Till Death Do Us Part (Book Six of The Unmatched Records)

Chapter Five

Happy belated Valentine's Day, I guess? What a time to live in, folks. I needed to get through the end of last semester, I took winter break to crash, and I feel like I got thrown into the deep end when I came back to school. Apparently, all I needed was a mental crash on Saturday to get me back into the writing groove. Who knew?

Barry and Sara investigate DeVoe's mind, Marlize tries to control the situation back in the real world (spoiler alert: she doesn't do too well), and the duo finds a shocking surprise while searching.

***

"Guys," Sara said quietly, Barry keeping a constant eye on DeVoe. "We're in."

"Paint the picture," Cisco told her. "What do you see? What's around you?"

"For starters, the Thinker," Barry said darkly, shifting to watch DeVoe float past the windows. "We're in the 405 bus, in the middle of the street. We just came out of that same portal from before."

"This is where it all began," Marlize told them. "It is the nexus of Clifford's brain. Once you find him, get him through it, and he can regain control of his mind."

"What do they need to look for?" Lena asked.

"Our house."

"All right," Barry murmured, turning to Sara. "Hang on." Sara had just enough time to fling her arms around Barry's neck as he picked her up, then everything blurred around her. When everything returned to normal, they were standing in front of a perfectly ordinary home. Sara spat hair out of her mouth, and Barry smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's fine," she waved his apology off as he set her on the ground. "So this is where the DeVoes live?"

"Yeah, I've been here before," Barry nodded, walking up to the front door.

"Good," Sara followed him, looking over her shoulder. "At least one of us knows what we're doing."

Barry looked at her incredulously. "Says the one who jumped at the chance to follow me in here!"

"I captain the Legends," Sara reminded him. "We basically make stuff up as we go."

Barry huffed. "Well, at this point, we're being guided by our friends outside. You're basically following a blind man."

Sara shrugged. "At least it's a good-looking blind man." Barry, who had just reached for the doorknob, looked like he'd been slapped in the face as he gawked at her. "What?" she gestured him up and down. "I just call it like I see it." Barry's face was suspiciously red as he opened the door and led her inside. Sara just grinned, waltzing in behind him. "We're inside!" she announced.

"Great!" Winn cheered. "What do you see?"

Sara ran smack into Barry's back. "Hey!"

"Nothing," Barry answered, and Sara poked her head over his shoulder, looking around to see a completely spotless house.

"That's a little vague," Oliver said. "What do you mean, 'nothing?'"

"It's empty, Oliver," Sara answered, walking into the living room to investigate. She found a picture frame face down on the mantle; when she picked it up, she didn't see any image inside, just cracked glass. "Completely empty," she corrected.

***

"So that's a bust?" Malcolm asked.

"Sounds like," Mon-El sighed.

"All right," Barry said. "Well, where should we go – "

The feed crackled, and Felicity leaned forward, watching the screens flicker. "Barry?" she asked. "Barry, can you hear me?"