"Babe?!" Anna yelled as she rounded the corner of the hall, the zip of her suit half open.
"Why aren't you out there?"
"The stupid zipper is stuck, and if I run out there, the suit will fly off me when I speed." Anna mumbled as Caitlin zipped it up as she sped away, already finding that Wally and Barry had already knocked out the men, and Wally was flexing to multiple cheerleaders.
Anna rolled her eyes. "You never leave any for me!"
"Too slow Jolt." Barry teased as Wally sped away as the cheerleaders called after him. Anna scoffed as she followed.
"Yes, bravo, boys. Although I did find at least six ways you could have done it more efficiently, just... just saying." Julian muttered after Caitlin shot him a look.
"I mean, the busload of hot cheerleaders seemed like the way that we did things." Wally stammered.
"Oh, that's going in the book. You know what? I'm running low; let me buy you a cup of coffee over at CC Jitters. Bond, are you coming?" HR asked as he started to walk out the door.
"No, thank you."
"Might wanna fix the zipper problem on my suit Cisco." Anna motioned to the suit on the mannequin.
"Yeah. I'll get on it and maybe add some adjustments." Cisco muttered as he pulled the suit off and Anna moved to Caitlin, giving her a kiss.
"What was that for?"
"Everything."
"Did you do something wrong?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow.
"No! If your asking if I flirted with the cheerleaders, I did not. You can ask Wally or Barry. I didn't get to punch one bad guy. You know how much I love punching bad guys." Anna shot her a pleading look before tapping the necklace around her neck. "It suits you."
"Don't try to change the subject A." Caitlin giggled as she sat the papers she was holding down and wrapped her arms around Anna's neck. "I think you suit me being your girlfriend."
"Me too." Anna said before they both kissed.
"Why are we looking at a bunch of Legos set together?" Anna questioned when she bent down and tipped one of the people over.
"Julian suggested we make a 3-D reconstruction of the scene from the future exactly as we saw it."
"With toys." Barry questioned.
"The medium's not important." Caitlin added.
"Thank you. Eye on the ball, Barry." Cisco pointed to fake Barry.
"Is this me? Why is he an astronaut?" Barry picked the lego version up.
"Eye on the ball, Barry, okay? Now, this diorama tells us you need to cover this distance in less than 0.21 seconds if you want to save Iris from Savitar." Cisco explained.
"What do you guys think?"
"Think what you're proposing is impossible. Therefore, you will fail. Multi-universe is maybe a new concept to me, but mathematics is not. Pay attention, Allen." Julian moved to the board. "This is your speed timeline. This is your maximum velocity when you first acquired your powers. This is your current top speed, and this is where you need to be in May to cover that distance in 0.21 seconds. At your current rate of improvement, impossible."
"Wow. Thank you for that rousing pep talk, coach. Okay, why don't you take a knee? I think we got it covered here." Cisco motioned to the exit.
"It looks like it. I actually have to be back at CCPD. As do you. Cheerio." Julain moved out of the room.
"Asshole." Anna muttered.
"He really does want to help in his own snobbish, thoughtless way." Caitlin pleaded.
"He is right. I mean, he's kind of a dick about it, but you can't argue with his math." Barry agreed.
"Okay, well, then, we'll find another way to make this work." Cisco assured.
"We need to. Iris isn't gonna die."
"So this is the footage from Jitters that should help us ID our new meta." Cisco typed at his computer.
"Brunette? That really narrows it down." Caitlin snorted.
"Mm, I'll clean that up."
"Oh, look how clear the picture is on that screen." HR pointed to the footage on the monitor, displaying a woman in front of it.
"That's 'cause that's not from Jitters. That's our security footage." Cisco muttered.
"H.R. Wells. I know you're in there. Come quietly if you don't want trouble." The woman yelled.
"H.R., how does she know you?"
"Talk. Who is this... gorgeous intruder?" Cisco asked.
