Friction

Full Summary: Barry thought saving his mother would fix everything; that it'd heal his grief over having lost both of his parents to rival speedsters, that nothing bad would happen in his life ever again. It made everything worse. What was an idealistic life turns out to be a nightmare and Barry wants to change things back to normal. But when he goes back to undo his mistake, it continues to make things spiral in more ways than he thought possible. Now more people are becoming metas, his best friend is doomed to die, and it looks like he's not fast enough to stop it from happening. Cadence thought she could handle the Assassination Bureau; she wasn't working for them anymore, she broke their hold over her, she was her own hero. But they broke out of the Pipeline and are on the loose with more to prove than ever before. Now they can set their plan in motion. Barry's altering of the timelines proves Cadence is their continued pawn in plans to wipe out modern civilization and take over the world. But what's harder to deal with; the storm of your biggest rival being your best friend or knowing the impending destruction of the world is your fault? No matter the storm, Barry, Cadence, and Team Flash have to whether it together.

Rated: T for language, violence, mature/sexual themes, and gore (heavy at moments).

Pairings: Barry/OC, SnowHarry, KillerVibe,

01

FLASHPOINT

Barry Allen had a great life.

His parents were happy and healthy and as in love as ever.

Though he didn't live with them, their arms were wide open for a visit. There was hardly a day that went by where Barry didn't visit. He stopped by their work places for lunch or 'just to say hi' when the feeling struck him. It struck him a lot, often like the lightning bolt that gave him his powers. Nothing brightened his day more than confirming they were, in fact, still alive.

His father's medical career continued to boom. As a well-respected surgeon in the Central City community, there were more mailings of thank you letters and cards than he'd ever received. Or maybe it was now that he saw them, Barry knew what his father's reputation had been before the night his mother was murdered. His parents were regarded as central figures to the city, going to nearly every city-wide meeting and on the board of numerous non-profits and volunteer organizations. How they managed to find the time Barry wasn't quite sure. Even with his own powers it didn't seem like there was enough time in the day to get it all done and they breezed through everything with a smile.

Barry missed those smiles so much he made sure to make them grin every chance he got. Even if it were a small joke he was sure they'd heard before, anything for that smile. Anything for their laughter. Anything to prove the life he had was the life he deserved.

That morning, as Barry strolled through the streets of Central City. It was a normal, sunny day. When it wasn't storming, Central City was always bright, but that everything looked brighter somehow. Golden, even. Almost as if a phot filter had been placed over everything even when nothing was out of place. And it showed on the face of every person he passed by. What was it about the day that was making everyone smile so much? That made them wave and greet each other as if they were best friends.

Central City had always been a friendly place, if Barry remembered correctly. But he also knew it could become darkened with a shadow of suspicions once people turned on you. He hadn't known what it was like for his father until they turned on The Flash and Flare. His heart hurt every time he saw the glances of disgust and distrust when he arrived on an active crime scene. It hurt even more when he saw those that wanted all metahumans to be captured and killed. Gotten rid of as if they were nothing but dirty rats trapped in a cage.

But this Central City, this home, this life…it wasn't anything he was going to give up anytime soon.

Barry finally, finally had everything he wanted. Everything he ever dreamed of. Everything he put his life towards. Why would he be crazy enough to let it go to waste? He grinned again, a fresh wave of content washing over him. He couldn't help it. Everything was turning out right.

Well, Barry thought. Not everything. He stopped at the street corner to let traffic pass, allowing his eyes to rest on Jitters. His palms started to sweat, nerves immediately replacing his otherwise complacent nature. There was just one thing he still needed to do. Be positive, Barry. Everything's going to be okay. Nothing could bring him down. Today was going to be a good day.

Finally, the traffic let up and Barry strode to the coffee shop. Even in this version of Central City, Jitters stayed the same. It was the first thing he found once saving his other, and the thing that gave him the biggest sense of peace. Barry walked inside and ordered a cup of coffee—the flavor truly didn't matter to him, though he couldn't help but notice they still had The Flash as its top order—and a hot chocolate before sitting at one of the tables under the golden awning of the front patio.

