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

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Meta Tech

~~~Laura~~~

Nora and Barry were taking care of Spencer, an the rest of us were in the Cortex, watching the news. Ralph had his arms wrapped around my waist, and I was leaning back against his chest. I wanted to enjoy ever last second that I had with him just in case the time came when, as far as I knew, everything that we had gone through had never happened.

It's terrifying to think about, considering that who we are as people is shaped by our experiences, and similarly, our relationships with people are built by the things we go through together. If I lose my memory...I'm going to be the same person I was when I was a teenager, and...I don't like her very much.

"Spencer's all locked up in Iron Heights." Barry said, coming into the room.

"The Mayor's resigning."Iris told them.

"What?"

"I'm surprised she lasted this long." Ralph pointed out. I nodded in agreement.

"She's not a criminal, so she's already one up on our last mayor." I stated.

"Luckily I was able to get a quote from her exonerating Officer Jones for my article. That'll go up tomorrow."

"Papa Joe will be relieved his friend's in the clear." Nora stated.

"Yeah. Well at least now with Spencer behind us we can concentrate on bigger fish." Yeah...no kidding.

"Yes we can." Sherloque said, coming into the room. He was with Caitlin and had a respirator in his hand. I looked at Ralph as he and Thomas shared a look.

"Sherlock-"

"Sherloque," He corrected.

"He thinks he's found a key to Cicada's identity."

"Crucial clue to help us solve our little mystery. We all know the distinctive sound of Cicada's breathing through the respirator in the mask, but not just that, but also his lungs are injured."

"Injured from what?" Nora asked.

"Historically, there is an event that causes David Hersch to always become Cicada, but not this time. There's a different Cicada because-"

"Because Nora helped me destroy the satellite." Barry realized aloud.

"Mr. Allen, Nora's strike to the satellite changed the trajectory of the debris and now the debris has hit a new person and injured our new Cicada."

"Ok, but how did that give him his power?" Ralph questioned.

"DeVoe flooded the satellite with dark matter. It makes sense that the peices would be saturated with it." Caitlin stated.

"So, Cicada and the dagger were created the night of the enlightenment." Iris said, thinking out loud.

"Acquired powers," Sherloque said, circling the word on the board, "Together."

"Well, listen Sherloque-" Ralph started.

"Sherloque." He corrected.

"Yeah, I gotta hand it to you. That's very impressive." I put a hand on Ralph's arm. It was very big of him to say so.

"It's quite a breakthrough, aye Mr. Dibny?" Ralph nodded. "One that I cannot take any credit for. No, all the credit, all the praise, goes to you Mr. Dibny. It was your instincts to follow the mask, right? Well, you were right. And I was less right. I apologize." I smiled and Ralph nodded gratefully. I even saw Thomas smile.

"Ok guys, I'm sorry, the dagger part still doesn't make sense, I mean things can't become Metas, right?"

"Well, think about it, DeVoe's powers were based half on dark matter, half on tech. So why can't Meta tech be a thing?" I questioned. Barry took the back off of Spencer's phone.

"I think Laura may have a point." He showed it to us. The phone had a series of glowing gold veins all over the back of it. "Our satellite didn't just create new metas. Like she said, it created Meta tech."

"Which puts meta human abilities in the hands of...anyone." Iris said.

If there was any doubt about me not telling anyone else about my current predicament, it was erased in that single moment. Cicada, new Metas, and now Meta tech? Our team can't handle another problem right now. And for the problems we do have, it's all hands on deck, which includes Hannah and Ralph.

I just hope they don't hate me.

~~~

After the events of the day, we decided that now was the perfect time for a long overdue family dinner with Thomas. Hannah, Ralph, and Thomas were currently sat around the dinner table with laugh-induced tears streaming down their faces, while I tried to hide my blush.

"She ran halfway down the block before Mom finally caught her and managed to wrap her in a blanket." Thomas laughed. I shook my head, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I have always wondered if that's were her modesty comes from. If she has post-traumatic stress from knowing that practically our entire neighborhood saw her without a stitch of clothing on."

"Ok, in my defense, I was like three." I told him. "And if I had known that this was going to turn into humiliate Laura night, I would've left you to eat your cold Spaghetti-o's on your flea market sofa." 

"Ok, ok. I'm done." He said, wiping his eyes. "I also didn't know you could cook."

"I'm a woman of many surprises." I said, trying to ignore the painful secret burning in the back of my mind. "And since these two think you're so funny, they can do the dishes."

"For those stories, it's worth it." Hannah told me. "I'll dry." She grabbed her and Thomas' empty plates and ran to the kitchen. Ralph stood up, pausing to press his mouth to the top of my head before taking our plates and following after her. I smiled until he was gone, and then I let my smile fall.

"Ok, what is up with you?" Thomas asked. "you've been off all night."

"No I haven't." I denied, lifting my glass to my mouth.

"Maybe not to them," He said, "But I know you. I can see in your eyes that something is bothering you." I shook my head.

"I can't talk about it now." He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Why? It's just your family here." I nodded.

"That's...that's the problem."

"Laura...tell me what is going on." I sighed, peering into the kitchen. Ralph and Hannah were standing at the sink. Hannah was laughing, and Ralph was smiling at the plate in his hand.

"Bedroom." We stood up and I dragged him down the hall to our bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I rubbed my eyes and he put a hand on my shoulder.

And I told him everything.