What Tears Us Apart(Sequel to What Brings Us Together)

Chapter Six: Mr. Fix-It Strikes Again

I flew back to STAR Labs to find everyone in the Cortex. Gypsy and Cisco were looking at each other awkwardly, with Barry in the middle. I stepped up beside Iris.

"Mr. Fix-it strikes again." I whispered, causing her to chuckle. Suddenly the alarm went off and Caitlin looked at the computer.

"CCPD is reporting two more break-ins at Tech manufacturers, Boeing Lab and the Jamison institute, more hardware was stolen."

"DeVoe."

"Was anybody hurt?" Barry asked.

"Three fatalities, all of them security guards in high-level clearance areas, just like at Vandermeer."

"He's just taking what he wants and killing anyone who stands in his way." I stated.

"Guys, I'm sorry, but we have to figure out what kind of machine he's building, Right now." Cisco grabbed a piece of metal, holding it out to Gypsy.

"Look, we have to try." He said. She grabbed onto the other end, and all of a sudden they were both propelled in opposite directions across the room. Iris and I went to Cisco, and Barry and Caitlin got Gypsy.

"You ok?" Barry asked.

"I saw that one coming." Iris and I gradually helped Cisco to his feet.

~~~

I waited with Barry and Iris as Caitlin looked them over.

"How are you doing?" Iris asked. I nodded.

"I'm...working on it." She nodded. "However, I did have a really weird encounter with a barista at Jitters-" Caitlin came out of the med bay.

"How are they?" Barry asked.

"Tests show, physically, they're fine. As a couple, not so much." Barry started walking towards the med bay.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to get these two back in sync."

"Barry...that's really not your job." I told him.

"Maybe you've done enough already, ok?" Iris added. "Cisco and Gypsy are clearly going through something, and Laura's right, it's not up to us to counsel them through it."

"Well then who is it up to?"

"Just stop for a second-"

"We can't stop. The second we do, everyone could fall apart, the team's hanging on by a thread."

"But we are hanging on Barry."

"For how long? I mean look at what's happening. DeVoe is killing innocent people, he's stealing pieces of tech for who knows why. Just trying to keep up with him is tearing us apart."

"You cannot put this on yourself, it is not your responsibility to hold everyone together." I assured him.

"Cisco is family. When he hurts, we all hurt, I get that. But sometimes you can't answer their questions for them. Sometimes you just have to support them while they find them on their own,whether they're together or they're apart." Barry's eyes widened in realization.

"That's it."

"What?"

"The pieces of tech don't fit together, because they're not supposed to. He's not building one thing, he's building multiple."

~~~

"I know what DeVoe's doing. It's not one machine. They're machines, machines that work together, but they're still separate."