Once he placed the cups down, Barry slid down in his seat then sat up, crossed his legs then uncrossed them. Pulled at his sleeves, the collar of his flannel shirt, then studied his beat-up Converses. Maybe he should've warn better shoes? Dressed up a little more? His mom did say that he needed to get a new pair of jeans. Barry traced his finger against the frayed edge of the hole in his knee. He had the time to go back and change if he left now…

Footsteps headed his way and Barry looked up and smiled.

No point in worrying about that now, Barry thought. She's here. He ran his hands over his hair, pulled down the bottom of his shirt, took a deep, calming breath and let it out. Nope. His nerves were firing off a mile a minute. Even faster than his muscles throbbed, twitched, and danced when he finished a long run.

Cadence Nash sat down across from him, carefully moving her two-year-old-son to her lap. But Brady Nash quickly wiggled out of her grasp and toddled over to Barry, warbling, "Barwy, Barwy," as he went. Brady latched onto his leg and smiled up at him as Cadence chuckled.

"Should've guessed he'd be excited to see you," she remarked. Her eyes flashed as she studied the scene. "Anything that's not the cadaver in my office and he's completely smitten."

Barry laughed and placed his hands under Brady's arms, lifting him up onto his lap. Brady turned and smiled at him, dimples appeared in his cheeks, before he started smacking his palms against the table top.

"I guess I should take that as a complement then," Barry said.

Cadence made a show of looking him up and down then smiled. "Well, I mean, you're as skinny as a rail but I don't think you like skeleton-like yet," she teased. "How're you doing today, Barry?" Barry lifted his eyebrows and Cadence gave him a funny look. "You've been in my office a lot the past couple of weeks," She commented. "For some…weird ailments. Honestly, if it wasn't for your shin splints and chronic pain I'd think there was something wrong."

Barry tried not to let his smile drop. As it was, he could feel his body temperature rise, the tips of his ears were probably starting to turn red as well. Barry cleared his throat. "Uh, well…"

So, he had made up a few white lies here and then. How else was he supposed to get a General Practitioner's attention? When she wasn't at work she was taking care of her son. When she wasn't taking care of her son, she was at work. So when it rained his shin splints started acting up. Or maybe he'd pushed himself too hard during his morning run. Anything that was believable. And she'd always greeted him with a warm smile so he couldn't have been too off-base. Finally, the opportunity arose when his father officially announced he was going to retire.

After a bit of small talk, Barry mentioned wanting to interview his father's colleagues as a gift. But that was neither here nor there. She was there and that's all that mattered.

Well, except for one other thing.

"Well, you know me…I grew fast and my body didn't seem to want to catch up," Barry explained.

Cadence's warm smile widened. "Well, things should probably slow down about now." She crossed her legs at the knee and rested her hands in her lap. "Now, was there anything in particular you wanted to ask me?" Barry looked at her again, this time he had been distracted by Brady repeatedly tugging at the bottom of his flannel shirt, practically choking him. "About your dad? Or is this a whole talk from the heart sort of thing?"

"Oh. Right! Yeah. That." Barry shifted Brady onto his lap and started to bounce his leg up and down, smiling when Brady giggled at the movement and clapped his hands. "Uh, well, this whole thing is about my dad's retirement. So why don't you just talk about how it is working with him. And please don't hold back on any secrets that you may want to share. He's very tight-lipped about his job and whatever embarrassing things that can go on."

Cadence laughed. "I'm sure you're eager to learn a few things then." She flicked her hair behind her shoulders, tapped her finger against her chin. "Has he ever mentioned the time he managed to stab himself with a pair of scissors because he was, in fact, running with them?"

Barry rolled his eyes. "And after all those lectures."

"Well, it was a bit of an emergency. We needed to cut some burning clothes off a guy and he tripped," Cadence explained. "Pretty nasty too." She shifted her gaze and snapped her fingers to Brady, who leaned forward and pressed his hand against the napkin holder. "Stop that," she warned. Brady looked up at her and continued to push his hand against it, inching it closer to the edge of the table. "Brady."

