Being a hero wasn't easy. It demanded responsibility. It demanded sacrifice.
Harrison Wells—the man who'd been Barry's mentor, his guide, his second father—had turned out to be Reverse-Flash. The murderer of his mother. And now Reverse-Flash was dead, taking with him the only chance to clear Henry Allen's name. Barry had barely had time to feel the joy of regaining his speed before everything came crashing down again. His world had gone dark, and he couldn't see a way back to the light.
Cisco's phone buzzed with an alert.
"It's Joe." Cisco checked the screen, face tightening. "He's in danger."
Barry took a deep breath, forcing his grief down somewhere he could deal with it later, and vanished in a streak of lightning. Cisco and Caitlin exchanged a look and ran for the lab to provide support.
Reverse-Flash was gone. Team Flash still had to keep moving.
---
Fwsshh.
Yellow lightning flared and Jack Kadere materialized in the villa's foyer.
Thea Queen and Laurie had been talking on the couch. Thea stood as he appeared. "Can I go out? Walk around a little? I've never been to Central City."
Jack shook his head. "Give it a few days. If you show your face now, Oliver will find you."
"So what, I'm just supposed to stay cooped up here? That's boring as hell." She crossed her arms, then brightened. "I saw your Iron Man armor. Can I try it on?"
"Knock yourself out. I'm building a new version anyway."
The first suit had been a prototype—functional, but crude. Plenty of systems needed improvement. Energy storage was the priority; he planned to analyze the crystallized Speed Force from Reverse-Flash's corpse, then hit Mercury Labs for tachyon particles. After that came nano-compression tech and AI integration.
Reverse-Flash had stored his suit inside a ring. Useful trick. Jack remembered that Earth-Two's Harrison Wells had done research in that area.
Then there was the Time Vault hidden in S.T.A.R. Labs—and Gideon, the artificial intelligence Reverse-Flash had brought back from the future. Same name as the AI aboard the Legends' Waverider, both created by a future version of Barry Allen. Same brand, different units. Like iPhones.
The DC multiverse had no shortage of artificial intelligences. But the one that interested Jack most wasn't Gideon.
It was Indigo.
Earth-38. Supergirl's world. Indigo was Brainiac 8—a humanoid AI, a machine given flesh, depending on how you looked at it. And Brainiac lineage meant something.
The original Brainiac had been created on Colu as a scientific tool. Then it evolved. It replicated. It conquered its creators, then the entire planet. With each iteration it grew stronger, developing not just new capabilities but emotions—greed, jealousy, hatred. It became the enemy of all organic life. In the comics, Brainiac had destroyed Krypton. Later it came to Earth and became one of Superman's deadliest enemies. The City Collector, they called it—shrinking conquered civilizations into bottled trophies.
Indigo shared that legacy, but she'd walked a different path. She'd joined the Outsiders. She'd triggered the Graduation Day event that tore the Teen Titans apart. Villain, yes—but a useful one. Far more interesting than a glorified voice assistant.
AI can wait, Jack decided. Once I figure out how to cross between universes, I'll take a trip to Earth-38 and collect Indigo myself. For now—Mercury Labs. Tachyons first.
---
The garage had been converted into a workshop. Jack spread technical schematics across the workbench and lost himself in the details of the armor upgrade while Thea and Laurie poked around the original suit, testing joints and running their fingers over the plating.
Hours slipped by unnoticed. By the time Jack looked up, the windows showed nothing but darkness.
After dinner and cleanup, Laurie retreated to her room without a word.
Thea stretched, yawned theatrically, and wandered over to where Jack sat. "I'm getting sleepy. What about you?"
Jack glanced up from his reading. "You know where my room is?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Go wait for me there. I'll be up once I finish this section." He lifted the book in his hand.
"I didn't say I was sleeping with you," Thea muttered, but she was already walking away.
Jack smiled and went back to reading.
---
Half an hour later he showered and made his way to the bedroom.
The door swung open quietly. Thea lay on the bed with her back to him, a thin sheet pulled up to her shoulders—bare shoulders, nothing visible beneath. The room smelled faintly of her shampoo, something floral and clean.
Jack chuckled softly, crossed to the bed, and slid in beside her. His hand found her shoulder, warm and smooth, and turned her toward him.
Their eyes met. Thea's lips curved, and she wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into his chest. Her body was slim, almost delicate—not much to hold, but there was something about the way she fit against him. He'd have to schedule that photoshoot soon.
The night settled into silence.
Thea made her hints obvious—a shift of her hips, fingers trailing lower—but Jack only held her. Eventually disappointment gave way to drowsiness, and she drifted off in his arms.
Morning came bright and sharp, sunlight cutting through the curtains.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Thea stirred, blinking awake. Jack already had his phone to his ear, talking to someone. A woman's voice on the other end.
"The Mist got picked up? Hm. Caught is caught." Jack's free hand stroked through Thea's hair, slow and idle. "They're useless to me now. You didn't need to call just to tell me that."
Thea stretched against him, still half-asleep, warm and languid. Her hands wandered across his chest, his stomach—restless, teasing.
Jack didn't react. Thea's grin sharpened. She slid lower under the sheet.
She'd watched Helena do this.
"Apologize?" Jack paused, glancing down at Thea's head disappearing beneath the covers. "No need for that."
A beat of silence. Then: "I did think of a way to punish you, though."
Thea's mouth found him. Jack's voice stayed steady.
"Friend? Of course I think of you as a friend, Caitlin. That's why I'm punishing you instead of killing you. And don't worry—Cisco's getting a gift too."
He hung up and tossed the phone aside.
Thea surfaced with a triumphant look, lips wet. Jack grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up and over him in one smooth motion.
Her startled laugh filled the room as morning exercise began.