the life in front of you
is far more important
than the life
behind you
Joel Osteen
Anastasia pov
"Hold him steady!" Cisco said.
"He's dropping out!" I added.
"Come one, come on come on come on," Cisco said as he placed the stabilizer on stein
"Cisco, we're losing him!" I yelled.
"Got it," Cisco announced as he typed the computer. Suddenly, Stein's fire went out. "Oh, Dios Mio, thank god."
"He'd getting worse," Barry said.
"Look, I did what I could to re-engineer Dr wells' original stabilizers to quell the reaction, but I don't know what he used as a power source.
The best I could find was the one from his wheelchair." Cisco Caitlin Barry and I walked out of the lab and into the cortex.
"And how long will that last?" Caitlin asked.
"Well, that's the problem. We had already used up most of its energy trying to dampen the mate's powers during our little rogue trip with the weather wizard and company.
I think we got a few days tops."
"And he's stuck in bed?" Barry asked, disappointed.
"Yeah, when he wakes up, I'm going to transfer the stabilizer to this, give him a power cane, get him moving." Cisco touched a weird-looking cane.
"We gotta figure out a way to save him," I said quickly.
"I think I might know how to do that." Caitlin smiled.
"When the particle accelerator exploded the dark matter that collided with Professor Stein fused with the F.I.R.E.S.T.R.O.M matrix and altered the normal molecular processes
that occur within his body.
Those highly reactive molecules needed something to bond with to stabilize." Caitlin started.
"And that's where Ronnie came in," Cisco said.
"Yes, and now that Ronnie is no longer a part of Professor Stein..." Caitlin added.
"Those molecules don't have anything to bond to.
And the longer he goes
without merging, the more unstable he becomes." Barry finished.
"And the longer he goes without merging the more unstable he becomes," I added.
"Alright, so, what do we do?" Asked Cisco.
"Find another... participant," Caitlin answered.
"Okay, cool, so, how do we do that?
Are we just gonna make a tinder app for potential meta-humans?
Cause I'm pretty sure merging with stein and randomly bursting into flames sounds like the biggest "swipe left" of all time," Cisco said.
"I mean even if we could find someone willing, stein can't just merge with whoever he wants."
"No, he can't.
But I have done some research and found two potential candidates that might be compatible with him.
They both were affected by the dark matter, and they were both admitted to the hospital showing symptoms of gene rearrangement mutation and they both share the same blood type as Professor Stein and Ronnie." We all walked to the computers to see two people a slightly older one than the other.
"This one." I said and pointed at the younger one, "the other one I don't trust."
"Alright, this is more than organ donation we'll need more than tissue type to see if their bodies are compatible
"If I can isolate the genetic locus of the two candidates and cross-reference it with the mutations in Professor Stein, I might be able to find a match and save his life," Caitlin said looking up from the computer.
"What do you need to do that?" Barry asked.
"Just some blood," Caitlin said, and Barry sped away.
"All right, blood samples from both potential candidates." Barry handed Caitlin and Cisco each a vile with blood
"Damn, that was fast even for you," Cisco said.
"I may have skipped the asking for permission part." I looked at Barry angry
"Let's see if we can find a match." Caitlin smiled.
"Well, I must admit, I never imagined the Sphinx's riddle about a man requiring three legs would ever apply to me, but if this device keeps me mobile, then I will gratefully oblige." Stein tried to walk around and I smiled
"Hopefully, you won't need it for much longer.
There was no agglutination in the blood samples, and cross-matching was negative for both, and it appears that the dark matter from the Particle Accelerator explosion mutated their genes in a very similar way it did to yours.
I think they're both potential matches." Caitlin said as she typed on the computer.
"So who do we go with?" Asked barry
"Well, my first choice is Henry Hewitt.
He graduated summa cum lauded from Hudson University with a double major in Applied Physics and Bioengineering." Caitlin smiled.
"A Hudson boy, I like him already," Stein said
"Now, what about this other guy Jefferson Jackson?" Asked Barry
"High school quarterback, 4.0 student.