Brady brought his hands back at the warning in his mother's voice. But only for a second. Before Barry could stop him, he reached out and pushed the napkin holder to the ground. "Uh-oh!" It clattered along the pavement and napkins shot into the air like confetti. "I knock it down," Brady beamed, clapping his hands together.

"I'm sorry," Cadence apologized. She knelt to the ground and gathered the mess. "Usually he's a lot better behaved than this."

"It's alright, really," Barry said. He leaned back out of the way when Brady stood up and started to reach across the table for Barry's coffee. Barry pushed it away then Brady turned to the side and started to walk across Barry's legs with Barry grasping his hands to make sure he didn't fall over. "Just looks like he's a little bored."

"Actually, he just got out of daycare," Cadence explained. "So, he probably has residual energy to burn." She sat up, dropping the napkins in the nearby trashcan. "Ryder should be here to pick him up, soon. Then we can really talk."

Barry's smile waned.

There it was. The small set-back. It wasn't like they couldn't be friends. Friends were a good thing. And he was even friends with Ryder, so it wasn't entirely a bad thing. Ha! What a joke! He hadn't felt the green-eyed monster in a long time, not since Iris admitted she was dating Eddie Thawne—a college freshmen when she was a junior in high school. They'd been together since then and Barry had managed to move on. Went off to college and all that. It wasn't until he had met Cadence, who was working with his father that he had truly been sucker punched with attraction to her.

So, she had a kid, that wasn't a deal breaker.

On Earth-1 Brady was one of his good friends. It threw him for a loop when Barry first saw how young the boy was now. His affection for Brady hadn't changed despite everything else that had.

"Oh! There he is." Cadence turned and waved her hand towards Ryder Moseley, who pulled off his construction helmet and tucked it under his arm when he approached. "Hey!" She kissed the cheek he offered her and beamed. "How was your day?"

"Amazing, actually," Ryder replied. He turned to Barry and the two bumped fists. "Got another big contract today." He reached over and grabbed onto Brady, pulling his son into his arms. With his own hands empty, Barry crossed his arms. As usual, he started to feel a little uncomfortable. But it was okay? They were all friends, right? "How was yours?"

"Very uneventful," Cadence explained. "But that can be a good thing." She motioned to Barry. "We were just talking about Dr. Allen. Getting info for his retirement party."

"Right. Yeah." Ryder looked at Barry apologetically. "I'm sorry I can't make it. There's so much going on right now and—"

"—It's no problem, man," Barry replied, holding up a hand. "Just as long as we save you a piece of cake, right?"

Ryder grinned. "Right."

Barry twisted his mouth to the side, looking away for a moment. He ran the palms of his hands over the legs of his jeans. It's always how it worked out. Cadence and Ryder had been in an on-off relationship since they were teens and Barry was sure they were 'off' at this point. Was he wrong?

Yeah, they had a kid together and that was something that'd be hard to insert himself into but he and Cadence had grown closer over the last couple of years. He was going to ask her out today. But maybe, now, it wasn't such a good idea. She had kissed Ryder, it looked like they were back together again.

Cadence caught Barry's eye and smiled, making him smile back. There was something in the way she looked at him that made him think he still had hope. It was very much like the way she looked at him back before he saved his mother, with nothing short of love and admiration. Even now they were still great friends. She worked closely enough with his father that she came over for dinner multiple times a month and he always just so happened to visit when she was there. His mom loved to play with Brady and it gave her some time to herself. Plus, Barry couldn't quite ignore the way his parents usually insisted they go out and bring back some ice cream after dinner.

How many times could you 'run out' before it got to be too obvious? Then again, Barry did still have his heightened metabolism and it took time to adjust accordingly.

"So, I'm going to get going," Ryder said. He stood up, balancing Brady against his hip. "I have a lot of paperwork that needs to be done and chances are it won't be as long as this guy is awake." He shook Brady back and forth. "Say 'bye'."

