"So... why am I here again?" Winn asked nervously.
"Because you're smart and we like smart people around here," Barry chuckled.
When Winn woke up that morning and stepped out of bed, he wasn't exactly expecting the floor to be replaced by a glowing blue breach, and especially not one that led directly into Star Labs. But then again, weirder things had happened. Barry made his way into the cortex, Winn trailing behind, where Cisco, Harry, and someone Winn had never seen before were waiting.
"Winn, you remember Cisco and Harry," Barry said.
"Right, uh... tech guy and then," he paused as he looked Harry up and down while giving this some thought. "Doppelganger of the real Harrison Wells, that is before his body was possessed by a murderer."
"Smart man," Harry said with a grunt, before turning back to his work.
"And uh, this is Hartley Rathaway," Barry added.
"Nice to meet-" Winn reached out to shake his hand, but paused when he realized both of Hartley's wrists were bound with glowing handcuffs. "-You..."
"Oh these old things? It's nothing, these boys just like to... play," Hartley said with a smirk.
"It's just a safety precaution," Cisco said, cutting him off. "In case he decides to go all evil again."
"...again," Winn repeated with a nod, still processing all of this.
"Anyway," Barry continued. "We're working on these sonic dampeners and can't seem to get it right. I just thought your research with the Silver Banshee might help."
"Silver Banshee?" Hartley asked.
"Villain on Earth 38 that I helped them out with a while back, basically you but Irish... and with a lot more makeup."
"So you... you see this a lot on your Earth?" Winn asked.
"Oh yeah," Cisco said. "We've had Pied Piper over here, Black Siren, White Canary, Black Canary, other Black Canary-"
"Oh and that copy-cat Black Canary," Barry added.
"Jesus, that's a lot of Canaries.."
"Yeah it's kind of a thing on this Earth," Cisco shrugged. "That's why we've been working on these." He gestured to the various pairs of earbuds on the table behind him. "They work fine when tuned to the meta's exact frequency, but determining that takes too much time. I've written algorithm after algorithm but it's just not clicking."
"So how did you get him?" Winn asked, gesturing to Hartley.
"Well, Einstein here used his new tricks on Barry a few too many times, allowing us to figure out his personal frequency. Basically got himself caught, if you think about it."
Winn laughed, "how dumb do you have to be to-" He stopped himself as soon as he felt Hartley's death glare beside him. Hartley grabbed a pen and paper and quickly scribbled something down before sliding it over to Winn.
It read: "01100110 01110101 01100011 01101011 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101."
"Hey!" Winn cried, never having been insulted in binary before.
"Yeah did I mention his other power is being a dick in every language?" Cisco muttered.
"Wait...that's it," Winn said with a smile. "You've been looking at this as just a technological concept when it comes from a living source, it's biology." He stepped towards Cisco's computer and began frantically typing. "What if we combine the coding of the algorithm with the genetic code within the metahuman's DNA, that way the device will analyze it on the spot and give you a frequency?" Winn continued typing before a little bit longer before hitting enter and grabbing a pair of earbuds. "Barry, put these on. Hartley, you're gonna hit him with everything you've got."
"You sure about this?" Cisco asked, hesitant to remove Hartley's meta-cuffs.
"What? I don't bite," he said slyly. Cisco gave in and turned the key, freeing Hartley's hands and restoring his powers.
"Ready when you are, Winn," said Barry, now wearing the devices. The others backed away, not wanting to be anywhere near the sonic blast.
"Sing him a song, Hartley," Winn called.
Hartley took a deep breath before summoning a wave of energy that seemed to emit directly from his hands, creating an ear-piercing scream that rattled the floors. Winn and Cisco's hands flew their own ears, yet Barry seemed unphased. On the computer monitor, Winn's algorithm was hard at work, detecting Hartley's personal frequency and adjusting the device's protective measures accordingly. The wave slowly dissipated, and Barry was able to remove the earbuds.
"Winn, that was genius!" He said.
"Just glad I could help. But on that note, pun intended, I should probably get going." After saying their goodbyes, Cisco with the wave of a hand opened up a breach back to Earth 38. "Oh and Hartley," Winn called before stepping through. "Nice pipes."
"Yeah well," Hartley muttered. "Broadway, here I come."
Based on a comment :) Some niche references but you guys get the idea!