"Her name is Gypsy, and she's what's known on my Earth as a collector. She's come to collect, you know, me." HR motioned to himself when they saw the woman create a breach, jumping into the speed lab and zapping HR. Caitlin and Anna ran towards him while Cisco stood near the intruder.
"Where does it hurt?" Caitlin questioned.
"Oh, everywhere." HR groaned.
"Slow down there. Let's just talk about this, like two adults, over coffee, or maybe dinner, if you prefer that. There's a great Thai place up the road, if you like Thai. I'm Cisco, by the way. You must be Gypsy. It's nice to meet you." Cisco stuttered.
Anna rolled her eyes. "What is this? Tinder?"
"Are you kidding me? I am negotiating." Cisco shot her an annoyed look.
"Well, you showed me yours. Only fair I show you mine." Gypsy said before jumping into a breach, only to reappear again and blast Cisco.
"Cisco!"
Wally sped in. "Ma'am, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the building.
"Speedster. That's fun. I like to have fun too." Gypsy said before Wally charged at her, but he paused, stuck in motion by her powers.
"I see you've got a lot to learn about your power." Gypsy motioned to Cisco.
"Yeah. Like that. How do you do that? That's cool." Cisco said before Wally fell to the floor, Anna created a lightning bolt, ready to fire.
"You're harboring a fugitive from justice. Our world has a strict ban on inter-dimensional travel. He knew that when he came here."
"So you tracked him here?"
"Honestly, it wasn't that hard. Not when he's beaming "H.R. Wells' Adventures in the Multiverse" back chapter by chapter." Gypsy teased.
"You know what? Whatever H.R. did, you can't just come here and take him by force. Not without going through us." Wally argued.
"If I really wanted to go through you, you would all be dead. I've got a lock on you now. There is no getting away. You've got an hour to get your affairs in order, and then you are coming back with me." Gypsy motioned to Wells.
"Adios, Cisco." She said before jumping through the breach.
""As Francisco threw back his lustrous locks and laughed, I outlined my plan for neutralizing the rampaging creature. Anna sped to the creature, tripping on multiple rocks before throwing a lightning bolt instead." It goes on like this for pages. He's been broadcasting this without our knowledge or permission, all the while making himself the hero." Cisco read out.
"Did he just...ruin my whole character?" Anna questioned.
"Yeah, every book needs a central protagonist that the audience can invest in."
"I would have gone with Barry. Maybe even Anna." Caitlin noted.
"Barry?"
"Cisco, what was that back there? First Golden Glider and now her?" Caitlin motioned to Cisco.
Cisco scoffed. "I can't help who I'm attracted to, even if it is the... sexy, intense, deadly ones. So she takes you back to Earth-19, and, what, you pay a fine?"
"The punishment for an unauthorized breach travel on my Earth... it's death." HR sighed. "About 24, 25 years ago, a neighboring Earth invaded our planet through a breach and almost destroyed the place. So to prevent it from happening again, they banned all inter-dimensional travel. And then they put the collectors in place to punish those of us who violated the ban. I didn't think that she'd track me down."
So why would you risk your life by coming here?" Caitlin asked.
"I... I'm gonna get packing. It's time for H.R. to face the music." HR stammered, avoiding the question and walking out of the room.
"Guys, I know H.R. can be annoying, but he doesn't deserve to die."
"I don't think he will." Anna added.
"He doesn't go back. I saw him. In the future, with me and Iris and Savitar, he was there. I mean, that must mean we don't let her take him back." Barry argued.
"Maybe we do. Maybe by letting him go back to his Earth, it changes your future and prevents Iris' death." Julain conclueded.
"I gotta go see her." Barry muttered, walking out the door.
Anna watched as HR, Cisco, and Barry approched Gypsy.
"Gypsy, take me home." HR put his hands on her shoulders. She moved them away.
"Wait." Barry sighed. "You're not taking him anywhere."
"What? Why not?" HR and Gypsy questioned.
