Chapter Text
Barry skidded to a halt gasping for breath. She blinked looking around. There was a couple walking their dog, trying to break them apart as they barked at each other. A woman shouted at a cab as it blasted past her without stopping.
“Barry, you need to hurry or the police are going to beat you to the scene.” Dr. Wells said over the coms.
“Scene what scene?” Barry demanded looking around for Iris, for the coastline she had just left behind a moment ago.
“The morgue?” Cisco said over the coms and Barry’s frown deepened.
“The morgue, but I was just there yesterday.”
“Well according to the calls coming in from the police radios something happened there tonight, run Barry.” Wells said and Barry raced off. She arrived, part of her knowing what she would find. The coroner was dead, but this had all happened yesterday. She zipped off as the squad cars arrived, returning moments later.
“You’re not usually this early to a scene Allen.” Captain Singh teased as Barry dodged him narrowly missing the coffee in his hands.
“I was at the bowling alley with Eddie and Iris when he got the call.” Barry explained. “Nice coat, is it new?” She asked. Singh nodded.
“Thanks, yeah Rob got it for me, said mine was worn out.” Singh said fondly. “Go on Allen, you got work to do.” He insisted.
Barry already knew what she would find, she felt like she was going through every motion she’d already been through, because she had. She didn’t even have to examine the coroner to know there was bruising all over him, bruising from Mark Mardon’s hail. Joe shot her a concerned look when she identified Mardon’s voice on the recording, the one she’d known about before Eddie even spoke.
“Are you ok?” He asked. Barry shook her head.
“No. I need to get to Star Labs.” She said her voice shaking. He nodded and made her excuses as she left.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wells frowned as Barry perched on the counter watching Cisco and Caitlin like a hawk. They’d convened to discuss the death of the coroner at the hands of Mark Mardon. Caitlin had grabbed them what passed for breakfast, even grabbing Cisco one of his favorite icee’s on her way in. He pulled a face.
“Trigeminal headache.” Caitlin and Barry spoke in unison. Wells froze as Barry’s eyes flicked around the room. Cisco shook his head to clear it of the brain freeze.
“Yeah, but seriously to have this kind of control Mardon has to be some kind of…”
“Weather Wizard.” Again Barry spoke at the same time as someone else in the room, a light amount of panic shining through her eyes. Well’s heart dropped as his stomach swooped. Barry opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.
“Miss Allen! A word.” He said jerking his head towards a side room. Barry followed without a word as Cisco and Caitlin exchanged a worried look. “How long?” He demanded the moment they were alone.
“What?”
“You went back in time, how long?” He asked calming himself. He could check with Gideon soon to see what damage she may have done.
“No more than 48 hours, I was running, there was a tidal wave, you and…”
“No!” He cut her off. "You tell me nothing! Nothing! You have no idea what damage could already have been done to the time stream." Wells had to hold himself back from the full rant. At this point she really had no idea what she might have done. "The theoretical consequences of even traveling back two days could be, astronomical." He said shaking his head. She could have completely wrecked the timeline, she could still, with her knowledge of what was to come.
"But.."
"No! You can't tell me anything! Nothing, you go about today exactly as you did before, no deviations no changes."
"But!"
"No, change nothing!" He snapped and wheeled out of the room. He could only pray she had the good sense to listen to him, though part of him doubted it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Barry couldn't let the day play out the same, not after seeing Captain Singh on the phone with his fiancée talking about the guest list for their upcoming wedding. All she could do was picture him laying in a hospital bed unresponsive, watching Rob cry at his side. Then there was Joe, he'd been taken and no doubt injured by Mardon, if he was even alive. Mardon had set off a tidal wave that could level the first few blocks of Central killing countless. She knew where he was hiding, Eddie had told her after Joe was taken.
She made up her mind after Joe stated he'd get Mardon even if it killed him. Making her excuses she headed out of her lab. She called Cisco, she needed to be sure.
"Hey you got a cell ready for the Wizard?" She asked keeping her voice low.
