Chapter Text
“You have to go get them.” Mom was right, but there was no way Don could speed me there.
“I can’t get to Central in enough time. You’re going to have to have Team Flash go in.”
Mom typed a few commands into her keyboard. “It’s Felicity. Do you copy?”
“We copy.”
“Oliver and Dig are in trouble at the Eastern Central City water treatment plant. We need Barry to go check it out.”
“I thought you needed Barry to work on the chemical.”
“Please, hurry!”
A few moments later, Joe responded, “Barry is on his way.” Mom breathed a sigh of relief, and I did as well. They’d be in good hands with Mr. Allen, no matter what happened.
“I’m patching myself into Barry’s comms. I need to know Oliver’s okay.”
“I’m sure he’s fine.” What if he’s not? That was a dark place to go to. Yes, it would be personally devastating for me to lose my father, but more importantly, the world needed Green Arrow alive and well. If he got more than a few scratches on this mission, our family, and Star City at large, would pay.
“Flash, do you copy? This is Overwatch.”
“I copy. There’s no one here. The only sign of them is the van parked out back, but there’s no one in it.”
It sure sounded like they had been taken. But who would have the power to take out Dad and Dig, fighting together? It was difficult to imagine. But it was harder to deny that that’s what had happened.
“Can you pull up their suit’s GPSs?”
Mom typed in a few commands, but nothing was coming up. “Both Dig’s and Oliver’s suit’s trackers are offline. I have no way of finding them.”
She might not, but I did. I suited up.
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I didn’t have much patience, so I kicked down the door of Kuttler’s hotel room. I immediately heard screams. It wasn’t Kuttler; it was a young family who looked like they were enjoying a vacation. I turned on my voice modulator.
“There’s no need to be alarmed. Just tell me if you know anything about the previous occupant of this room.” They fearfully shook their heads. I put my arrow back in its quiver. I don’t even know why I bothered asking. Kuttler had split town, and it was going to take too much time to find him.
I returned to the Bunker where Mom was still frantically searching for any leads, apparently still talking to Mr. Allen.
“You’re saying there’s no evidence of a struggle? I’m telling you what I heard, and it was signs of a struggle.”
“Felicity, there’s nothing to prove they were even here.”
“They were there. Now they’re not. Someone must’ve taken them.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Felicity. I couldn’t even find retreating tire tracks outside.”
“Maybe they came in on foot.”
“And went out on foot? Even less likely.”
“I’ll keep searching on my end. You get back to STAR Labs. I know what you have to do there is important.” Mom turned to me. “And where have you been?”
“I went to look for Kuttler. He’s relocated. So that’s a dead end.”
“Everything I do is a dead end.”
“Dad and Dig can take care of themselves. If their captors want to make themselves known, they will. Keep digging on Luthor.”
“I don’t know what else I’m going to find.”
“There has to be something.” The trail couldn’t end here.
Don walked in. “Hey.”
“Oh, hey. How are you feeling?”
“Like I could go for a run. I’m running low on energy bars, though.”
“I think I have some more in my bag, so don’t worry.”
“Cool.”
“Speaking of going for a run, how do you feel about heading over to Mercury Labs?”
“Sounds good.”
“Mom, could you have Mr. Allen call ahead for us? I’m sure Dr. McGee would see us on late notice if he put in a good word.”
“Can do.”
Don and I ran to Mercury Labs. Well, he ran and I hung on. Once we were in the lobby, and told security we had an appointment, we were ushered in. Apparently knowing the Flash had its perks. Dr. McGee was waiting for us when we walked into her office.
“Ah, you two must be the young scientists Mr. Allen was telling me about.”
“Something like that. We’re interested in the chemical LuthorCorp wants to introduce to the water supply.”
“Ah, yes. We’ve tried to come out quite forcefully against that, but it seems to be going forward without us.”
“What do you know about the chemical?”
“It hasn’t been thoroughly tested. I don’t care what it does or doesn’t do for people if it hasn’t gone through rigorous testing.”
“Have you tested it here?”
“We’ve done a few basic run-throughs, yes. So far, we haven’t found anything alarming. But to suggest that everyone in the country should imbibe it? Preposterous.”
“Can you think of any way to neutralize the chemical?” Don asked.
