Chapter Text
Barry and Iris arrive at Starlabs to find Ralph already there, tapping frantically at the monitors. "What's going on?" Iris demands to know. "Ehm, I tried to tap into the CCPD network to see if any bad guys need arresting, but then all these windows popped up and I can't close them anymore" Ralph answers sheepishly. Barry rolls his eyes and presses the correct button closing all the windows. "Where are Cisco and Caitlin?" he wants to know. "Oh," Ralph replies "Didn't they tell you, they tracked down Caitlin's father last night and Cisco breached them there this morning." Barry looks quite taken aback but before he can say anything more, Iris interjects "Well great, they just leave without letting me know, how am I supposed to run the team if I'm not kept in the loop?" Barry ignores her and addresses Ralph "So he's alive? Caitlin's father is alive?" "Yeah, I mean, we've known that for a while now…" Ralph trails off as he sees the surprised look on Barry's face. Suddenly an alarm sounds. "It's the metahuman alert app" Iris yells as she slides behind the console "Suit up boys".
Barry runs Ralph and himself to the scene of the crime, the monument in front of Central City Picture News. But Ralph's words ‘We've known that for a while now' keep ringing in his ears. He shakes his head to get rid of the thoughts and concentrate on the danger ahead. There is destruction everywhere, a woman is badly injured, but no sign of the metahuman. Quickly he gets the woman and all the bystanders out of the way of falling objects while he hears Iris shouting in his ear "Barry you need to get everyone away from there." Ralph elongates and tries to steady the monument from tumbling over while Barry gathers some support beams at super speed and places them next to the collapsing monument. There seems to be no more imminent danger but he quickly searches the area to make sure. Everybody seems safe, the police and first responders arrive on the scene, but still no sign of any metahuman.
On their return to Starlabs, Iris gives them high fives while cheering "We did it guys". Ralph mumbles "Yes *we* did." But Iris doesn't seem to hear him. "We need to figure out who did this and fast before they hurt more innocent people" Barry states, looking around expecting Cisco or Caitlin to have already come up with an idea, but this time all he sees are Iris and Ralph looking at him expectantly. "Right," he says, trying to ignore the disappointment he feels, "well maybe I'll find some clues at the crime scene." As he heads out, he hears Iris say "Ralph, while Barry is doing his CSI thing, you should see if any of your old contacts know anything, while I'll call my dad to see if he has any information." Barry shakes his head and speeds off.
Joe is already awaiting Barry at the crime scene "You ok, Bar?" Barry nods slowly "Yeah, I just feel a little down, I guess." "Nothing like an interesting crime scene to get you going," Joe jokes while patting him on the back. Barry smiles "So how are Cecile and Jenna doing?" he asks. "They are perfect," Joe smiles proudly. "But it is very tiring to have a baby at home. I could go for a good night's sleep," he jokes. Barry laughs "You know you can call anytime if you guys need a babysitter." "Thanks, Bar" Joe pats him on the back once more, before walking toward another cop to get more information as Barry goes to work.
While his hands start going through the familiar motions of collecting samples and cataloging them, his thoughts drift off to Caitlin and Cisco. How has he not known that Caitlin's father is alive? Ever since Caitlin found out that she has had her powers already in her childhood, she has been investigating her past and her parents past. Though if he is honest with himself he only knows this because Cisco had told him what he had vibed. He has to admit he never talked to Caitlin about this… But that didn't mean she couldn't have talked to him about it, he would always be there for her... "Were you though?" a little voice inside his head resonates, but he quickly banishes it. Thinking about how he had been unable to keep Caitlin from turning into Killerfrost hurt him too deeply. Still, Cisco and Caitlin are his best friends, he can't help feeling a little betrayed that they had left on this pursuit without talking to him about it…
After finishing his work at the crime scene, Barry heads back to his lab to analyze the samples.