlling her." She notes softly, her mind flickering to thoughts of her own terrifying abilities.

"Whole thing also explains why Eiling stole the case from us." Joe West calls from the door as he saunters into the room.

"He didn't want anyone to know what she could do."

"Detective." Wells addresses him politely.

"Doctor." Joe responds in a similar tone.

"So, human bomb, must be Tuesday in Central City." He murmurs.

"Yes, and General Eiling's not one to give up a potential asset without a fight." Wells sighs.

"We have to find her before he does then." Barry states.

"Barry, can I see you for a second?" Joe requests in a tone Barry knows all too well.

Following Joe out into the corridor Barry turns to face him.

"When were you planning on telling me that Iris saw The Streak?" He questions.

"That was not planned. She caught me off guard." Barry says truthfully.

"We had a deal. You keep her in dark about metahuman sand I don't go Floyd Mayweather on you." Joe reminds him sternly.

"Okay, Joe. I know…"

"And she's writing this blog now!" Joe adds.

"I already talked to her about that." Barry protests.

"Talk to her again and be more convincing." Joe says strictly as Barry nods.

"Okay." He says with a sigh but Joe doesn't move.

"You mean right now?" Barry tilts his head to the side.

"Yes I do." Joe retorts sharply as Barry simply speeds away…

Authors Note: I am so, so, so incredibly sorry for not updating sooner and that regrettably the next update probably won't be for ages either. I'm in my second year at college, I do four subjects and my final exams are in less than six months probably even five now. So, if I don't update for ages then it's because of the importance of my exams as I need good grades to get into University but, none of that means that I am or will ever abandon this story because I'm not going to. I appreciate every single one of you that read, follow and favorite this story and I hate to keep you all waiting for updates like this, it's just absolutely hectic with college right now. Trust me, I want to to update this story. I love writing FanFiction. So, I hope you guys can understand why updates might take a while, I just think you all deserve an explanation, please tell me what you all thought of this chapter and thanks so much for reading :)