"Bye bye, mommy," Brady said, waving his hand up and down. "Bye bye, Barwy."

"Bye," Cadence and Barry replied.

Barry waited, watching as Ryder walked way before saying, "So…you and Ryder got back together, huh?"

"Nope," Cadence said simply. "Still broken up. Actually, we were talking recently and we think it's better if we just stay friends."

"Really?" Barry tried not to let his excitement show. In his face or in his voice. "I mean, yeah. If…if it works out better for you that way…I mean, it's just…I don't know, you guys looked pretty happy together. Maybe? I don't know."

Cadence smiled as she watched him speak rapidly, as he always did when he was nervous. She always seemed to be laughing at him when he did it, but that just made him want to make her laugh more. "I mean, I was wondering if you wanted to have a coffee with me. Other than right now. Or, no, you don't like coffee. Of course! You like hot chocolate. So, at a different time and with a different beverage. Maybe wine or beer? Not that I'm not trying to get you drunk. We could get iced tea. Do you like iced tea? Would you want to get an iced tea with me?"

"Don't like iced tea, not a huge fan of wine. Beer's okay. I'm more of a whiskey girl," Cadence listed. She continued to smile at him with that peculiar smile. "But, sure, I'd love to get something to drink with you. Just have to make sure Ryder's okay watching Brady."

"Great! Cool. Yeah, so, I uh, I guess we should figure out when we should do this then," Barry said. Then he cleared his throat, suddenly leaning forward. "Am I talking too fast? I feel like I am. I'm talking too fast, aren't I?"

"Just a little, but I don't mind. I like listening to you talk, Barry. Actually, I think it's kind of cute." She crossed her arms and looked at him curiously. "Though, it does make me wonder, what else can you do that fast?"

"A lot of things," Barry said. "Speed has always been my problem." Cadence's eyebrows twitched upwards. It took Barry a second to figure out his mistake. Now the rest of his face turned as red as the tips of ears. How'd she always manage to do that? Even back on Earth-1 she managed to make a simple comment hold much more weight. "I don't…no, I don't mean like that. I just meant—"

"—Relax, Tholly, I know what you meant," Cadence said. "I was just teasing you." She looked at the time on her cell phone. "I'm sorry, I have to go. We didn't get to talk about your dad so much."

"Oh, well, that's okay. Some other time," Barry said.

"I'm counting on it." She paused. "Actually, why don't we change those drinks to dinner. If you're going to talk that fast, I think it may take some time to get through everything." Barry started to agree then paused himself. No way. Things couldn't be going that good for him. It sounded like she was asking him out this time. When was the last time he'd been asked out? Or had asked anyone else out, really? Yeah, a while ago. The day was just getting better and better. She seemed to read his mind, "Yes, Barry, I'm asking you out."

"And I just asked you out," Barry replied. "So where does that leave us?"

"As two people who are going out on a date where it seems like, maybe, we're paying for our own food," Cadence said. Her comment made the two laugh. "We'll figure it out later. Bye." She hooked her purse over her shoulder and finger-waved to Barry before walking away.

Barry couldn't help himself. He had to do a victory dance. He didn't care if anyone saw.

But what he did care about was the sudden streak of red and yellow lightning that shot across the street, the blowback nearly knocking him over as it raced by.

Cutting his victory dance short, Barry looked around for a moment before taking off after them, using his own super speed to catch up. Barry stopped on a dime, skidding in a circle around an abandoned alleyway, two larger office buildings flanking his sides. Tilting his head back, Barry watched as the lighting shot back and forth across the street. Police cars squealed to a stop at the same time as the lightning did, nearly colliding.

Across from him a yellow-suited speedster and a black-suited speedster came to a stop. The yellow-suited speedster took a step forward. "What do you want with my city?" he demanded.