He's got the physical attributes. And it looks like more of his alleles match Hewitt's. Doesn't that mean that he's more compatible?" Asked Barry and I smiled a d nodded
"On paper, perhaps, but Hewitt is a scientist. Clearly, he's trying to make
something of his life.
I think he'd be open to something like this." Caitlin argued.
"I think we should meet with both of them before we make a decision," I said
"That's an excellent idea, dear." Stein smiled
"I'll see if I can get Hewitt here," Caitlin added
"All right, in the meantime, we'll go meet with Jefferson Jackson," Barry said
"And I will try to find something else to help keep you stable," Cisco added.
"And I will get my needed rest," I said and walked to the workshop, where I left my ballet shoes.
I put on my ballet shoes slowly and tied the black ribbons.
Deep breath, deep breath.
I repeated in my head.
It was the first time I danced after the events with the reverse flash.
after I trusted someone and they betrayed me, again.
I started the music, swan lake.
A classic, one of the first we did on our ballet day.
I smiled and moved along with the music letting my body almost, almost break.
"The closer you are to your breaking point the prettier the dance is." Madame B's famous words echoed in my head.
Knock, again.
What's wrong with people?
"Yes?" I asked as I stopped the music.
"Hey, umm, in Jex, I was told to come here?..." the boy said.
Of course, that's Jefferson Jackson.
"Yes, please follow me," I said and replaced my ballet shoes with my normal ones.
"Sorry, you had to see that," I said as I walked out with Jefferson by my side.
"Are you kidding?
That was awesome!"
I looked down as we reached the cortex. "Look who I found," I smiled.
"I'm really glad you decided to come," Barry said
"I thought S.T.A.R. Labs had to shut down," Jefferson stated
"It's under new management," Barry said quickly
"Whoa, what kind of treadmill is that?" Jefferson asked as he saw the treadmill
"Cosmic," I answered
"Cool."
"So, let's get started.
You got some kind of "Billion Dollar Man" technology that gonna fix my knee?" Asked Jefferson.
"Actually, Jax, this isn't about fixing your knee," Barry said.
"What are you talking about?" Jefferson asked
"When the Particle Accelerator exploded, the energy wave that collided with you is known as "dark matter."" Stein explained
"And it didn't just hurt your knee.
It... it changed the molecular structure of your body." Caitlin added
"Whoa, hold on, Grey.
So you're saying I'm like one of those meta-humans I keep hearing about
on the news?" Asked Jefferson
"Yes, I am.
Please, call me Professor." Stein said
"We think you have potential capabilities," Barry said
"What kind of capabilities?"
"The same as Professor Stein:
the ability of your body to process fission and fusion." Caitlin smiled.
"And you can harness excess energy and turn it into these massive
nuclear blasts.
And you can fly. There's also that." Cisco added
"So you're saying you can do all this?"
"Only during times of convergence with a willing partner," Stein answered
"Convergence?
You and me?"
"Yes."
"No, this is crazy." Jefferson laughed
"No, Jax, this is your chance to right the wrong that was done to you," Barry said
"Yeah, sorry, you got the wrong guy.
I don't want anything to do with this."
"Wait for a second, we are giving you the chance to be a superhero, and you're gonna say no that quickly?" Caitlin asked.
"Yeah, not my kind of thing."
"If the man isn't willing to participate..." Stein started.
"Look, I saw your test scores, Jax.
Your grades were good enough to get into college, but you didn't go.
Why?
Is this the type of guy you are?
One setback and you fold?
Well, then maybe you're not the guy for us
anyway." Caitlin asked angrily
"Well, maybe I'm not."
"Jack..." barry started
"Maybe this just wasn't meant to be," Stein said sadly and left.
"Cait, come on, I mean, Jax could be our last chance at saving Professor Stein," Barry said.
"He said no to being a superhero.
Who does that?
I mean, you didn't say no when you had the chance.