“Why would I want to do that?”
“In case Luthor introduces it to the population early.”
“Lionel Luthor is a sensible man. Yes, he’s going forward at a rapid pace to obtain a government contract, but who wouldn’t? He wouldn’t set up something like this.”
“Can you think of anyone who would want to use Luthor’s chemical in a nefarious way?”
“No.”
“What about his son, Lex?”
“I don’t know of any such person, but I would assume he’s constrained by his father.”
Maybe Dr. McGee was right. Maybe the Luthor we should be looking at wasn’t Lex, but Lionel. Just because he wasn’t alive by the time of the Event doesn’t mean he hadn’t caused it several decades earlier.
I nodded at Don, and thanked Dr. McGee for her time, before rushing back to the Bunker.
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“What if it’s Lionel, and not Lex?”
“What?” my mom asked.
“I’m saying that what if I confronted the wrong Luthor? What if evil runs in the family?”
“Everything in Kuttler’s data suggests that it’s Lex, not Lionel.”
“What if Kuttler’s wrong?”
“His data made sense.”
“And I’m not making sense now? How would Lex go above his father’s head to bring this to light? It would need Lionel’s approval. What if it got Lionel’s approval because it was Lionel’s idea?”
Don supported me. “It makes sense. Lex knew nothing about it, but we know it’s still coming from LuthorCorp.”
“So, what, you’re going to march into Lionel’s office and yell at him, too?”
“No, I’m not doing anything until I understand the distribution strategy. I’m going in with all the facts. Starting with asking him where my father is.”
“Good idea. I need a break, though. I’m going for a walk, in the actual daylight.”
Don started walking out of the room. “And I’m grabbing something to eat.”
Mom started closing out of her browsers, and I did a few stretches. I could use the break as well. Maybe when Don came back, I’d suggest we join Mom for her walk. Don walked in with the blankest expression on his face.
“Ryder, what’s this?” He held up my blood monitor.
“It’s nothing.”
“Ryder, what. Is. This?”
“I’m going to go ahead and head out now,” Mom said, backing away and heading up the elevator.
“Don, I said don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry? I’m extremely worried. Ryder, are you not immune?”
“I’m fine, Don.”
“That’s not what I asked. Are you...or are you not...immune?”
“I think you can see for yourself.”
Don’s face fell. “Oh, Ryder.” Then it morphed into something else, something like...anger. “And you didn’t tell me this why? You let me think you were immune! I thought you had reached your Lethality Point.”
“You never even asked. You just assumed I was old enough. I didn’t want you to worry. ”
“You didn’t want me to worry?!? Ryder, I’m always going to worry about you! I love you!”
“Worrying about me is one thing, knowing I’m going to die is another.” Don’s face was shocked. “Yes, Don, I’m going to die. That’s what that number means. You know it, I know it, and-”
“Who else knows?”
“What?”
He folded his arms. “Who else knows you’re not immune?”
“Cisco.”
“Just Uncle Cisco?”
“Yes.”
“So you didn’t tell anyone else because, what? They wouldn’t let you come if you did?”
“Think about it, Don.”
His face fell further than ever. “Because if you went on this mission, you wouldn't be cured when time reset. You’d still be sick. You’re going to die.” Then he flew into a rage. “If you hadn’t been so stubborn and decided to come, you’d live! Don’t you get it? You’d live!”
“The mission was more important! I had to make sure it succeeded!”
“Frankie and I could’ve handled it!”
We were full on screaming at each other now. “Tell me how well Frankie’s handling it! She couldn’t even get here! You couldn't have done this by yourself!”
“Urgh! You’re always doubting me! What? Is it because I’m not John? I’m not the mission partner you’ve always wanted? I have to follow your lead, do what you want, all the time!”
“Is that what this is about? Me being the leader?”
“No. It’s about you thinking that because you’re the leader you get to make decisions unilaterally. You get to keep secrets for the welfare of others. You get to...to sacrifice yourself when it’s not even necessary. This is about you being who you are, Ryder. Even if it kills you.”
“That’s not fair.”
“This isn’t about fair, Ryder. This is about facts. You don’t trust me. Maybe you never did.” He sped off.
I was alone.