"Nothing," the black one replied. "The city's fine. The people in it need to know that I have no rival. Especially not you, Flash." The black-suited speedster ran in a circle, creating a cyclone of red lightning. Lightning bolts arched across the street, towards the police officers who had climbed out of their cars, weapons drawn. They crouched low, the lightning racing by where they once stood. Then the lightning changed course and shot back towards Barry.

A sudden, hard shove on Barry's side broke his trance with his impending doom. Barry stumbled and looked over to see that he hadn't been shoved but rapidly moved. The yellow-suited speedster looked towards him, face vibrating to conceal his identity.

Barry smiled at the familiar tactic. He'd always done the same thing to make sure no one knew who he was.

"You okay, man?" The yellow-suited speedster asked.

"Yeah, man, I'm okay," Barry replied. With the yellow speedster's attention diverted, the black-suited speedster left the alley. The yellow-suited speedster followed seconds later. Barry crossed his arms, watching them. "You'll get him next time, Flash."

EARTH-1

It was hot. Too hot. And Cadence Nash sat right in the middle of it.

Sweat dripped down her forehead, dribbling around her closed eyes to drip off her chin. The droplets splashed onto the clasped hands in her lap but she made no move to wipe them away. Not when the rest of her body was as soaked. Cadence sucked in a deep breath through her nose and did her best to calm her nerves. Her claustrophobia was starting to rear its ugly head but she needed to keep calm. It was important, not just for her, but for everyone to get the results.

Still, her mind flashed back to the last time she'd been in a pod. She'd hoped it would've been back when she met Barry and the others. It was a precaution, she understood that. It was when she'd and Barry had seen Zoom kill Henry right in front of them. She'd tried her hardest to console Barry as he sobbed in her arms, but his anger was just too great. She knew that too, having had her own father pass from something she couldn't heal him from. Barry'd gone on a justified rampage, wanting nothing more than to get his hands on Zoom and kill him, to hurt him in some way. Knowing it was Jay behind the whole thing only fueled his fire to exact his revenge.

And yet the rest of their team had decided to lock them in the pipeline. They must've forgotten about Cadence's claustrophobia for they had to watch as she went berserk, trying to tear it down, trying to get some more space so the walls didn't close in on her. The memory still haunted her from time to time, became stuck in her dreams, in her subconscious, made her flinch and twitch when things were too quiet around her. She had to have background noise for everything now. Add that to her ever-growing list of survival skills that slowly made her toe the fine line of her humanity and sanity.

Now, sitting in the Heat Locker, Cadence continued to breathe deeply. Outside, Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon monitored the levels on a tablet, with the picture that resembled her likeness with different levels of temperature levels. At the moment, she completely relaxed, letting control of her powers so they shone to their full extent. Cisco hummed as he looked over the tablet in his hand.

"What's wrong?" Caitlin asked.

"Nothing," Cisco replied. "Only that we've only seen her use her full power once and that was only for a second. It was so cool, too!"

Caitlin smiled, shook her head. "We don't want to see it again, Cisco," she reminded him. "Not after what happened last time."

Cisco shrugged. "Yeah, but that was all because of Zoom," he pointed out.

Again, Caitlin shook her head. It was so easy for Cisco to be amused by such things. Yeah, she could admit it was awesome, but that wasn't the point. They had to be vigilant in what was important first, then they could celebrate it all later. Cisco shared her smile then, with a swipe of his fingers over the tablet, he powered down the Heat Locker, signaling the training session was done. Once the generator that powered it stopped humming, the door opened and Cadence stepped out, draping a towel around her neck.

The last remnants of flames lowered until they puffed out. Almost as if a gust of wind had taken them out. Then she flashed her friends a curious eyebrow raise and a friendly smile as she asked, "So?"

"So, everything's as perfect as usual," Cisco said.

"Normal vital levels, normal heart rate, nothing out of the ordinary," Caitlin agreed. She clasped her hands together. "Your grasp on your powers is far superior than it has been in the last couple of months. Leaps and bounds from the first year we met."

"Good," Cadence said. She stretched her arms over her head. "Because I'm so ready to take a shower and get home." She started to swing back and forth, a warm smile coming to her face.