"Because I challenge you to trial by combat." Cisco demanded, stepping forwards. HR stepped back as Barry and Cisco argued before Gypsy said Cisco would do it.
"By the laws of Earth-19, I hereby challenge you for possession of H.R. Wells. If you want, we can solve this another way. There's a great spot for drinks..." Cisco started to stammer.
"You realize trial by combat is to the death?"
"Yeah. For the loser."
"She's good." Julain said as they rewatched the footage in the speed lab.
"Okay, all right. Lay it out for me. What are my chances here, scale of one to ten?"
"She's gonna kill you." HR murmmered.
"It's a pretty solid "one, " mate." Julain sighed.
"You have the same powers Gypsy does, right? I mean, she's not doing anything you can't do. You can do this, okay? You just need a little practice and a little confidence. And we're all gonna help you with that, right?" Barry looked to the rest of the group.
"Yes."
"Uh, sure, sure, yeah."
"Yes."
"Yeah."
"Hey. I believe in you, all right? You can beat her." Barry encouraged.
"Listen, I have some ideas for a training regimen I can set up in here. Anna, Caitlin, why don't you get the medical bay prepared in the meantime?" Julain motioned to the two.
"What? Well, why does... why does she need to set up the... the medical bay?" Cisco questioned.
"For when you... beat her, when you beat her, she's gonna... she's gonna need medical attention. 'Cause you will beat her, I have every faith that you're going to beat her." Julain stammered as Anna and Caitlin pulled him away.
"We need to work on your interpersonal skills." Caitlin whispered.
"I was really trying." Julain insisted.
Anna watched as Cisco shot a blast, correctly this time, only that it was the wrong was.
"Oh, yeah. Facing the wrong way again. How many is that?" Cisco questioned as he faced the team
"Three." Caitlin muttered.
"Seven." Anna rolled her eyes.
"Nine." Julian corrected.
"You'll get there." Barry assured.
Yes. Hopefully in the next 21 hours and 46 minutes." Julian counted down.
All right, look, whenever I'm out there, I'm in a tough fight, I think maybe I don't have it, I just take a deep breath...Trust my instincts." Barry said as Cisco took a deep breath.
"I honestly like to think about the people that need me in this world. Barry, Caitlin, Iris, even you." Anna listed off.
"Trust my instincts, Think of people, that's good. That helps." Cisco exhaled before creating a breach and disappearing through it.
"Where'd he go?" Julian questioned.
"I don't know." Barry looked around
They heard a whoosh and a voice from above. "Guys? Up here." Cisco waved from above them, on one of the stabilization poles. Anna groaned in panic as she used her telekinesis to get him down as he waved his legs in the air.
"I'm flying! I'm flying? Is this a power?" Cisco yelled out as he reached the ground.
"No, it's telekinesis." Anna sighed as Cisco tried again.
"So you lost HR to Gypsy?" Anna asked as Barry hummed in response.
"Can she do that? I mean, I though this whole trial by combat thing had rules." Caitlin questioned as Anna leaned against her.
"Which apparently we broke when we tried to get the drop on her." Barry sighed.
"Well, that wasn't very clever, was it?A deal's a deal. It should be honored." Julian scoffed.
"You know what? You're right, Julian. A deal is a deal. And our deal was that I would train so that I could fight Gypsy, but I guess you two wanted to go behind my back and try to sub in?" Cisco asked angrily.
"We didn't go... we just thought maybe you could use some help." Barry countered.
"Yeah? What happened to, "Cisco, you can beat her"?
"You can."
"I believe in you."
"I do."
"Trust your instincts" Well, right now, my instincts are telling me I should be writing my last will and testament, so please excuse me." Cisco yelled back as he stormed out of the room.
"Cisco, come..." Barry called after him.
"Should I go talk to him?"
"No, I... I got it." Barry muttered, following after Cisco.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who has to work on their interpersonal skills." Julian muttered as Anna raised an eyebrow and Caitlin shot him a warning look.