Cisco, Ana would you?" Caitlin looked at us
"Chance to have superpowers?
Sign me up." Cisco lied
"I would never agree," I whispered.
"Look, we're asking Jax to change his entire life, to sacrifice what he does, have. I mean, that's not a decision, that can be made lightly.
It took me a long time to figure out this whole hero thing." Barry said
"Exactly, which is why we need someone who wants to do this." Caitlin started to walk out
"Where are you going?" I asked
"To get Hewitt back. We have to try again." Caitlin said.
I walked into the cortex only to see everyone plus Jefferson in the recovery room, yeah, I'm calling it this.
"....ran out like 30 minutes ago," Cisco said as I walked in.
"His temperature is a 142d degrees and rising fast,"
"He's going into rapid oxidation.
We need to find a coolant." Caitlin said.
"I think it's a bit too late for that," I said.
"I'll do it.
I'll merge with him.
You said this is a chance for me to be a part of something bigger than myself, to help people.
That's what I want." Jefferson said.
"You're sure?
Once you merge, there's no going back on this." Barry informed him.
"And you said I could fly, right?"
"Damn right." Cisco said.
"So what do I do?"
"Okay, well here is the abridged version." Cisco went to get the slicer.
"Professor Stein?" Caitlin asked. "Professor Stein?"
"Clarissa, five more minutes."
"No, you old man, get up!" I said
"Jax is here." Barry put Stein his glasses
"What?" He asked
"Jax is here," Barry repeated
"What?"
"Here grab onto me." Barry and I helped stein up
"Jax?" Stein asked
"Yeah," I said
We walked Stein next to Jefferson.
"You came back Jefferson, thank you," Stein said
" Well, my coach always said, "out of yourself and into the team."
So how does this work?"
"OK, all you gonna do is touch him." Cisco said
"And then what happens?"
"You become F.I.R.E.S.T.R.O.M." I smiled.
"Okay," Jefferson said and I and Barry let go of Stein.
They merged.
They did it.
"Jax?" Caitlin asked.
"Is Professor Stein...?"
"How will I know?"
"Oh, so I get gray as my co-pilot.
So when do we get to take this for a test, man?"
Beep... beep... beep
"Ohh, how about now?
It looks like Hewitt is recharging at Central City high school stadium." Cisco said.
"Wait, that's where I got hurt."
"Cisco, cut the power to the field so he can't draw any more energy." Barry's voice came through the comm
"I'm on it." Cisco replied. "Stand by.
Boo-ya ka!"
"Hey guys?
Cutting the power didn't work.
It's like the more we angry him, the stronger he gets."
"That's it!
It's like like one of those controlled fusion devices." Caitlin said quickly.
"Tokamak?" Cisco asked
"Yes, exactly, and the more powerful they become, the more unstable they become." Caitlin added, and I smiled. "Make him angry, and he'll blow his fuse."
"And how is Mr. Hewitt?" Stein asked as we walked out.
"Seems like the last burst of energy Burnt him out." Caitlin answered.
"Our Tokamak has gone dark." Cisco added.
"Yeah, we're just going to keep him safe and sound in the pipeline until he decides to keep quiet about all of this." Bary smiled.
"So you're gonna meet up with Clarissa?" Joe asked.
"We're meeting in Pittsburgh in 3 day." Stein answered.
"Why Pittsburgh?" Jefferson asked.
"A colleague of mine was monumental in helping train Ronald and me.
She's graciously offered to help the two of us as well."
"How's she gonna help us?" Asked Jefferson.
"Well, there are many aspects of our abilities that we never quite achieved.
Hopefully, now, we can fully realize that potential." Stein answered. "Oh my dearest Dr snow," stein hugged her. "Ronald may be lost to us, but he will never be forgotten." Stein walked to me.
"Is it my turn for a speech from the old man?" I laughed.
"I wish, but I know nothing that you might need from me."
"I need you, you were like a father to me, and now... now your leaving, again." I smiled sadly.
"I'm only one call away." He promised, and moved to Cisco.