Chapter Text
We got back to the cortex to find Mrs. West-Allen hunched over the computer monitors. “Were the Legends just here?”
“Yeah,” Don responded.
“Are they here to help us with the mission?”
“Not exactly,” I responded. “But we had a little heart-to-heart and they decided it was best to leave.”
Before Mrs. West-Allen could ask any more questions, Mr. Allen came striding into the room. “We’re close!”
“You’re close to reverse engineering the chemical?”
“Yep! Now that Cisco and Harry have a better idea of the protein structure, we’re on a roll.”
“Hey, babe,” Mrs. West-Allen said, “there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” I gave her a sharp look. I didn’t want her potentially revealing Don’s identity to Mr. Allen.
“What’s up?” Mr. Allen asked.
“People are worried. That building explosion is being ruled a purposeful attack, and the Flash wasn’t there to save them. They think you’re abandoning them.”
“What? That’s crazy! People have to know I can’t be in all places at once.”
“I know. And I’m trying to sway their opinions, saying that Kid Flash was there, but they’re starting to think you’re gone.”
Considering Mr. Allen was going to actually be gone in a few days, I didn’t think it was worth the effort to correct the public. The Flash was unavailable, plain and simple. Mr. Allen turned to me.
“Look, I get that what we’re doing is important for the future and all, but the rest of the team can help with the molecule. I need to be out on the streets, protecting people.”
“No, you can’t. We need all hands on deck here,” Don said. Mrs. West-Allen turned to look at Don.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
She nodded. “Alright, Barry, if he says it’s what you need to do, then it is.” Apparently Mr. Allen was just as whipped in 2017, as he bowed his head and nodded.
“Okay. I’ll get back to work.” He turned and left. Don breathed a sigh of relief. I was glad that that didn’t get any messier than it already was.
Mrs. West-Allen pointed a finger at us. “You owe me one.”
My comm beeped. Mom’s voice came into my ear. “Anna, we found Kuttler.”
“We’ll be right there.” I nodded at Don, and away we sped.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
“Where is he?” I asked as soon as I arrived at the Bunker.
“He’s currently staying at the Grand Hotel here in Star City.” A fancy hotel? It was hardly low profile, but maybe he wasn’t trying to be.
“Okay, let’s get going.” I thought about the best combination of people. “Felicity and Curtis, I know he’s teamed up with you before, so you two will come with me.”
“What about me?” Dad asked.
“I don’t think you’re his favorite person. This isn’t going to be a fight, so we’ll be fine.” I don’t know who I was trying to convince, but I thought I sounded pretty self-assured.
I turned to Don. “Make sure to get some rest, alright?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
We took Felicity’s car to the hotel. We knew which room Kuttler was in, so we simply approached the door and knocked. I had myself and Curtis stand to the side, so that when Kuttler looked through the peephole, he’d only see his daughter. After a few moments, he opened the door.
“Well, you were the last person I was expecting to see here.”
“Save it, Noah,” I said, letting myself into the room in the process. I found a pretty advanced set-up, with maybe a dozen monitors scattered throughout the room, all hooked up to a central processor. He was certainly up to something here.
“Oh, and who are you?”
“Someone who’s come to stop you.”
“Stop me from doing what?”
I started examining his displays. He was definitely doing business on the dark web. It looked like he was selling viruses. No wonder he could afford such a fancy hotel room. It looked like a suite with all of the amenities.
“Your conducting of illegal business on the dark web, for one. But, more importantly, your plan to poison the whole city.”
“Yeah, we’re onto you,” Curtis added unnecessarily.
“My plan to poison the city? Believe me, if I had such a plan, you’d never find out about it. Felicity, what are friends rambling on about?”
Mom stepped up. “We found your tech in the old Rickman Industries fertilizer plant. We know you left that phone there to set us up. And we know you hired those thugs to poison the city’s water supply.”
“I sell my tech to many well-connected people. I don’t know how it got into the hands of Rickman Industries, but you needn’t concern yourself with it.”
No, this wasn’t adding up. That tech was advanced-so advanced, in fact, that I thought it was yet to be invented. What if it hadn’t been? What if it was a prototype? Surely, Noah wouldn’t have sold that off. But lent it to a friend, that was something else.
“Your network blocking transmitter prototype. Who has it?”
Noah turned to me. “Very good, young lady. Yes, that piece of technology is now in the hands of a very...persuasive individual.”
I ran up to him, grabbed his neck, and forced him up against the wall. “You’re going to tell me who you gave it to.”
“Now, now, no need to get feisty. I don’t know the identity of this individual. They contacted me through an intermediate, and only referred to themselves as ‘Mr. X.’”
“You can let him go now, Anna,” Curtis suggested. I did.
“How do we know we can trust you?”
“What reason do I have to poison the city? I live here.”
“What reason did you have to blow up the subway?” Mom asked.
“Money. Just like there was money to loan my device to Mr. X. But there’s no profit in poisoning the city.”
I turned to Mom. She was the Kuttler expert around here. I believed him. It didn’t make sense for Noah to kill millions of people. Killing a specific person? Maybe, if it suited his purposes.
“Okay. I believe you. Give us everything you have on this Mr. X, and we’ll leave.”
“Oh, honey, I’m not going to make it that easy for you. As much as I hate to cut this family reunion short,” and he started directly at me, “you have some hacking to do, I think.”
Mom narrowed her eyes at Kuttler, but eventually left, with Curtis following.
“Oh, and honey?” I turned and found Kuttler staring at me again. “I’d be careful if I were you. You don’t want to make too much of an impression while you’re here.”
I didn’t know what he meant, but I felt chills up and down my spine as I was leaving.