"You two almost compromised a major CCPD sting operation that took the DA's office months to assemble." Joe accused Wally and Iris, who had snuck into a gunner storage house.
"You still got the guy, right?"
"That is not the point, Iris. The point is, you had you and your brother out there in danger, and for what? A story?"
"And where the hell were you two?" Joe questioned motioning to Barry and Anna.
"I didn't even know." Anna raised her arms in defense.
"Dad, this is more than just a story for me." Iris sighed.
"Yeah, which you almost got shot for." Wally added.
"Oh, God." Barry and Anna muttered at the same time.
"What? Iris. What is going on with you?"
"Joe, I'm sorry... Can I talk to you for a second? We'll be right back." Barry motioned for Iris to follow into the hall as Anna headed back to her apartment.
Back at Star Labs, hours later. Anna watched through the bay cameras, where Cisco was getting beat down in his fight with Gypsy.
"This does not bode well." Julian sighed.
"Cisco can hold his own." Barry insisted.
"Hmm. Barely."
"Barry, we can't let this happen. What if he can't defeat her?" Caitlin questioned.
"I can't interfere again. If I do, then we forfeit. H.R.'s a dead man." Barry stammered.
"What if I interfere?" Anna questioned.
"No. She knows your his friend, she'll call it forfeit, and HR is still a dead man."
"At this rate, Cisco's gonna be the dead man." Julian muttered. Cisco got up from the ground. They both shot a blast, colliding with each other as they pushed forward, both loosing the blast and gasping for breath. Gypsy pushed Cisco with her into a breach as they both disappeared for a moment.
"Where did they go?"
"I... they could be anywhere by now." Barry stammered.
"In any universe."
"Any world. Earth-2, Earth-3, Earth-38, the list goes on." Anna muttered. 3 minutes later, Cisco was pushed back through a breach with Gypsy behind him. Gypsy jumped in a breach, starting to do a breach and blast as Cisco looked around, trying to find her exit spot. Suddenly, she hopped out as Cisco aimed a blast at her feet, making her get off balance and fall to the floor.
"Yes!" Barry yelled as Cisco stood over her.
"He won?" Anna questioned, giving her brother a high five. She pulled up the microphone feed.
"By the laws of Earth-19, the prisoner is yours for the taking, as is my life." Gypsy muttered out.
"Oh, no, no, no, no. We don't roll like that around here. Come on." Cisco extended a hand to help her up. Anna smirked as Cisco started muttering things to Gypsy and trying to flirt.
"So what happens now? Go back to your Earth? Tell all your superiors that you were bested in battle, all the charges against H.R. are dropped." Barry questioned as Caitlin fixed Cisco's bruises.
"No. I tell them I killed him. If I return empty-handed, they'll know I failed. And I never fail. Until today." Gypsy explained as she packed her bag.
"Okay, but if you tell them that you killed me, then I..." HR trailed off.
"You will never go back to Earth-19, ever. Do we have a deal?" Gypsy looked towards him.
"Yeah. I guess we have a deal. I don't really have anything to go home for." HR sighed.
"You'll always have a home here, H.R." Caitlin said as they hugged. Cisco moves to Gypsy to have a private chat. Moments later, Anna turned around, seeing them about to kiss, when Gypsy breached away without a single word.
"Wow. What an exit."
Anna opened the apartment door, to see Caitlin standing there.
"What is this?" She questioned, seeing the apartment decorated with roses and flowers.
Anna's face fell. "You don't like it. I can change it right now, like quick." Anna stammered, looking back.
"No, it's fine, but why?"
"I thought that since we haven't had a real, romantic date, we could have it here."
"You are too sweet, Anna Allen." Caitlin muttered, wrapping her arms around Anna's waist.
"I thought you were the sweet one, Cait. I'm the badass one."
"But inside your just as sweet as me." Caitlin said as Anna guided her to their living room.
"Care to dance, Dr. Snow?" Anna extended her hand as she used her telekinesis to start the music.
"I would love to." Caitlin said as she accepted it.