For a moment, Caitlin was confused by the sudden change in her demeanor. When it came down to it, Cadence could switch from a bright, excited smile of life to a serious frown of concentration when working at STAR Labs or stopping crime in the city. Other times she had a somewhat sinister smile on her face when she worked, which could be a little creepy at times. Then she thought back to what Cadence had said a few weeks ago and smiled.

"Oh!" Caitlin snapped her fingers. "He's coming back soon, right? In a couple of hours or so?"

"Yeah," Cadence agreed. "I haven't seen him in three months, I'm so excited!" She clasped her hands together then started to bounce up and down, her excitement unable to be contained. "It's kind of pathetic, seeing as it's really not all that long, but I missed him."

"I don't think it is," Caitlin reassured her. "It's the longest you've been away from him, right?"

"Right." Cadence draped her towel over her head and roughed it through her hair, drying the excess sweat before tossing it to Caitlin, who cried out when it hit her in the face. Cadence laughed and shot a lick of flame over her body to dry off the rest of the way. "And these last few hours are going to kill me, so let's do something else. Do you want lunch?"

"I don't know," Cisco said, turning his back to her, as if to leave the practice room. "I have a lot of inventory to catch up on and then I have to make sure your suit is up and ready to go…"

"It's my turn to pay."

Cisco immediately turned back around and lifted a finger saying, "Then again, it's not good to focus on work all the time. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, you know what I'm saying? And I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially when that horse is paying."

Cadence pressed her lips together, her eyes narrowing. Beside her, Caitlin's eyes widened and she turned away from, rubbing her fingers across her forehead. Cadence watched Cisco for a long moment, trying to determine whether he'd realized what he'd just said. When he looked back at the two with a tilt of his head. "Did you just call me a horse?" She finally asked.

Cisco's eyes widened at that. "What? Me? No. Why would I do that?" He gave a wheezing, nervous laugh, eyes darting back and forth. "I mean, it's not like I think you're…you don't look anything like…I mean, I'd love to…uh…" Cisco pointed a shaky finger towards himself. "It's just the hunger talking, I swear."

"Good save, Cisco, good save." Caitlin patted him on the shoulder and asked Cadence. "Will Barry make it?"

"I doubt it." Cadence folded her arms. "He's still at that science convention in Midway city, I think he's working with the Science Police on some stuff right now and you know he couldn't pass that up." She gave a fond smile, thinking of her boyfriend. The moment he heard he'd been chosen as one of those invited to attend and speak, he'd raced off in a flash…second before coming back, remembering it wasn't for another few weeks. "But you know Barry, he'll be back as soon as he can and if we need help even sooner than that."

"Sounds like a plan then," Cisco said. "And a good plan at that, there's only so much work I can do before I can't work anymore." Caitlin and Cadence exchanged glances, before shaking their heads. "I saw that! Y'all know I'm not blind. I've got eyes everywhere. I can see through dimensions and stuff."

"Can you see this?" Cadence made a move to give Cisco the finger but Caitlin slipped between the two, sliding her arms around their shoulders.

"Okay, okay, are you ready to go or what?"

"Oh, first thing." Cisco rummaged into his pocket for his phone then pulled it out, holding it over their heads. "Say Queso!" he said before the three beamed, taking a picture. He looked it over, nodding then made the moves to upload it. "I think this is a good addition to our Instagram account. Though, I don't think anything can beat this amazing shot of me taking down your average criminal."

"You think it's a good idea to have this secret account?" Caitlin asked, chewing her lower lip. "What if someone finds it?"

"Caitlin, I personally put every encryption you can on this account, so much that not even Instagram can figure out how to do it. Nothing's going to happen. And, PS, you worry too much."

"At least you didn't say she's uptight," Cadence added, smiling sweetly when Caitlin glared her way. She couldn't help but smile. There'd been nothing but peace and good times throughout Central City for the last few months—minus the few inconveniences of small time metas and criminals—and it was all any of them could ask for.