"Yeah, got it worked out."
"Which one?" Barry asked already heading down the stairs.
"The one right next to Peek-A-Boo. Why?"
“To the left or right?”
“The left, Barry what’s going on?”
"Be ready for incoming." Barry said before hanging up.
She knew it was possible Dr. Wells was right, knew that doing any of this was risky for a lot of reasons. But she couldn't let him do it. She couldn't let it get as bad as it had. She knew where he was, she could stop him before he ever got started. She raced to Star Labs and changed in the blink of an eye. She was off to Mardon's hideout in a moment and had him in the Pipeline just as Cisco opened the cell. She shoved Mardon in and closed it up as he raged.
"Nicely done Barry! But how did you know where he was?" Cisco asked once the Pipeline was closed.
"Call it women's intuition." Barry said with a slight smile. Wells glowered at her as she re-entered the Cortex. Caitlin raised an eyebrow, glancing between the two.
"Miss Allen. A word." He said through gritted teeth. Barry again followed him out of the cortex.
"I did what i had to do Dr. Wells! The whole city was at stake!" Barry cut him off before he could start. " I know you don't want details, I don't know if I can or should give them but I couldn't let him do it again!"
"Barry I promise you whatever disaster you think you've avoided the universe will find a way to balance it out." Wells said shaking his head. Barry shook her head.
"If you'd known what had happened then you'd agree with me." Barry shot back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Len had been planning his next move since his sister busted him and Mick out on their way to Iron Heights. Planning a takeover in Central was tricky. There were a few mobs to pick from, it had taken hours of research to pick the right one. He'd been digging into active hit lists when he found one that had an interesting name on it.
The take for the hit was minimal, so small as to be negligible to most. Most of the newer set would be wary going after any sort of badge, even just a CSI. Barry's name stared up at him almost accusingly.
"Your little badge is even on the Santini's radar?" Mick said glancing over Len's shoulder.
"Not a lot of detail about it, apparently she took out a pet of theirs." Len said frowning.
"Wouldn't have thought Doll Face had it in her." Mick said crunching into an apple.
"She found their mole in the precinct Mick. What's interesting is that the hit was put out years ago. A few takers but they vanished into thin air, no one knows what happened to them. It's why the bounty went down. No one can figure out if she's got other ties but no bodies ever turned up either. Their mole tried to take her out too. No info on what happened but clearly it didn't go well." Len said, he shook his head slightly. "You might be more interested in a few other names on their list though." He said pointing much higher up on the list.
"Oh fun! They put a hit out on us!" Mick said laughing around his mouthful.
"Well we did cause a bit of trouble last time we were in town. They want us alive, so that's what they'll get."
"You got a plan?"
"Always."
"I gotta ask, is this cause they have a hit out on us or your pretty little badge?"
"It can be both." Len said with a slight smirk. Mick crowed a laugh.
"We do got one problem, we take down one Santini the others are gonna come after us and last time i checked we don't have the guns anymore, and they probably ain't around either." Mick pointed out tossing out his apple core.
"That's where Lisa comes in." Len said picking up his plan. He flipped it open to a picture of a Latino man with long black hair. "Meet the genius behind our guns. Cisco Ramone. We need him to go missing without suspicion but while Lis is grabbing him we'll be taking this one." He said flipping the page.
"Dante Ramone? Related?" Mick asked eying the photo.
"Baby brother to our little engineer. I'll grab him, we need it done quietly." Len said. Mick nodded rubbing his chin.
"I can do quiet. I took Doll Face quietly last time! Just one massive hole in your plan there Lenny." Mick said, Len raised an eyebrow. "Doll Face knows Lis, remember she insisted on meeting your girl."
"That would be why I'm going in disguise Mick baby!" Lisa said as she came into the room carrying a wig and silver case. She popped it open revealing a large makeup kit. "You'd be surprised what you can do with a bit of paint and some latex." She said winking. Mick laughed as Lisa got to work.