What Brings Us Together (A Ralph Dibny/ The Flash Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Thirty-Nine: What Did I Do?

"Uh, you do realize you're  a part of that block, right?" Ralph asked. "Come on man. It's a weekday, people just want to get off work, go home and watch Netflix. SO why don't you take off that vest and-" 

"No, don't touch me!" Ralph reached forward and pulled the bomb off of his vest.

"No!" I shouted. The robber pressed the button and I made a force field around Ralph. He put the bomb inside of his stomach and it went off, making him kind of resemble a hot-air balloon. The Robber fainted and the smoke slowly started to deflate out of Ralph. I released the force filed, putting my hands on my knees and letting out a sigh of relief. 

"Ralph, are you ok?" Iris asked.

"He's fine." I said. "Luckily. What where you thinking!? That was way to risky!"

"I'm fine, he's fine, everyone's fine! It worked, didn't it!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, but it very easily could have not gone that way, and I would've sat here and watched my boyfriend explode while I trapped him in a glorified bubble!" I hissed.

~~~

"Just let this be a message to all you criminals out there. Catching you won't be too much of a stretch." I pinched the bridge of my nose as we watched Ralph talking to a reporter after the mission.

"And so, our streets are safe again, thanks to our beloved Skyrocket and Central City's funniest new hero, the Stretchy Man."

"Ok," Iris said, pausing the interview, "Embarrassing. Laura, next time you're running point. And Cisco, you're going too."

"Iris, a chicken needs to leave it's roost sooner or later, especially when that chicken insists on running point on the mission over the superhero with four years of crime-fighting experience."

"This is bad."

"This is really bad. Stretchy man, that's a terrible name. Also now that I'm gonna be on TV all the time, this grey suit, gotta go." I shook my head.

"Hey, easy chickadee."

"No Ralph, I meant you. That bomb could've torn you to shreds."

"And we don't know if Laura's force fields could've withstood the blast, so you could've killed her, Joe, or any of the police outside." Caitlin pointed out. Ralph looked at me and I nodded in agreement.

"Relax ladies, my cells are completely polygamized."

"Polymerized?" Caitlin asked.

"Yeah, that. Which means they can stretch and take a bomb blast."

"Oh my gosh." Iris groaned.

"Dibny is in-dib-structable."

"Dibny is kind of acting like a jerk." I pointed out. "You're totally missing the point, Ralph you have to be more careful!"

"No, no, no, you are missing the point. What I really need guys, is a new superhero name. Ramon, you've had all this time, you can't come up with anything?"

"Patience, ok? I'm getting to you. I've just been a little preoccupied, what with Barry being in Prison and all!" 

"Also, if you could pretend to care, at least a little bit, that I could've died today, that would be great." I muttered.

"My dad and Cecile are meeting with the Judge tomorrow to go over his appeal," Iris stated. "We've been pouring through the evidence piece by piece, but..."

"Don't worry Iris, we're gonna get him out."

"Hey, has Barry joined a gang yet? I've got some friends on the inside, I can make some calls."

"Shut up, Ralph." I said. I was being a bit harsh with him, but I was angry! He put everyone at risk today, including myself, and all he cares about is his freaking superhero name. Everyone looked at me awkwardly, including Ralph.

"Ok, I will stop helping now." Iris grabbed her coat, leaving the room, Caitlin went to the med bay and Cisco retreated to his lab. I sighed, crossing my arms and rubbing my eyes. Suddenly I was being pulled across the room in my rolling chair and looked up to see Ralph and stretched his arm and was pulling me over to him, until my chair came to a stop in front of him. "I'm sensing that you're mad at me.'

"Really? Where'd you get that idea?" His face fell slightly, and I sighed. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

"What did I do?" He asked. I shook my head. "Look, Laura, I love you, ok? You know that I wouldn't have put you in danger if I wasn't a hundred percent confident that it would be ok."

"That's not the point, Ralph." I said, not looking at him. He scooted up to the edge of his chair, grabbing my face and forcing me to look at him. 

"If that's not it then what are you mad about?" I bit my lip.

"You put yourself in danger today, Ralph. If that hadn't of worked, if you had gotten yourself blown up, do you know what that would've done to me?" I asked. "To-to not only lose you but also to watch you die right in front of me? I would've had to be focused on the safety of the civilians while my boyfriend is dying and..." I trailed off, taking his hands off of my face and holding them in my lap. "I like you, believe it or not, and I kind of want you to stick around for a while."

"I see your point Laura, I do." I looked up at him. "But you and Barry put yourselves in danger all the time. Why do I have to be careful and you don't?"

"We are careful, Ralph! Every risk we take, every time we put our lives on the line, we plan it out very carefully to make sure that no one else gets hurt, and to save ourselves if it can be avoided. But today, you just shoved that bomb in your chest cavity without any thought of the consequences. You have to think about the risks before you take them, or at the very least talk them out with your team." He sighed, leaning back in his chair and taking his hands from mine.

"I just...why is everything I do the wrong thing according to you guys?" I shook my head.

"Ralph, that's not what I said-"

"Well, that's what it feels like!" He shot back. "Oh, Ralph messed up again, it's time for another superhero lecture."

"You're learning, that's all. Mistakes come with the learning process-"

"Yeah, well it's starting to feel like you guys don't think I can do anything right."

"That is not true and you know it!" I shouted. "I have done nothing but support you, Ralph! I have had total faith in you this entire time-"

"Yeah, until Barry isn't around to clean up my mistakes." My jaw dropped, and he paused as he realized what he'd just said. "Laura-"

"Don't. Do not turn this around and make this my fault. I am trying to help you here, I have done nothing but train you and try to make sure that you know what you're doing, so don't you dare sit here and say that Barry is the only reason I've had faith in you thus far."

"I didn't..." I shook my head, standing up and leaving the cortex. Our first fight...

Not great.