Work was going great; her family life was going great—enough so that she traveled to Metropolis to visit her mother more in the last few months than she had in the last few years, her friends were as amazing as ever, and her relationship with Barry was going better than she could ever hope. Compared to how things were going when Zoom was still around, it was like a flip of a switch.

Lifting her hand, Cadence ran her finger over the scar on her cheek, the one that ran from her jaw up to the apple of her cheek. It nearly disappeared every time she smiled but it was obvious it was still there. Zoom's attack against them had opened it to become fresh again. Now it held the memory of the Assassination Bureau and an evil Speedster that may still be out there after taking the mantle of the Black Flash. There was enough going on that the last few months of just hanging out with her friends and family was more than she could've ever imagined it could be.

She certainly had taken it for granted.

Cadence dropped her hand from her cheek and said, "I'll just get changed and we can go." She found herself looking at her watch once more and sighed, realizing only a few minutes had passed since the last time she'd looked. "And maybe decide whether I want to start an electronic barbecue." Caitlin's and Cisco's laughter was cut off, and Cadence's groan started as an alarm went off. "Please don't tell me it's—"

"It's White Hot," Cisco reported, already having changed the screen of his tablet.

"I told you not to say that." Cadence tilted her head back, rested her hands atop her head, letting out a long sigh. White Hot had plagued her and Central City since her appearance in the metahuman army Zoom sent out over the city. Clearly there was something the evil meta had against her, but she wasn't sure what it was, yet. Her alignment with the Assassination Bureau hadn't been so strange, Breathtaker had said something about her destiny. A destiny of which Cadence was still trying to figure out.

It made her skin crawl, thinking about how calmly Breathtaker had looked back at her when she broke down in the pipeline, screaming, demanding to know why Breathtaker had ruined her life so badly. What he wanted with her and Breathtaker's only response was a chilling, "Nothing that wasn't already destined to you."

Pushing the thought away Cadence asked, "What do you think it is this time? Boredom? Or do you think it's anything Breathtaker's cooked up?"

"Breathtaker and the rest of the Assassination Bureau have been pretty quiet since they got out of the Pipeline," Caitlin gently reminded her.

Caitlin didn't know Breathtaker the way Cadence did. If he was quiet, it was because he was up to something. So far Cadence had never seen Breathtaker defeated and it was naïve to think it'd happen now. "Yeah, but that didn't stop White Hot from aligning with them," Cadence said. "If what she's saying is true, anyway." She leaned over Cisco's shoulder and watched the footage on screen of White Hot sending a fiery heat wave over the city and waved her hand. "Ah, this is nothing but causing a minor inconvenience. So long as she doesn't ruin Captain Singh's wedding, I'm good."

"Is he still asking you about—"

"—Everything? Yeah." Cadence laughed. "You'd think he'd never been to a wedding before." Then again, it was very fun to watch Captain David Singh of the CCPD breeze through headquarters in a tizzy as his wedding grew closer and closer. He was so frantic he'd stopped nearly every person that walked by his office to ask which flowers went with the color of the suits he and his fiancé were going to wear. "Tell you what." She cracked her knuckles. "I'll handle her and then we can get lunch."

"You've got a lot of faith in yourself, don't you?" Caitlin asked with a teasing smile.

Cadence shot a smile and a wink back at her and Cisco. "I have to," she said. "Or else the city would fall apart." She made a face, sticking out her tongue before teleporting into her suit. "And we can't have that can we?"

With that, she teleported from STAR Labs to downtown Central City by the harbor. The sparkling water reflected cross the buildings. If it wasn't for her goggles she'd probably have gone blind within the first few seconds. Her eye shifted back and forth, trying to find White Hot, but found no indication of her.

"Okay," she muttered under her breath. "Where are you?"

She blinked once and shifted her eyes left and right, the movement that was needed to activate the new setting on her goggles. It'd certainly come in handy since Cisco had upgraded her suit before the fight against Zoom. The image on Cadence's goggles changed so that it showed the structural integrity of each of the buildings around her as well as the speed of the cars moving around the streets—the new heads-up display capability. Nothing had been attacked yet, that was good. In another sense it meant White Hot was waiting for her.

With another blink of her eyes she switched to infrared mode, looking to see a little further through the structures around her. Still nothing. Okay, meta thermal vision it is, Cadence thought. She should've gone with that in the first place, she realized, knowing White Hot's abilities similar to hers, would've made it difficult for infrared vision to capture, she was a meta so she'd have far great outputs of heat.

There she was, standing in the middle of the docks.

Cadence teleported to her and White Hot smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. Her white-blonde hair gently waved around her cheeks, her ice-blue eyes trained exactly on Cadence, who pulled her goggles down around her neck to see her clearly. Cadence slowed to a stop in front of her, placing her hands on her hips.

"We've already gone through this, White Hot," Cadence said. "There's nothing you can do to—"

"Oh, I'm not here to attack you," White Hot said, her mirk widening. She tilted her head to the side, icy blue eyes boring into Cadence's. She lifted her hands and removed the belt that sat around her waist to prove her point. It dropped to the dock with a low thunk. Cadence had enough run-ins with the meta to know she kept her explosive powder in there. If she were getting rid of it, there wasn't much White Hot could attack with. "I'm here to warn you."

Cadence shifted her stance so that with only a simple flick of her wrists she could reach down to her gun holsters and pull out the weapons or create a wave of fire so bright it'd blind her. "About what?" She finally asked.

"Cade, what's going on?" Caitlin asked.

"What does she have to warn you about?" Cisco added. "Other than the probability of lung cancer from your powers, I mean."

"I'm not sure," Cadence murmured in reply. She continued to watch White Hot, taking in her stance. Nothing in her body language showed she was lying. Her body temperature hadn't changed either. Still, she wasn't about to let her guard down. "Warn me about what?" She asked White Hot.

"About the end of the world." White Hot said it so casually, she may as well have been conversing about her weekend plans. "You know, the destruction of mankind and all that goes with it. Metahumans will reign supreme and you may or may not live to see the day it happens. Or else…" she brought a hand up to tap her chin. "Breathtaker can make a case for you."

Cadence glared, gritting her teeth. After so many months of not hearing from them since they escaped the Pipeline…Don't kid yourself, Cade, you know they didn't escape, she reminded herself. She shook her head. No need to dwell on that now, they were gone and that was all that was important. She should've known it was coming sooner or later, Breathtaker wasn't someone who took betrayal lightly and found ways to use people until all their energies were exhausted.

Her getting out simply put a target on her back that wouldn't be removed until one of them was destroyed. And if that meant taking down Mindboggler, Stratos, and Incognito as well, then she could do that, too. But only after finally getting some answers.

"I want nothing to do with him," Cadence snarled.

"Oh, I know. That's why he chose me to take your place. But the thing is, there's always going to be something that will try to oppose him so I'm warning you now, if you don't join with us…you'll live to regret it."

Flames erupted around Cadence's arms. She was tired of this, was hungry, and would do anything to keep Central City safe. "Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you."

White Hot knelt and grabbed her utility belt, fastening it around her waist once more. "Don't say I didn't warn you." With that, blue flames appeared around her arms. The two stared at each other for a long, tense moment before launching forward in a fiery blaze.

Watching the battle from the back of his limo with a sinister smile on his face, Lex Luthor arrived in Central City.

A/N: So, what did you guys think of the first chapter? I'm especially excited for this story, maybe a little bit more than the last few, I don't know, it's only just gotten started. Anyway, let me know what you think. And welcome to the new story! Let me know what you think, I respond to all reviews, even anonymous ones.

Also! Don't forget to check out my sister's story In a Flash following the optical metahuman Averey Moore (also found on this profile). The story is almost done and the sequel is coming soon. And check out my other sister's story following the ice metahuman Sage Moreaux, The Mark of Sage by Cerulean Musings. (Formerly Crystal Manning). You won't regret it, check it out!

Cheers,

-Riley